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And smaller, weaker parties will join the biggest one; it’s just what happens. I’m big, I’m powerful. My empire’s strong, but this becomes a different story. An outsider with a slew ofconnections coming in and aligning with Sergio is bad news for everyone.

I need to take them both out.

It’s the only way it works.

They’re together, like the fucking stars have aligned. And even if Sergio has no plans of sneaking out, there’s nothing stopping Rocco waltzing out of there on his own, which’ll then mean an orchestrated attack on both of them from different places.

So do I storm in now and take the risk on?

Every instinct says now. It’s almost seven a.m. The last of the staff left before Rocco turned up, so I only have to worry about Rocco, Sergio, and whatever men.

“Alek, call in the car around the back. Lock and load time.”

They both look at me. “Boss?”

“We’re going in.”

Six of us storm in,the door beneath the roller gate not locked. My men are under orders to take out everyone but Sergio and Rocco.

They’re going to die, but there are ways to do it. I want some more answers first.

I shoot the first big man who looks up from near the door, eyes wide in surprise as he fumbles for his gun. A shot in the chest, then the head.

My men take out four more. And when the third runs out, guns blazing I shoot him point-blank.

As my men stream through the place, leaving no prisoners, I search for Sergio and Rocco.

The room’s locked and I’m betting the fuckers are armed. I shoot out the cameras and reload. Then I kick down thefucking door, shooting low and ducking out of the way of the shower of bullets that come our way.

I let them empty their guns before I send my men in.

There’s a short gunfire exchange and a howl of pain and I round the corner in time to see Rocco rolling on the ground, holding one leg, and Sergio face down, arms twisted behind his back.

Nothing but disgust rolls through me. “Restrain them. Now.”

I don’t talk to them. I want them to wait, to stew. And the added pain for Rocco suits me just fine. I borrow a phone from Ivan and send texts to Ilya.

There’s another room, this one with a steel door and it’s locked. It’s at the back of the office. I frown, wondering why the fuck, if Sergio has a room like this, he didn’t go in there with his friend before we stormed the place and then burst out to kill us all.

Something uneasy stirs in me.

“Open this.”

I bark the words at Sergio.

My backup starts to arrive. “Keep guns on that fucking door. If it opens, shoot to kill. And keep weapons trained on all exits,” I say to Pavel who just arrived.

“Keys?” I hook a thumb at the door and look at Sergio.

Something definitely isn’t right because the fuck is smirking.

“Oh, Demyan …”

It dawns on me that while weapons were shot at the door when my men barged in, he banked on me playing by the rules of our world. Banked on me wanting answers. He could have tried to take me out.

It wouldn’t have worked, but he could have tried.

Yet he didn’t.