Junkie (Broken Doll 1)

14

Boss

“Milo, I want you to head up the situation with Los Guerreros while I take care of something.”

Milo stared at me from the other side of my desk

as if I’d just admitted to having a second cock hidden in my pants. He rubbed his chin between thick fingers. My eyes slid to the small cut on his cheek where I’d nicked him with my blade last night. It was already healing, two Steri-Strips stuck over a scab that had formed on the wound.

“Boss, what could possibly be more important than preparing for a war?”

While I understood Milo’s concern, especially at a time when things were unstable and could go very bad, very fast, what I did or didn’t do was my own business. As much as I wanted to shut him up permanently for once again questioning my orders, I needed Milo now more than ever if I wanted to stop Los Guerreros from taking over Austin.

“Nothing is more important than preparing for a war, my friend. That’s why I’ve assigned you to be in charge of it. You’re the best I have. I’m confident you can keep everything under control.” Feeding Milo’s massive ego was always the best way to shut him up and get him to follow commands.

As expected, this instance was no different. He flashed his gold tooth and grinned, dark eyes glinting with his thirst for blood, crazy fucker.

“Damn right I’m the fucking best.”

And he is.

I nodded. “I’m giving you full control over George and the men under him. Dealers are to keep eyes and ears on the streets, but they are not to do any outright surveillance. Those idiots aren’t trained or equipped to handle a confrontation with El Cuchillo’s men.”

Only the higher echelons of my organization knew how to deal with enemies. Petty street dealers had one function: move product. That was it. They were not the brains by any means. It would only take one mouthy punk to turn a tense situation into an all-out war.

Milo stretched, groaning as his spine cracked. “I’ll run everything out of the main warehouse if that’s okay, Boss.”

“Perfect. I want someone watching those bastards at all times. I’ve taken care of monitoring Brick. A contact in Houston is observing his movements for us. We’ll have several hours’ notice if he’s coming our way.” I stood up and circled the desk, extending a hand to my lieutenant. We’d butted heads a lot lately, but I needed to make sure Milo was committed to stopping El Cuchillo.

Milo accepted my hand, shaking it while pulling me into a shoulder bump. “I’ll take care of it, Boss. No worries.”

“Keep me updated.”

“You can count on it.” The big man winked, flashing that hideous gold tooth one last time before leaving. Something about the look in his dark, emotionless eyes unsettled me.

Fuck.

I slid back into my chair, my sore muscles were full of knots and bunched up tight. I hadn’t realized how tense I was with Milo around. Our fight last night was pretty bad. We didn’t usually lose control during our disagreements. Drawing blood? That was quickly becoming a regular thing, and Milo wasn’t the kind of man who let shit go so easily. I wasn’t sure I could trust him the way I used to.

A little extra insurance couldn’t hurt. Good thing there were people who owed me. It was time to cash in on some favors.

After making a few calls, I rubbed the back of my neck in an attempt to stop the headache that was hammering relentlessly inside my skull. My eyes ached, burning from lack of sleep, and my entire body was sore with fatigue. I stretched my shoulder, wincing at the sharp pain from Milo’s rough arm hold.

Asshole.

Again the urge to kill the man rolled through me and my muscles twitched to take action. I ground my teeth to tamp down the rising fury caused by my lieutenant’s inability to shut the fuck up. He was damn lucky El Cuchillo had started this shit or he’d already be a corpse somewhere in the outskirts of the city. I shook my head and refocused on work. I needed to speak with several more contacts and check in with my guy in Houston.

A few hours later, my back and shoulder were throbbing and too distracting to continue sitting hunched over a computer. I wandered out of the office, hoping to find Miri for a little quality time. My burdens lessened with each step I took away from my work and my office, and a light, fluttery sensation took root in my chest. Maybe Miri would like to go for a ride on one of my bikes. Getting out of this oppressive environment for an hour or two would be heavenly. I was confident my men would alert me if any of El Cuchillo’s men came into our territory. So as long as I stuck to roads I knew, we would be safe. Smiling, I set out to find the fiery redhead.

“Hey, sexy. I’ve been waiting for you.”

My head spun around. When my gaze landed on the curvaceous blonde sitting at my kitchen table instead of the willowy redhead I fantasized about, my face twisted into a scowl and extreme annoyance nuked my good mood.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Karina?”

Why the hell is my dial-a-fuck at my house?

“I was told you needed to decompress a little.” Karina stood and slithered toward me in her sky-high heels, hips shimmying and large breasts bouncing. She reached out with a long, painted fingernail and dragged it down my chest. I batted her hand away, beyond irritated.