Page 126 of The Enforcer

With Jonas, Elias, and six other soldiers accompanying us, we had enough of a contingency to ward off another assassination attempt. Or maybe I should say evil since we’d also gotten wind Arek had swept through his population of soldiers, exterminating everyone the man believed to be a traitor.

Including Davit’s cousin. The news hadn’t gone over well. Davit had a short fuse and we couldn’t have a war start when we were still in New York. Dimitrios was also attempting to keep Davit out of New York until the plan was etched in stone.

“I think he’s nervous about what he’s holding in his hands.”

“I would be if my daughter was threatened. Not a nice way to treat your fiancée and your soon to be father-in-law,” Havros teased.

Snorting, I pretended to become choked up. “I haven’t asked her to marry me.”

“It’s only a matter of time. This informant Elias used…”

As we were escorted to the awaiting rental SUVs, I held the briefcase containing the copies of all the information Davit had provided close to my chest. “You mean Carl Willard?”

“Yeah. What do you want to do with him? You are the Enforcer.”

I laughed as I pulled out my phone. Now I had the necessity of contacting Don Coppola, who’d arrived at another terminal. “I’ll determine how many appendages he’ll lose when we get there. After this meeting.”

“You are one cold man, my brother.”

“Then I have one more short meeting before we leave,” I told him.

“A secret.”

“A choice.”

We headed toward the second SUV, scanning the parking lot before climbing in. So far, we hadn’t drawn any attention including with customs. I’d half suspected we’d be delayed the moment we’d gotten off the plane, escorted to a federal prison. My guess was at minimum we’d yet to draw but so much attention.

However, Arek could easily learn of our arrival and likely would. We had to be prepared for anything.

Once inside the vehicle, I dialed Don Coppola’s number.

“Christos. Good to hear from you. You’ve safely arrived in New York.”

“We have.”

“And the meeting?”

“I’ll text you the address. Senator Laurant’s life is on the line since he opened his mouth. Now, I don’t think I need to remind you this is a courtesy visit. We are businessmen who want to begin operations in New York.”

Havros glanced over at me as if I’d lost my mind speaking to the Godfather of Italy that way. All things considered, I thought it prudent to make a statement. The Don was smart enough to read between the lines. We wouldn’t accept any interference any longer from anyone.

“Completely understood, Christos. As I mentioned to your father, our alliance will allow for an amazing future for our children. Our close ties and business transactions will be discussed in more detail once New York is wiped clean of the scum.”

As if we weren’t venomous snakes.

“You can arrange that with Dimitrios at your leisure.”

“That I will do. Perhaps we’ll celebrate our success with dinner tonight.”

“Unfortunately, we have other business to handle before our departure.”

“Ah, always the working man,” Don Coppola said, laughing. He could infer what he wanted from my comment. “We have some of the same tasks in front of us as well.”

Like cleaning the house of the American Cosa Nostra. I wondered if he’d heard they’d made an alliance of their own with Arek and his clan. He was a smart man and could handle his battles himself. And we’d handle it our way.

All was fair in war.

The house was unassuming, not something I would expect a man of Gregory’s reputation to own. It was located outside the city on a body of water. From what I could tell, the quaint cottage could be considered a summer home.

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