Page 2

Chapter 2

Vito

As it turns out, I could wait. For four fucking hours.

I could've gotten laid or got a blow job, but instead, I've been sitting on my ass in the waiting room outside the main conference room at the Tower. Raf and I came straight here because I didn't want anyone to accuse that we were getting rid of evidence.

So, like good innocent boys, when Raf and I left Gilly's, we got into my black 1968 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 and headed straight to the Tower. Purposefully taking a direct route, where the CCTVs would catch us and the Chamber heads could verify we came straight here. I also knew we've been recorded ever since we sat our asses in the waiting room.

Molly, the assistant for the Chamber meetings, bends over the desk in her tight pencil skirt and straightens after she grabs what she needs and slips into the conference room. Raf just finished fucking her in the bathroom, and he adjusts his junk as he struts out.

I roll my eyes from where I sit on the sofa in the elegant yet plain waiting room. "Asshole."

"You were welcome to join us."

"Wasn't really in the mood." I stretch my arms back, cracking my spine. There are three hidden cameras that I've spotted, and I keep my expression unconcerned and relaxed.

Raf flops into a chair, observing me with hooded eyes and a small grin. "I'm always in the mood for a nice, warm pussy. You usually are, too." He sighs, leaning his head back. "Dammit, now I just want to sleep."

I smirk. "Exactly, you dumb fuck."

He smiles again without lifting his head. "You stopping in at Lexa's on the way home?"

"Yeah, she's been blowing up my phone since midnight. You know I'm her favorite cock to suck."

Lexa isn't a girlfriend or anything even remotely close. I have never had a relationship—hell, I've never fucked the same woman twice. Lexa loves giving head, though, and I'm happy to be on the receiving end. I keep to my strict rule, even with her. She's always the initiator and calls me for the booty blow job requests when she feels like it. And she knows my one-and-done rule when it comes to fucking. Or more like my cock's rule; it doesn't have any interest in sinking into the same pussy twice; maybe because it's never been an life-altering experience or one where it feels like I'm sinking into heaven so I'm perpetually chasing the unicorn orgasm. But when it comes to the blow jobs, Lexa prides herself on giving great head, and she loves to suck mine; other than that she actually prefers to fuck women.

Raf grunts, his eyes still closed. But when we hear the conference door open, he sits up, alert and ready.

My father stands in the doorway. It's eight in the morning, and he's already put in a few hours of a meeting. His health is in the toilet, but he looks pristine in his tailored three-piece suit and smoothed-back dark hair that's salt-and-peppered on the sides.

He's similar in stature to Massimo, but his body and hands bear scars like mine. My baby brother Creed has the same icy light blue eyes and strong, attractive looks as him.

The only indication of his decline in health is his skin's slight ashen hue. I'm thankful because there are days he looks and sounds like death is knocking at his door. Right now, his expression gives nothing away. He's the unreadable Don, and I have no idea what I will face in that conference room.

" Figlio, " he says. Son.

" Babbo ." I rise off the sofa and stride toward the conference room.

"Raf, wait out here. We'll call you next." My father steps to the side as I approach, and even though he looks relaxed, I can feel his tension. Following me in, he closes the door after Molly leaves the room.

"You know Lixin Xhang, head of the Triads, Amazu Musa of the Fire Clan, Dominic Jude of the Saints, and Ash Dexter of the Havoc Guardians."

I know all of them, although I rarely deal directly with them. Usually, I work with their second-in-commands when I procure the weapons they're looking for or with their enforcers when dealing with security matters. Dom and Ash aren't elitist assholes, but Lixin and Amazu are snot-nosed dicks who only like to acknowledge the organization's head.

"Have a seat, Vito," Ash says in his gravelly voice, gesturing to the chair on the opposite side of the table. The conference room's lights catch the silver rings on his tattooed hands, reminding me of Creed's heavily inked flesh.

I sit like I'm in front of an interview panel for some corporate job. Or maybe being disposed by a bunch of lawyers. I fight a smirk, then I fight a yawn. I haven't slept in almost thirty-six hours.

"Tell us," Lixin orders.

Usually, I'd have my knife at the offender's throat for daring to talk to me like that, but now is not the time. I bite back my dislike for the arrogant prick and calmly relay all the details I've already given Massimo, who would've relayed them to Babbo .

"Why would Aiken Fallen call you?" Dom asks.

"I don't know."

"Any speculations?" Amazu asks in his heavy accent and eyes me with slight suspicion.

Or maybe I'm imagining the suspicion. Like I said, it's been way too long since I slept.

"He called me earlier to confirm the upcoming gambling game, just like he had called all your heads of security. It's possible he hit my number on the call log; it could've just as likely been any of your heads of security as it was me."

The illegal poker game has an outrageous buy-in and is by invitation only. The Chamber provides additional security along with Gilly's in-house security team. The participants are invite-only, but that doesn't mean they're trusted. Having extra protection from the five strongest forces in the city limits the risk of trouble at the high-stakes gambling game.

"What time did Aiken call you?" Dom asks.

"3:02."

"Not three o'clock?" He cocks a brow at me.

