Page 8 of One (The Towns Syndicate #2)

Ally

M ornings sucked. I didn’t know how anyone could be a morning person. It was the worst time of the day and now that my nights had shifted into days, having to be up in the mornings was torture.

I turned around groaning as I pulled a pillow towards me and ended up hitting something firm. Ok, maybe all mornings weren’t bad; I ran my hand against the hard chest.

“I didn’t know you’d be here today,” I said, scooting closer, opening my eyes.

A set of honey brown eyes looked back at me, and I jerked back.

“What the fuck!” I yelled, and jumped out of my bed to see Winchester laying there like he belonged there.

He was dressed like he was going out to war, with his tactical gear, guns and knives strapped to his body. His hands were behind his head with a serious expression as his head was tilted to the side, staying completely silent.

“Winchester, what the fuck are you doing in my room?” I snarled.

“Protecting you?” he replied, like I was an idiot for asking.

“You do that outside of my room!” I yelled exasperated.

“I can’t protect you if I can’t see you,” he said sitting up. “What if someone came through the window?”

“Then you walk through the fucking door like anyone else?” I growled.

“You could be dead by then,” he replied sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. “This way, one of us is with you at all times making sure nothing happens to you, especially since you have shit perimeter control.”

“Well… I’m fucking working on that!” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Can you protect me from outside of my bedroom from now on?”

“It’s your life,” he shrugged, rolling off my bed and leaving my room. “Don’t lock the door.”

Boogie said they were amazing, while King had his reservations about them, and I was starting to see why.

I jumped in the shower then headed down to eat breakfast before meeting with my men.

Today we had another deal happening up north, and while this one man wasn’t as well-known as Jay, he was just as important.

I was nervous about it until the triplets got here and if what Lance said was true, then I really had nothing to worry about. Their reputation would precede them.

The compound was quiet as I made my way to the kitchen until I heard the click of a gun.

I took a deep breath wondering what triplet I was going to have to reprimand today, they were like children half the time.

Maverick’s melodic voice carried out to the hallway, sweet as honey, but as I turned the corner, she had Manuel on the table with a gun pointed at his temple.

“Just say the words and I can redecorate the kitchen a pretty red,” she said sweetly.

Winchester had his feet up on the table reading Teen Vogue and Ruger was eating a bowl of cereal reading a book, like a man wasn’t about to die in front of them.

“That’s not what he did, Maverick,” Lance snapped, leaning over the table. “Winchester was the shit who did it.”

Manuel mumbled something as I stood in front of the table. Maverick looked at Winchester, who couldn’t contain his smile.

“Oops, I thought he touched me,” she said, shrugging and let him go, not even getting mad at Winchester.

“Can we not have guns drawn before fucking ten?” I slammed my hands on the table. “Not every situation has to end in bloodshed, and I'd like to not lose men because you misheard something.”

“I—”

“I don’t give a shit what happened, can you not kill my men for a small misunderstanding?” I glared at her. “I get asserting your place here, and while I know you have to, try to kick him in the nuts or?—”

Maverick didn’t waste any time and swiftly kicked Manuel in the nuts before she sat down. Manuel glared at me.

“?Que quieres que te mate or que tus huevitos te duelen por un rato?” I sighed.

Would you rather die or have your balls hurt a little?

I shook my head as I walked to the fridge, already getting a headache from the triplets, and I hadn’t even been up for an hour.

It was surprisingly quiet as I made myself breakfast and when I sat down, Lance went over some logistics with the delivery. I expected the triplets to fuck around completely annoyingly but they sat and listened.

“We’d like to head in now and scope the place out,” Winchester said, standing up.

“We can hide guns in the area just in case, but I think we need escape routes,” Maverick added.

“And a meeting point if we get separated,” Ruger said.

They exchanged a look together as if they were speaking telepathically.

“Text us when you head out, and I’ll call you when I have a full report,” Winchester said as they filed out of the room.

Lance and I exchanged a look.

“Boogie said they were the best at what they did, so let’s hope this goes betterand less bloody than the last deal,” I said, leaning back in my chair.

“I just hope their crazy doesn’t cost us,” Lance sighed.

“Maybe their crazy is exactly what we need,” I said, getting up. “I’m going to walk the town and then do a check on the product before we head out.”

“You got it,” Lance said as I left the room.

“Jay said he was impressed with your quality and business savviness, but he was concerned with your men,” Derek said inspecting the product. “He said you wouldn’t last in this world for longer than a few months.”

I gave him a bored expression wondering what the hell he wanted me to say. Admit that Jay was right, that I was terrified?

