Kings of Blood and Money (Underworld Kings)

“Your family will be well compensated. This is a down payment. Another sum of the same amount will come once the party is over. And Antonio will be in your debt. This venture isn’t just an opportunity for us. We’ve been trying to cross the border for years, and there’s never been a way in until now. It’s beneficial for us all, the Ruin families.”

I don’t need him trying to convince me getting this client on board will be beneficial for us. My father’s business is thriving. “I’ll discuss it with my brother and Father and let you know. Be aware, what you’re asking isn’t taken lightly. That house was picked out by my mother who died there. And that special room you speak of was built for one person in mind.”

The atmosphere shifts, my anger filling the space, suffocating everyone within range.

“No disrespect was meant. Antonio understands the favor that will be owed and is willing to pay it.” Mateo dips his head, reaching a hand out for me to shake.

I take it and lean in, pulling him halfway across the table, the wood whining under his weight. “You asked on his behalf, but the request still came from your lips. It won’t only be Antonio in our debt.”

Tony stiffens behind Mateo, unsure what to do. I release him with a chuckle. “Is that all?”

A nod of Mateo’s head answers that question.

Stepping from the cabin, my feet falter when I see my brother has joined us, a scruffy looking man on his knees in front of him, tears rimming the man’s eyes, making clean tracks down his ruddy cheeks.

“Who the fuck is that?” Tony lurches, coming down the steps behind me.

“That is a problem. Did you even clear this place out?” My brother rolls his shoulders, irritation tugging his brows together.

“Both our men did a sweep of the place. It was clean.” Mateo heaves out, his eyes scanning the rest of the warehouse like more people are going to pop out of the shadows.

“I didn’t hear anything, I promise. I’m a nobody. I sleep here sometimes is all,” the scruffy man mumbles, keeping his eyes diverted toward the rotten concrete floor.

Opening my jacket, I reach for my gun, screwing a silencer onto the barrel. “Wrong place, wrong time,” I offer calmly, aiming and pulling the trigger before the man has a chance to raise his hands in surrender or see it coming. It’s a shame and an inconvenience.

Turning to Mateo and Tony, I narrow my eyes on them. “That will also cost you. If this is how you conduct yourselves, it’s no wonder Maddox caught charges.”

Roberto’s man looks to him, eyes wide. “What if he was police?” he hisses.

Feet shuffle. A wary tenseness shifts in the air, putting everyone on edge. “He’s not wearing a wire or documentation.” Remi moves him with his foot. “I checked him. And there’s a little spot where you could tell he’s been sleeping,” he adds.

All eyes turn to Mateo. “My men must have overlooked him. I’ll deal with them.”

“Good thing his brother was here then,” Roberto sneers, nodding his head for his men to follow him toward the exit.

“We still need to discuss our business,” Little Tony calls after him, only getting a dismissive wave of Roberto’s hand.

A burst of shots fire from behind me, startling us. The bullets fire into the man I shot dead on the wet concrete. All eyes shift to my brother, who has his own gun drawn after emptying his clip into the homeless guy.

“He moved.” He shrugs.

“Your brother shot him in the head,” Little Tony informs him, gesturing to the bullet hole oozing blood.

“Can’t be too sure,” Remi tuts. Lifting his hair from his forehead, he taps the barrel of his gun to his scar, barely visible in this muted light. I can see it from memory alone. “Have to be sure.” He shrugs.

“We’ll clean this up,” Tony announces, his eyes alert, body tense, as he studies Remi.

“We’ll take care of our own business. You’re sloppy, it would seem.” The mockery in my tone doesn’t go unnoticed.

“It won’t happen again.” Mateo nods, patting my shoulder. I look him up and down, grunting. He’s lucky they’re not all laying here dead.

The house is silent when I enter. Remi had me drop him off at an apartment in town. He always needs to find a woman to come down in once he’s had a high like he got tonight. Killing innocent people isn’t something we enjoy. Well…I don’t. Remi is a different breed. It doesn’t ever seem to register to him that he’s taking a life, snuffing out the light in a human being. He’s almost de-sensitized to it. Death lives within him. Part of who he is. Flashes of my mother’s body flicker through my mind without permission.

Blood.

So much blood.