Page 43 of Only Fools Rush

“Wait—” the man wheezed, a wet and sticky sound. “Wait.”

“Oh?” I pressed. He was about to break, but he also wasn’t going to last much longer. We needed to get confirmation out of him before we finished him. “You were saying?”

“Yes,” he spluttered. “Yes, we’re allies with the Italians. The bosses signed a deal this morning. Orders went out to target the Russians.” His chest heaved, while blood dripping from his mouth. “Please. Just kill me,please.”

This fucking morning. Guess that answered our earlier question.

“Which cartel?” Kostya asked. The man moaned, eyes rolling back in his head. Kostya snapped the hedge cutters, the sound waking the man up.

“The Alacrán,” he whispered. “We’re the Alacrán.”

I exchanged a glance with Kostya. The Alacrán were the biggest cocaine suppliers out of Colombia right now. They’d been competitors against the Russians for years, slowly yet surely infiltrating the city and growing their foothold.

After our encounter at Club Thunder, Volpe knew the Russians were on our side. War between him and Kostya was already in question because of how the Italians had stolen his drugs, and now that Kostya had displayed preference to us, Volpe needed a defense.

So, after the death of Vincenzo Tommaso, Volpe had made a deal with the Alacrán Cartel, the only drug importers that could rival the size of the Russians.

He had to be worried the Shadows and the Russians were a threat to his enterprise.

He was trying to take out two birds with one stone.

“Why?” I asked. “Why does the Alacrán want in on this?”

“We want the territory,” he groaned. “The bosses promised the Eastern Seaboard if we could get rid of the Russians. It’ll more than triple our business.Please. Kill me.”

I shared a glance with Kostya, both our faces marred by a frown. This wasn’t just testing the waters or setting up defense against us. The Italians and the cartel were making power plays. Once they eliminated us, they’d own the coastline.

“Anything else we should know?”

The man didn’t reply. His eyes rolled back into his head again.

“Hey!” I shouted. He jerked awake. “I can either make this quick, or I can leave you hanging here. I have shots of adrenaline waiting. It would behoursmore.”

His body wobbled on the hook, like he was trying to shake his head, but all he did was look like a bloodied worm. “Nothing. That’s all I know.Please.”

I flicked a knife from my wrist and watched it bury into the man’s neck. He slumped forward, finally hanging from the meat hook, completely limp.

“Well,” Kostya said, tossing the hedge cutters. “That’s disappointing.”

“No shit.”

Turf wars got bloody and quick, especially with personal vendettas. I’d been part of my fair share in the Yakuza when I was young. We had to get control of this, fast. If we didn’t, we could lose our footing in New York faster than a bat out of hell.

I slipped my phone from my pocket to dial Obi.

“Ryu,” his smooth voice answered from the other side.

“Volpe has allied with the South Americans. The Alacrán Cartel. They’ve turned their sights on Konstantin and the Russians. Hit a warehouse today, targeting men and product.”

“This is confirmed?” His voice was calm. Measured. Much more controlled than I felt in that moment.

“Yes,” I said as I stared at the body. “The deal was made this morning.”

Kostya’s brother and second-in-command, Kolya, cut down the man. His body flopped to the ground with a crunch. I held up a hand to pause him from dragging the corpse out of the room.

“That is not ideal,” Obi said carefully.

“Um, no, it is fucking not.” It wasanotherthing we had to deal with. Another complication. Another enemy. Another hit on business. How long until this shit blew back on my businesses even more than they already had? How would we ever be able to leave the penthouse with every fucking organization in the city turning against us? “It can’t be six of us versus three fucking armies, Obi.”