“What else did he say?” I sighed. “That a woman wouldn’t be able to fill the shoes of a man?”

“Is that how you feel?” Derek raised his brow.

“No, but it seems like the same tune all men carry nowadays,” I said with a raised brow, as he leaned down and snorted a line of coke.

I almost wished I had given him a pure line of coke to sniff hoping he’d die.

“This is a man's world,” he said as he sniffed, and his pupils grew wide.

“And who birthed man?” I asked, leaning forward. “You wouldn’t be here without a woman.”

Derek studied me before a smirk slowly grew on his face.

“Bring Noelle the money,” he said, wiping his nose. “This is better than Kris’, his dealings were getting sloppy. I hope our relationship doesn’t end up the same, I'd hate?—”

A gun was cocked as Ruger stepped to my side wearing a mask with a doll on it.

“My trigger-happy triplets don’t like it when you talk badly about me, so I’d choose your next words very carefully,” I said with more confidence than I was feeling. “Their reputation precedes them for a reason.”

Derek was tense as were his men.

“I’d hate to see you go if your product is this good,” he said, stepping back.

“I won’t be going anywhere,” I said, as Ruger tapped my back three times.

One tap meant be on alert, two meant get behind me, three said get in the car now.

“My men will count the money while I wait in the car.” I nodded at him. “Pleasure doing business with you. I also hope you gossip just like Jay did.”

I turned my back on him showing he wasn’t a threat to me, and that I trusted my men.

Ruger stayed close to me as Winchester and Maverick—who also wore the same doll mask — closed in behind Lance.

He opened my door, helped me into the SUV, and got in with me.

I should have been surprised, but after finding Winchester in my bed this morning I couldn’t say that I was.

“Where did that mask come from?” I asked,

“Win, he said a united front is better,” he said, looking out the window before he pulled out his phone, as I did the same.

I was shocked when he pulled up the feed of the deal.

The camera had to be coming from Maverick or Winchester.

A language I didn’t recognize came through the speaker and I wish I understood.

“They are talking about meeting Maverick in a bar last spring and her killing their friend because he couldn’t take no for an answer,” Ruger said. “She stuffed a pad in his mouth when she was on her way to the bathroom making him choke on it, then snapped his neck.”

I raised my brows looking out to see Maverick looking bored.

“Then cut his hand off as a souvenir and sent it to his wife telling her that he was a cheating bastard. It was the one that had his wedding ring on it,” Ruger said in a tone that was emotionless.

“Well, serves him right.” I shrugged. “What language are they speaking?”

“Russian,” he replied, not taking his eyes off the screen.

“Do you speak it too?” I asked, feeling more curious by the minute.

“Yes,” he said, still paying more attention to the phone like he was waiting for them to say something more.

I stayed quiet, waiting for something to happen, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Lance had finished the count when he and Rogelio grabbed the money and brought it to the SUV.

Ruger stepped out as they tossed the money in and Lance climbed into the car and Rogelio into the driver's seat.

The triplets got onto their bikes as two other men got into a vehicle in front of us.

“That went a lot smoother,” Lance said, looking behind us at the triplets. “They were exactly what we needed. I think half of those men were scared shitless. The masks were a nice added touch, good thinking.”

“Their reputation definitely bodes well for us,” I said, looking back at them. “Those masks were all them.”

Maverick rode in front with Winchester and Ruger behind her.

“Makes me feel a lot better about the deliveries.” Lance said, looking out the window.

“Me too, but we still need more men,” I sighed. “I don’t know for how much longer I will have these little psychos.”

“I have four men coming in tomorrow,” he said looking at his phone. “I think we will need twenty men to equal the brawn of those three.”

“No women?”

“Man's world, remember?” he shrugged

“Too much testosterone,” I scowled.

“I’m keeping my eyes out,” he chuckled.

“Winchester also said our perimeter sucked at the compound,” I said, glancing behind me. “We should ask him what he means.”

“Our security isn’t the best, but we need money,” Lance sighed.

“Well, this next deal should hopefully give us enough to make some changes,” I said, getting comfortable for the drive. “If these men are gossiping, I’d hate to be caught off guard.”

“I agree,” Lance said, also leaning back as he worked on his phone. “I hate to say it, but I am glad they let us borrow the triplets.”

“Me too,” I said. “I guess, I’m gonna have to show my appreciation.”

Lance grimaced as I cackled. I had no problem showing my appreciation and I missed my boys. This long distance was killing me even though I had waited a year to see them, but now that I had a taste of them, it was impossible to go more than a few days without them.