Page 25 of King of the Bronx

Chapter Ten

Enzo

“Hey, baby,” I said into the phone as I exited the black SUV. Dave, my enforcer, drove me today. It was always smart to have an extra pair of hands during tribute.

“Why is there a man outside my business like some kind of bodyguard?” Raven spat.

“Well, did you ask him why he was there?” A grin tugged at my lips as I walked through the front door of the house with Dave following behind me. The house was located on the outskirts of the Bronx, so I wasn’t too worried about being targeted.

“Yeah, and he said you told him to be here, and if I had a problem, I could take it up with you.”

The only furniture in the house was a large oak dining room table that my men were sitting around, chatting quietly, as they waited for me. Instead of going immediately to the table, I walked up the stairs to the second floor to continue my conversation.

“Well, I guess you have your answer, don’t you?”

“Enzo, I don’t need some scary-looking man standing outside my business. He’s going to scare away customers.”

I scoffed. “I doubt that.” My man standing outside wasn’t going to deter anyone from getting some pussy, but it would make them think twice before doing something stupid.

“Enzo…” she warned.

“Baby…” She didn’t say anything for a minute. “Why are you always so quick to prove that you can do things yourself?” I asked her.

She needed someone there for protection. That was obvious the first time I went to the brothel. But what I didn’t understand is why she wouldn’t accept the help when I was giving it to her on a silver platter.

“Do you always do this for your one-night stands?” She asked, avoiding my question.

“No. Just you.”

She huffed. Obviously, she was used to getting her way. “Make him leave,” she demanded.

“Not a chance, baby. I’m going into a meeting. I’ll see you tonight.”

I hung up before she could respond and went back downstairs. The hardwood creaked under my feet as I walked. The house was still under construction, which meant the floors had been sawed and buffed and were ready to be stained a deep cherry wood.

“Boss,” Leon greeted as I came around the corner to take my seat at the head of the table. I didn’t acknowledge him. I was still slightly pissed from having to break up the fight between him and Charles a few weeks ago.

Each man had either a duffle bag or book bag at their feet containing my cut of their money. My crew was more senior than most. Almost all of them were made men, which meant they knew what they were doing so I could focus on other aspects of the business.

“How’s it goin’, Boss?” Cole asked from my right side.

“Just livin’ the life. I heard you had a good month,” I said. Cole looked uncomfortable in the chair he was sitting in. He was six-foot-five and at least 230 pounds. He’d come on as an enforcer until we realized he was a mean motherfucker with a sniper. Now, he did any hit jobs that we needed.

“Yeah, not bad.”

I nodded. “Good to hear.”

I looked around the table to see that the men had gone quiet as they waited for me to speak.

“Pass them up and I’ll listen to any updates,” I said, waving the men forward. One by one, they got up and dropped their bags off at my feet. Once everyone was done and back in their chairs, I picked up one of the bags, took out a stack of rubber-banded bills, and started counting. Dave took a bag and started counting as well. Everyone stayed quiet until I nodded at Leon.

“What’s going on, Leon?” I asked, my eyes focused on the money.

“We have a couple deals coming through next week for AKs. I’m running a little low, but shipment is supposed to be coming in soon.”

“Rizzo, everything on track with the shipment? If we said we were going to come through on this deal, I don’t want to mess it up,” I said, looking up for just a moment to flash my eyes to the skinny guy at the end of the table.

“Everything’s good on my end.”

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