Page 1 of Clash Of Worlds

~ Chapter One ~

Trevor

Iwatched the smoke of my cigar as it swirled upward around me, already bored of the men in the room. I hear about Italian men and their tempers all the time, but I fucking swear, they don’t have shit on Irish men.

Especially when a good whiskey is in their system.

And at this moment, that’s the case.

I took a sip from the crystal glass in my hand before slamming it down on the table.

“Enough,” I bellowed, finally standing up. I buttoned my jacket and looked at each man in turn. There were six of them here.

My heads.

My army.

My most trusted men.

“We don’t need the bickering between us when there is a bigger war going on out there,” I nodded to the window.

“Boss-” but I shook my head, effectively cutting the man off.

“I don’t want to hear it, O’Malley. This is fucking insane, they way you are going on. Worse than women, and I know. Coming from a family of nothing but them. Now,” I walked around the table and to the board that showcased every street along the city. Some were in blue, and some were in red, but neither of them crossed each other.

That was how this very city was divided. The Irish mafia had half, while the other half belonged to the Italian Mob. And never, ever, did they cross over one another.

That’s just how Atalanta was.

“Want to tell me why the bodies of my men were found here,” I asked, clearly pointing to a park that was outlined in red. “This isn’t our area, and I know our boys are smart enough to stay clear of these parts.”

“Yes, Boss, our boys didn’t cross into their territory.”

I lifted my brow at the big man, who only cleared his throat.

“Please go on, Jameson.”

“Yes, sir. I know those boys; they were my own family. They weren’t even working near there. They were about forty miles east of that area.” I turned back to the map, judging the location and nodded. “It’s a tense time, of course, but I’m hearing rumbling that our enemy, at this moment, isn’t the Slick Backs.”

“We do not need to resort to name calling, Jameson. We’re ruthless, cunning, charming, but I will not demean them. I may not like them any more than you, but we’re better than that.”

“Sorry, Boss.”

I nodded my head, knowing that he might be sorry now, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t use the term again in the future. We were nasty men, of course, but we didn’t need to go that low. A blade or a gun got our point across a lot better than any name calling would do, even in house.

“So, if it wasn’t the Italian’s, what’s the word on the street?”

“It seems there’s a new enemy encroaching on our parts.”

With that, I turned right around to stare hard at O’Malley. Someone was invading my territory, and no one had the galls to tell me that.

“Who?”

“That’s just it, Boss,” he said, shrugging. “No one knows.”

Lucia

“We have a problem.”

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