Page 50 of Only Fools Rush
“How are you going to take control without putting a target on your head?” Wynn asked, bringing us back to the conversation. “If he knows what you’re doing, Volpe will come after you again. You’d be a sitting target in board meetings.”
With a sigh, I sat up again.
“He’s already coming after us, but we need control of the Family’s infrastructure. Guns, gambling, drugs,” I said, ticking each item off on my finger. “We’re covering drugs with the Russians. Next is guns or gambling. Guns make the most financial sense if we can cut Max off from our buyers across the nation. I can’t control moving the guns without controlling the legitimate business.”
“I can handle that problem,” Obi vouched. “There are more than a few businessmen in New York who owe me favors. If you make a play for controlling operations, I can call in my contactsto support your bid and push out Volpe. If he is not on the board, he cannot know what we are doing.”
“You have contactsonmy father’s board?” I asked, eyes raised.
He nodded.
I wrapped my arms around my middle. How many power plays had Obi planned? And how many favors did he have, just waiting in his back pocket?
“With guns,” Ryuji said, “you need the arms dealers to agree to switch their business and buy weapons from you instead. If Volpe has been in charge for years, they’re unlikely to change their loyalties.”
He was right; that would be a tricky part. “My father used to fly to Los Angeles all the time to meet with an arms dealer out there. I want his business to start. If we can take that income away from Max and put it into our own pockets instead, we’ll deal a major blow to his bottom line. And if he can’t make money, he can’t pay his people. If he can’t pay his people, they’ll turn on him, and hopefully come to us.”
“Do you know where your father purchased his guns?” Obi asked. “How he imported them?”
I chewed my lip. “Italy.”
“Max would visit the manufacturing sites during his visits,” Cas added. “I don’t know if they’d betray him.”
“I don’t either.” This plan had a lot of what-ifs. “But I’m open to sourcing guns from other locations. We just need to sell them at a better price to turn the arms dealers to our side.”
Obi pulled his computer into his lap. “I have a shipping contact in China who wants to complete a contract with us right now. They have a connection to a gun manufacturer, and they have the means to move the product.”
Again, Obi with his connections. There were so many moving pieces in his head.
“Do you think they could do the job?” I asked. “Is it smart to turn away from Italian suppliers when they’ve been working with my family for years?”
He let out ahmm. “I will reach out to my contacts in the Camorra again. They might be able to influence some manufacturers to our side, then we can use the Chinese to ship and deliver. They have access to both the East Coast and West Coast ports. Their distribution is unmatched.”
If we got the Chinese on our side for distributionandwe stole Max’s dealers out from under him, we could control the gun trade. That would be a massive chunk of power in our pocket instead of his.
“Let’s do it.”
“We still need to talk to the dealers,” Ciel added, finally joining the conversation again. Whatever strange tension passed over him earlier was gone, replaced by his bouncing leg and thrumming fingers.
“Right. I’m still thinking Los Angeles is the best place to start. If we can turn that dealer, a lot of the smaller operations will follow suit, especially if we can provide better pricing.”
“Should I reach out for contact?” Ciel asked, typing on his phone. “I can get a secure and direct line of communication.”
I bit my lip, hesitating. “I was thinking I should meet with the dealer in person.”
“Absolutely not,” Cas grumbled immediately. “You’re not going to LA in the middle of all this fucking mess.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but Ryuji cut in instead. “I’m headed to Los Angeles to check out a new club. We could go together.”
Cas’s arm tightened around my waist. “Absolutely. Fucking. Not. We have too many enemies to let her travel across the country into unknown territory. Fuck, I don’t even want her leaving the penthouse.”
“I’m right here,” I said.
“It’s fine, bodyguard,” Ryuji snapped. “I can keep her safe.” I didn’t miss the wicked gleam in his eye, nor did I forget I owed him a favor.
“I will come with you.” Obi’s voice cut through the staring match between the dragon and the bodyguard.
I huffed a breath. Did he want to come to help? Or because he thought I couldn’t handle it?
