Page 44 of The Silencer

“Yeah, Fallen Aces. Those fuckers. I knew it.”

“Shit. Time to burn it down,” Raphael says, surveying everything we lost.

“It’s fucking time.”

Viktor is angry, his jaw working back and forth as he drives us back to the house. I can see it in the way he steers the vehicle, his knuckles almost white, his shoulders tense.

Luca, on the other hand, is grinning, his fingers working his shirt open as he leans back casually, his gun on his lap.

“Seems the Aces, and more specifically, Douglas Kennedy, want out of the weed business after all. Although, shooting out part of our supply chain might not have been the smartest move,” he says with a chuckle. “Doug. What a fucking douche. Have you seen his mustache? Looks fucking pervy.”

“Hm, yes. No one said they were smart, and no one said Douglas wasn’t a perv.”

“You’re telling me,” he says with a wide grin. “How long have they been trying to move their business over to the designer drug side of things?” He snorts and then waggles his eyebrows at me. “The fun side, I mean.”

“For over a year now. Ever since weed sales have declined because of decriminalization. They need to find a way to boost their revenue. And we’ve cornered the market in this part of the country.”

“Hell yeah, you have. My man.” He holds out his fist to bump mine but then drops it when he realizes I’ll do no such thing.

I eye my friend and run a hand across my jaw. “And since we took out the people at their bar, they now have a personal vendetta.”

“Guess so. Seems they’re not the smartest cookies either.”

“No, not at all. They’re sloppy, but relentless. Like bugs.”

“Ugh. I hate fucking bugs. Especially spiders. Wanna kill them all.”

He shudders and then holds up his gun, pretending to shoot at the floor.

“Put your gun down,” Viktor bites out from the front seat, and Luca grins.

“Aw, baby, don’t be mad. Not everyone can have a bodyguard like you to kill those creepy little fuckers for me. And you look so damn good when you do it too.”

Viktor scoffs, his eyes meeting mine in the rearview mirror. I can see the flush on his cheeks, and I file that away for later. I had no idea Viktor killed spiders for Luca.

Fucking ridiculous.

Luca grabs a cigarette from his pants pocket and lights it up, blowing it from the corner of his mouth.

“Nothing like cocaine and cigarettes, amiright? Especially after that shootout. Got my blood pumping.”

Viktor rolls his eyes and then moves his gaze back to the road.

“So, who do you think the mole is?” Luca asks.

“No fucking clue. But we’ll be on the lookout.”

“Yeah, good plan. Want me to look at hiring more people to man the properties?”

“Yes.”

“And what about the house?”

“We should be fine, but then again, we’ll have to see how they retaliate.”

“Want to risk it?”

“I don’t want them to think we’re afraid,” I reply and then fiddle with the ring on my finger, spinning it around and around. “I don’t want them to think they’ve gotten to me.”

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