A brow that has a scar running through it to the top of his eye. A scar that I gave him when we were both young, volatile, and stupid, and after which our fathers made us work closely together to learn to appreciate each other and respect the intention of the Chamber.

"3:02." I unlock my phone and sliding it across the table, but none of them take it. "I also brought Aiken's phone and gave it to Molly so you can check it as well."

"So, sometime between closing at two o'clock and 3:02, the security system was taken out, including the CCTVs in the area, and Aiken was killed," Lixin summarizes.

"The place was locked up when Raf and I got there," I add. "The back door had slight signs of forced entry, but there's nothing to confirm that they came in that way. Even if they did, that doesn't explain how they locked the place up when they left."

Lixin's jaw tightens as he looks at me. Probably pissed that I pointed out the pieces he missed.

Amazu drums his fingers lightly on the table. "It's ballsy to hit Aiken at Gilly's."

If Aiken had been killed outside of Gilly's, the Chamber would investigate, but it easily could be chalked up to wrong-place-wrong-time. However, hitting Aiken at Gilly's will most certainly solidify the Chamber's deep involvement in the investigation and their wrath. So, to take that risk, whoever did this seems to be sending a message along with the middle finger to the Chamber.

"Who's Ed?" my father asks.

I shrug. "There's no staff by that name that I know of. I've never heard Aiken ever mention him before."

Ash leans forward, resting his elbows on the table, and looks between his counterparts. "How does succession work for Gilly's?"

Ash has been Prez of his MC for several years, but there hasn't been a change in the succession of Gilly's for fifteen years.

"The process has always been that the current owner-operator's sealed will has the name and instructions," my father explains. "A lawyer will bring it to be read at Gilly's after Aiken's funeral service."

"No one knows who the successor is ahead of time?" Dom asks.

My father shakes his head. "Not the lawyer; not even Gus has any idea. The intent is that it's secret and guarded so there can be no influencing."

Such as finding out who the next successor is and making secret alliances and deals.

"Aiken has previously given us each a key but hadn't explained what it was for," my father continues. "As the Chamber's convenor, he told me that the keys are to be used when we all attend the successor reveal with our executive."

For my family, the executive meant my father, Massimo as his second-in-command, my uncle , Zio Marco who is my father's advisor or consigliere, and myself, as the head of security.

"In true Aiken fashion and his meticulous planning, his will is sealed inside something that our keys will open. The lawyer will bring whatever that is for the successor reveal."

"Could this Ed be the one who killed Aiken?" Amazu asks. "To speed up the succession?"

I frown, considering but discard it. "They would've hit Aiken outside of Gilly's. Probably easiest to cause an accident."

"That's what you would do, amigo ?" Dom smirks.

"Yes."

Ash cocks his head, a slight smile on his face.

Amazu regards me again with steely eyes. "You're not much of a jokester."

Only my loved ones see that side of me. "In our world, there's rarely much to joke about. And I have shit to do, so I always cut to the point."

Amazu grunts. "Where were you when Aiken called?"

I want to ram my hand over my close-cropped hair as annoyance and fatigue press in like a toxic fog rolling in over the Bay.

"Raf and I were at Vixen's." Vixen's is the premier upscale strip club, which the Havoc Guardians own. "Before that, I was playing in my playroom."

Meaning I had an enemy who was no longer breathing.

"Anyone we know?" Dom asks.

"Three members of the Shadow Weasels."

Ash stiffens, as this is a rival biker club that periodically likes to cause shit within the Havoc Guardians' territory.

"They hit my weapons shipment, Ash. They were mine to deal with, but I let Pix and Bane know."

Bane is the Havoc Guardians's VP, and Pix is the enforcer. She's tiny but vicious and slightly insane, so the perfect enforcer in my book. Ash relaxes back, giving me a nod.

Lixin looks at the others before turning back to me. "You're dismissed."

Fuck, this guy is a cunt.

But I keep my mouth shut and lumber to my towering six-five height, feeling every second of my thirty years at the moment with my fatigue.

I'm not in the clear yet. The Chamber will play a role similar to a tribunal. They'll review all the evidence from our interviews, the footage they'll gather from the CCTVs from my drive here, and the recordings in the waiting area. They'll grill Raf. Everything will be analyzed—our words, tones, inflictions, and body language. They'll interview Gus and Gilly's staff to see if I have more than the approved non-relationship with Aiken.

"Is Massimo still on site at Gilly's?" I ask my father, and he nods.

Massimo is helping at Gilly's, as would all the second-in-commands of the Chamber. Gus will be there with Ambrose, Gilly's head of security, and the Police Commissioner will provide off-the-books CSI specialists to gather and analyze whatever evidence they can. Plus, an immediate autopsy of Aiken will be arranged to occur in the back of our funeral home, which will then prepare Aiken for his stay in the afterlife.

I turn on my heel, happy my part is over.

The door opens as I approach it, and Molly gives me a not-so-subtle eye-fucking as she lets Raf in. He smirks at me and says in a low voice, "No need to wait for me unless you're planning to join for a three-way."

I shake my head. "Have fun."

"Your loss, brother."

As I stride out, images of Aiken lying in his blood hit me again, and I grind my jaw. I'm definitely ready for this night to be over.