Bitter Vows (Crimson Falls 1)

“There’s a convent about two hours outside of Los Angeles, which I need your men to check up on, and since you have connections over there, I figured you’d be the best person to ask. I’ve heard rumors of the Cartel moving illegal goods into the States, trading them up from the border to the City of Angels.”

My ears perk up at his words. “Illegal goods?” I’ve had connections all over the country, all over the world, but if Alex is coming to me, then this must be big. Even though he must have people down there, I have a feeling this goes deeper than just the Cartel.

“Girls.” The one word has me on my feet. My target for the evening is moving toward the booths, a woman on his arm that isn’t his wife, and even though my blood is boiling with the need to take him down, what Alex just confessed is more important.

“Send me the info. I’ll have them shut down within a few hours. Blood will spill.”

“If I were closer, I would ask you to wait for me, but I’m in Italy; a job that needed my attention,” he informs me. The lowering of his tone tells me he’s not alone.

If he’s in Europe, then I wonder where his familia is. “What about your cousins?” I know the Moretti brothers are based in LA. I’ve never met them personally, but I’ve spent enough time with Alex to know they’re not men you mess around with.

“They’re… indisposed. Miami needed their attention.” His voice tinged with mystery has me pondering what they’re up to, but I know better than to ask. I don’t get into their business, and they don’t get into mine.

Nodding to myself, I tell him, “I’ll sort this out.” The promise is there as I move into my spacious office, drink in one hand, my phone in the other. Kicking the door shut behind me, I settle behind my cherry wood desk. The sleek leather chair molds to my form, and I relax against it before waking my computer with a nudge to the mouse. When the screen lights up, Alex’s encrypted email is waiting. “I’ve got the info; just leave it with me. I’ll confirm once the job is done.”

“Talk soon.” He hangs up before I can say anything more, but there’s nothing else I can tell him. I hit dial on Kahn’s number. The one man I know will have a vested interest in this.

It takes him two rings before answering. “Mr. Shaw.”

“Kahn, I have a job for you and the team. I know you’re out on the East Coast right now, but before you dive into training, I’d like you to check out a convent,” I tell him, leaning back in my chair, casting my gaze down at the club below.

Silence greets me for a long moment before he responds, “A convent?”

“Alexei Carnevali just called,” I inform my best man. “He has it on good authority that illegal goods are being moved from New York to Mexico. The Cartel is involved, but we can’t walk into their territory without proof, or we will start a war.”

“Goods? As in…?” He allows his words to filter into the silence between us, and each time I think about what Alex told me, the more my blood boils at the thought of what’s happening to innocent women.

“Yes.”

“I’m on it,” Kahn tells me, raw honesty in his tone, but also a hint of the hunter I know him to be. That’s why I hired him when he first walked into my club. A man with the desire of a predator and the skill of a trained assassin. What more could I want?

“Good. Keep me updated.” I hang up, my glare still on the thieving asshole downstairs. Mr. Bardot is nothing more than a cheating scumbag, but he doesn’t realize just how he’s about to pay me back for walking in when I had to.

A fucking Bardot coming in and ruining shit in my life once more. It’s not the first time I’ve had to learn about their family. The name is synonymous with secrets. The Bardot family come from old money, and with the help of his mother, Grace Bardot, they stole more from us than just a few million.

But then I learned more about Horatio. He’s got problems, some than money won’t fix. I only found out because I looked into why he spent far too much time in my club. It was then I realized something was amiss.

At first, I thought it was my good for nothing brother, but Darius had no access to funds, not mine anyway. Not Shaw money. But there’s more to the story than just the money. The problem is that Horatio has lost a lot more than his livelihood. He’s about to lose something far more precious to him.