The Squad

I thought we’d all head back to the same rooms and the cabins out back that the SEALs had used when we were here last, but instead, Mancini himself came out of hiding and led us downstairs to a place I hadn’t seen when we were here before; fucker has an underground mansion.

Everything that could be found upstairs was down here, except there were more rooms with a large common area, a big as fuck double kitchen, and enough bathrooms to serve an army. He hadn’t squandered on play areas for the kids either, and there were more than enough electronics to choke the Pentagon.

We got the women and kids settled, which wasn’t hard since the ladies seemed to have some shit going on. Kat tried to convince me that it was about our daughter’s wedding, and I let her believe that I was stupid enough to believe her shi. Had I not tagged her ass almost twenty years ago, I’d never know the amount of shit her little ass could get up to.

The men headed back upstairs after making sure their individual families were squared away and congregated in Mancini’s office. The room was wall to wall muscle. “Was that labyrinth downstairs here the last time we came?” I asked the question I’m guessing was on everyone’s minds.

“It was yes. Down there is off the radar grid; no one knows it exists. I didn’t want to show you all of it while the women and children are around, but later I’ll show you the ammunition room as well as the security lab. There are other things around here that I didn’t let you in on the last time, but we’ll get to that.”

“Alright, we’re here, what gives?” Good to know I wasn’t the only one who was finally catching on to the fact that this was about more than a damn pandemic. Underground specialized bunkers are one thing, but the amount of security detail he has around here spells impending trouble.

“Hold your horses Blade; we’re waiting for one more.” Mancini tapped his fingers on the table with a slight grin. Just then, the sound of a smooth engine could be heard sliding into the yard outside. The door to the office opened minutes later, and the last hold up walked in. Shit, I forgot about this one. Fucker makes Mancini look like a pauper. “The fuck are you wearing Thorpe?”

I can’t with these GQ motherfuckers. Asshole looked like he was going out for a night at the MET. Before he could answer Mancini, hit him with a question of his own. “Where’s your wife’s adopted brother?”

“How do you know about him?” These billionaire types are some touchy fucks.

Thorpe got his back up real quick at that question, which made every man in the room sit up and take notice. Mancini, with his smooth ass, just smiled. “I know a lot of things. I also know you gave the kid your last name when he was sixteen to separate his identity from his dad’s.”

Thorpe lifted his watch to his mouth and pressed the stem. “Jason, get in here.” He never took his eyes off of Mancini as he spoke, and I didn’t know what the fuck. At least I was sure that every man in the room was more or less on the same page when it came to trying to save the young and innocent from the assholes of the world.

Whatever else these fucks had going on, I had no idea about and didn’t want to know. I have enough to deal with-with Kat and her fucking kids. Speaking of which, where the fuck is Mengele?

Mancini

“Shit, this is harder than I expected it to be.” Now that they were all here spread out around the room looking at me expectantly, I found that my well-planned words weren’t as easy to say as I thought they would be. I should’ve remembered that I was dealing with men who are basically just like me to the core and what that would mean in a situation like this.

Fuck, I might as well start with the most difficult and work my way down. “Lyon, front and center.” He was leaning against the wall looking disinterested when not sneering at Thorpe, not sure why the fact that Gideon was dressed for the boardroom was bothering him, but then again, it doesn’t take much.

“This isn’t about the pandemic, is it?”

“No, sorry to get you here under false pretenses, but it was the best I could come up with in such short notice.”

“Okay, who do you need me to kill?” There were more than a few snickers around the room, but I’m pretty sure he was serious.

“No one, I need you to listen to me without interruption.” The room fell silent. I had all their attention. I never gave much thought to how this moment would feel; all of us gathered together under one roof for the first time since our ancestors were scattered around the world. I looked at all of them before my eyes came to settle on Colt again.