Page 24

The Next Night

The underground reports rolled in as we listened in on their channel frequencies.

Their money handlers were dead at Club Velvet.

The drug warehouse product was unsellable.

The weapons stash was destroyed by salt water at the port.

They took three devastating blows in rapid succession, and Ronan still had no idea who was dismantling his empire.

That was the difference between us and them.

Where they had come in, aiming at us hot, and taking what belonged to us, we planned a meticulous attack that crippled their entire operation while remaining hidden until we were ready to be seen.

I spread the blueprint of Pandora’s Box’s main facility across my desk.

The industrial district location covered four floors, and each section was marked with Storm’s precise notations about security measures and access points.

This was their fortress. Their sanctuary. The place they thought was untouchable.

“Their internal communications are a mess,” Storm said, laying out surveillance transcripts. “They’re pointing fingers, questioning every supervisor and every worker. The weapons facility manager disappeared an hour ago - probably running before they could blame him too.”

Cruz’s dark laughter filled the room. “This is the time to strike. While they’re still reeling and trying to figure out who fucked them over.”

“Most of their hired muscle jumped ship after the weapons stash went down,” I said.

Storm pulled up his tablet. “The ones still loyal can’t arm themselves properly. And with their accounts frozen after Club Velvet, they can’t hire more.”

I felt wicked satisfaction rip through me.

“This is what we wanted. The face-off. They can’t call for help. It’s us versus them.”

Cruz and Storm met my gaze, and I saw the same wicked hunger in their eyes.

“This is going to be so fuckin’ good. My dick is already hard,” Cruz said.

I laughed, and Storm shook his head. “This nigga got a hard-on for everything.”

My laughter cranked, and Cruz nodded and bit his bottom lip.

“It’s because of the terror. It ignites my sweet fuckin’ tooth.”

Cruz kissed the tip of his fingers in a chef’s kiss, and I doubled over, thoroughly amused.

“I love this motherfucker to death,” I grabbed his shirt and jerked him back and forth before pushing him.

“Awww, you wanna give me a kiss?” He puckered his lips and made kissing noises, and I couldn’t contain my laugh.

“Fuck. Off.”

He continued his kissing theatrics. “I love you too, nigga. Now, let’s get down to the details so we can have lunch.”

Storm shook his head, hanging on to a smirk.

“What?” Cruz turned his attention to him. “You want some love, too? Come here.”

He grabbed Storm and puckered his lips.

“Get yo ass off me, nigga.”

Cruz humped his leg, and Santari entered the room and sauntered up to me.

“I love seeing y’all like this.”

I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and drew her back into my chest.

“Stop playing, nigga!” Storm pushed Cruz as he laughed.

“Aight, aight. How’s their security system looking?”

Storm shook his head. “I have complete control of their system, but for now, I’m letting it roll like usual so we can see all their movements. It’s complex but exploitable. I can program targeted commotion on their lights, locks, and emergency protocols and set it all to trigger with one command.”

“You’ll need to be inside with us,” I said. “Can you manage both?”

“Give me two hours to preset everything. I’ll build in secondary programs and control it all from my phone while we move.”

I nodded as my mind plotted our approach. “We go in three-man. Make them think they’ve got the numbers’ advantage.”

Santari turned to face me, but I spoke first. “Not you. Not yet.”

Her eyes narrowed. “After everything we’ve done, you still don’t think I can be an asset to this operation?”

“After everything, Santari, you deserve to be their destruction.” I pulled her closer. “Let’s let them think they’ve trapped us. Let them think they’ve won. Then you will show them exactly who they’ve been fucking with.”

Understanding dawned in her eyes, followed by that wickedness I’d watched grow inside her. “Where do you want me?”

“Do you see these areas?” I pointed to the maps. “This is where they’ll be, and we’ll make sure to corner them there if they choose to move toward us. I won’t give you a signal. You were made for this, and when the time is right, you’ll know it.”

“Their own cameras will catch it all,” Storm added. “Every moment of their downfall will be recorded on their own system.”

Cruz studied the blueprint. “What’s our time frame?”

“Tonight,” I said. “While they’re still fractured. While the confusion is fresh.”

“I’ll have the programs ready in two hours,” Storm reiterated.

I kept my eyes on the blueprint, but I slipped my hand up Santari’s throat, feeling her pulse race under my fingers. “Make them pay for everything they took from you, and we’ll make them pay for thinking they could touch what’s ours and get away with it.”

