Scars (The Triad 1)

TRISTAN

“I’ll admit, it probably wasn’t the best time for it to happen,” I said to Seb as we loaded into the blacked-out SUV.

“Best time for what?” Elliot asked as he climbed in after us. Sebastian had been giving me shit for the impromptu blow job the entire walk to the car. “What did I miss?” Elliot had made a last-minute call to get our sniper to the meeting as well, just in case.

“Our boy T here has crossed over to the dark side. He let our little pet wrap that sweet mouth of hers around his dick to take the edge off.”

“That was not why I let her do that,” I said, firmly cutting him off. But he just snickered to himself and watched Elliot for his reaction. To both of our surprise, Elliot just tipped his head back and laughed. Seb and I exchanged a look and then moved our eyes back to Elliot.

“This girl is going to be the death of us all,” he said once he had calmed down. He looked out the window, and we rode in silence the rest of the way there. It was a pretty long drive considering we were on the other side of the city, out in the country, and we had to meet them as close to the border of our territories as possible.

Years of meetings like this had pretty much numbed me to any kind of anxiety or jitters, but this night felt different. We hadn’t gone up against a group this established with so much to lose and gain at the same time. If they didn’t accept this deal, I wasn’t too sure what the next move was going to be.

It had only been a bit over a week since I had met this girl, but I knew we couldn’t hand her over to the slaughterhouse. We were going to have to figure out something else to keep her safe if they demanded she be given back.

“Seb,” I started as we pulled up to the closed restaurant. “Remember, if they don’t agree to this deal, you cannot go into fucking Rambo mode and just shoot everyone up in there, yeah?” His jaw ticked like his body was rejecting the order. But he knew better. He knew we had to tread carefully, or Scarlet could be the one that ended up getting hurt.

He nodded. We all stepped out of the car, straightened our jackets and adjusted our pieces, and walked into that restaurant ready to make a deal for our girl.

* * *

Scarlet’s father, who was only ever called Domnul Dulca and never by his first name, and his second, Mateus, were already seated at the back of the restaurant. The table was set up so that neither side would face their backs to the front or back of the restaurant. Both of them were seated on their side, and on the other side of the table was only one chair.

To the outside world, I was the leader of the Triad, the one that made all the decisions and ran the businesses. Elliot and Sebastian were seen as my bodyguard and the enforcer, respectively. So when we went to meetings, I sat and they stood. I found out early on in this life that it was good to make people feel off balance. You wanted them a little bit at your mercy. And when I sat down but the two big guys stood behind me, it made them feel intimidated.

“Gentlemen,” I said as I pulled my chair out and sat across from them. “Thanks for coming.” Scarlet’s father was old as dirt itself and severely out of shape. He sat there with his white hair combed over to the side and his belly pushing into the table. His face was passive as he gave me a nod and then looked at the two behind me.

“You said it was important. And I’ve heard rumors about what this might be about. Let’s hear it.”

I smiled and leaned back in my chair, comfortable with the fact that if they made a move to use their hidden threat, I could use our own.

“We found your daughter the other night,” I said, folding my hands together on my lap. “At a dirty old house party on the outskirts of our city.” I looked at him, but he gave nothing away about how he was feeling. I continued. “Now, growing up in your family, she surely knew she had no business being in our territory.”

He grunted and smiled a cold smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“Make your point, mutt.”

I felt the guys tense behind me, holding themselves from striking out at them for the derogatory nickname people had taken to calling me…normally behind my back. I wasn’t a “pure breed” like these old-timers, and they loved reminding me. Not that it bothered me. I had made this empire for myself instead of just walking into it like these lazy fucks did. I smiled just as coldly right back at him.

“We heard a rumor that she didn’t just run away for shits and giggles. Instead, she ran away because someone tried to kill her in the dead of night on her twenty-first birthday. And the specific rumor is that it was you that put the hit out on your own daughter.”

He went pale as a damn sheet and coughed to cover up the surprise showing on his face.

“What’re you getting at?” Mateus asked.

“We have her. And we’re going to keep her. In return for this favor, you are going to keep your greedy little paws out of our business and stay in your own.”

“Why would I care if you keep her or give her back?” He scoffed. “She doesn’t have the faintest idea who it was that called out that hit on her.”

“Because if we give her back, she’s going to raise hell. I will tell her what you did, and she will try to dismantle your entire system. And if you think she won’t, then you really don’t know her at all. We have known her for a week, and we can already see that she is far more fit to run your little crime organization than you ever were.” The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them, but at that point there was no going back. They were out there in the void, and I swore he could see right through me.

“Ah,” he said, crossing his arms and leaning back slightly in his chair. “Deci o fu?i pe curva aia?” So you’re fucking the bitch.

Pure unadulterated rage flowed through my veins, and it was all I could do to not reach across the table and shove the knife I had tucked up in my sleeve into his fat throat. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sebastian move. I may be the only one in our group that understood Romanian, but it was clear in her father’s tone he hadn’t said anything pretty. Seb just moved an inch before Elliot was able to put a hand on him to stop him, but it was enough for Dulca to notice.

“Oh,” he said as his smile grew deeper. “You all are? What a little curva she’s become in these past few years.” My blood boiled harder than before. If he didn’t shut his mouth soon and agree to our terms, we were going to start an all-out gang war with the restaurant being ground zero. “Fine, boy,” he said with a wave of his hand. “Keep the bitch. Fuck her, breed her, kill her, I don’t care. Just keep her out of our shit, and we will stay out of yours. But first,” he said, leaning closer, “I need proof you have her. Not to offend, but I don’t trust the words of gangsters.”

“Elliot,” I said, gesturing for him to give me the phone. “This is a live feed of her in the home where we are keeping her.” The screen lit up, and there she was, in one of her Metallica T-shirts, lounging on the couch where we told her to sit until told otherwise and shoveling popcorn into her mouth. It was all I could do to not smile at screen before handing it over to her father. He rolled his eyes.

“And how do I know this is a live feed?”