She barred her teeth and bit into my wrists, hungry for blood. “With pleasure.”

The industrial district wrapped us in shadows as we approached Ronan’s fortress. Storm’s phone glowed briefly as he initiated the first sequence. Inside, lights would fail, security doors would activate at random, and their own system would turn against them.

“The cameras are looping,” Storm confirmed. “The back entrance is clear.”

Cruz moved first, and I followed, with Storm close behind me moving as silent as the night through the service door. The corridors stretched dark and empty—their personnel had been cut to the bare minimum after the weapons facility disaster. Voices echoed from above, angry and desperate.

“What do you mean the system’s locked? Override it!”

“I’m trying! Nothing’s responding!”

Storm’s smile was sinister, and he triggered another sequence as we moved. Emergency lights flooded the second floor, strobing red and white, disorienting anyone inside.

We climbed to the third floor, where the real power lived. Their command center, their private offices, their illusion of control. We were about to shatter it all.

“There’s movement ahead,” Cruz said. “Four guards.”

They never saw us coming. We emerged from the dark like their worst nightmares, efficient and lethal. No guns yet. This needed to be intimate.

My knife sliced through the first guard’s throat as Cruz snapped the second one’s neck. Storm whipped out a cord and strangled the third. The fourth managed half a shout before we took him down.

“Boss, we’ve got company!” The radio on one corpse crackled. “Shit, they’re here! The lower level is dark. We need help!”

Cruz burst into laughter. “Bitch ass niggas calling for help, how fuckin’ embarrassing.”

“Give ‘em a break, Cruz, they’re scared,” I mocked.

He shook his head, disgusted as we moved.

Storm clicked his phone. More lights died, and more doors were sealed.

“Let’s keep pushing them up,” Cruz said. “Forcing them where we want them.”

We moved through their fortress like death itself, eliminating resistance and herding the survivors. Each floor and corridor brought us closer to our true targets.

When the top floor stretched before us, we knew we’d reached their inner sanctum. Through the glass walls of their conference room, I saw them - Ronan and his three killers. Pandora’s Box, trapped in their own web.

“There’s nowhere left to run,” Cruz murmured.

Storm initiated the final sequence. Every exit was sealed, and every escape route was blocked except for the spot where Santari waited in the wing. In the conference room, Ronan’s face twisted with rage as he realized what was happening.

I pushed through the doors with Cruz and Storm flanking me. “To have once called you brother reminds me that I’ve made reprehensible mistakes in life.”

Ronan’s eyes turned into a mask of fury.

“We’ll make sure to never do that again.” I glanced at Cruz and Storm. “Won’t we, fellas?”

“Damn right,” they agreed.

“You…” Ronan’s rage twisted his features. “You’ve been behind everything.”

“Did you really think you could kill our true brother, kidnap our woman, and live to talk about it?”

“Tsk… I thought even you knew better than that.” I glanced at the others. “But I see you’ve got back up. So, you’re feeling… safe, is it?”

“Fuck you, nigga!”

My eyes widened, and I smiled. “Fuck me?” I pointed at myself then glanced at Cruz and Storm. “I think he’s mad.”

Cruz grunted, his face creased in lines of anger. “I say we put him out of his misery.”

I nodded. “I say you’re right. What do you think, Storm?”

“It’s now or never.”

I chuckled. “You wouldn’t believe Storm’s the lesser violent one out of the three of us, and yet, he’s about to kill the fuck outta y’all.”

Ronan’s team spread out - the biggest one on the left side of him carried a mountain of muscle.

He moved with surprising speed as another coiled like a cobra, ready to strike.

The third carried himself with a fighter’s confidence.

Their positioning blocked the exits behind them as if we would be the ones to run.

“We’ll just see about that,” Ronan mocked.

The mountain rushed Cruz first, closing the distance with impressive speed. Cruz ducked the initial swing, turned quickly, with a fierce grip and toss that sent him crashing into a control panel. Sparks showered as circuits shattered.

Storm engaged the fighter as they weaved between machinery. The fighter grabbed a loose pipe from a workbench, swinging it in lethal arcs. Storm caught the pipe mid-swing, using it to yank his opponent off balance, and slam him into an electrical box.

The cobra came at me while Ronan circled. His kick swept low, but I vaulted onto a maintenance platform, catching his follow-up punch and driving his face into a junction box. He staggered back with blood streaming from his nose, as Ronan moved beside me.