An Empire of Guns and Lies (18+)

Twenty- Six (ventisei)

Iven wasn't a part of the mafia, rather he was an associate or I guess you can say a friend of my brothers, he did jobs for us and we paid him, rather handsomely I may add.

Iven specialty? Hacking.

I dialed his number and he answer with his usual thick Russian accent

"Meet me at the usual location, it's big"

His grunts of agreement was all I needed to hear before ending the call. I was parked in an abandoned building about 30 minutes from our estate, my forehead was pressed against the steering wheel, the tap on my glass made me avert my eyes to see the 6'5 long black haired male.

For spending the majority of his life behind a computer he was surprisingly well built I unlocked the door and he got in I raced back the the estate only giving Iven words of caution as he was about to meet with a very angry Jaxon.

I lead him to the office, Jaxon was still there alone the only thing that changed was the smell of brandy was much stronger now and a few of his shirt buttons were off. Skipping the small talk Jaxon showed Iven the email he received and asked if he could find the location of the sender, after clicking a few things Iven nodded Jaxon clasped his shoulders and said 'Thank you' and honestly I was a bit shocked but I didn't let it show on my face.

I told Jaxon to call me when they got something and left.

I swiped the card to the open the underground room in the left wing of the house I quickly punched in the 5 digit code and entered. Surrounded by boundless weapons I carefully made a selection and threw them into a duffel bag. I was lethally calm and had every intention on making the fucker that took her pay. While zipping up my mini armory the door pushed open I wasn't to bothered because only selected person had access to this room.

"So this is where you were, I was looking for you" August's voiced rang out, he was stood leading against the door frame with his arms folded across his chest. "Yeah I left the estate for an hour to get something for Jaxon" I shouldered my way pass him but he grabbed me before I could leave, he said nothing and I didn't fight him as he pulled me into his chest, I didn't cry but I hugged him back gripping his shirt in my hand I pushed away when my phone vibrated in my pocket.

Jaxon: we got it.

Was all his short message said,

"August get 6 of your best men and met me in Jaxon's office in 5 minutes" He kissed my forehead in reply and left.

Jaxon was out of his office and call for a meeting in the dining room it was 1:05 in the morning but still every person he called for came. He began briefing us on what Iven found, Iliana was being held in an underground wine cellar of a long forgotten restaurant, the building was purchased by Enzo Antonio 2 weeks ago.

"Forget about the raid in 3 weeks, we're ending this now" Jaxon said calmly after showing us the lay out of the building and assigning us to groups he instructed me and August as well as the 6 men of his choice to get dressed and wait for him in the SUVs parked out front.

I was already in my usual combat wear, the duffel bag hanging from my shoulder I was about to turn and exit the room when my father interjected stating that he was also coming my eyes slowly floated to him and then back to Jaxon, my father added that Iliana was taken while she was right next to him and he could not forgive himself from that Jaxon agreed for him to come and I

didn't object as I knew my father was a more than capable man, he was the former boss after all.

There were 10 of us in total, I the only woman among them. Jaxon, August , my father and myself were to enter the building, find Iliana and get out, the remainder of the men were to surround the perimeter and contact us if anything was off.

The location Iven gave us was about a 40 minute drive from the house, we arrived in 20.

The building that was once a restaurant stood in a lonely street which only housed 3 other structures . The two story establishment was immersed in over grown vines and tall grasses the walls were covered in senseless graffiti art and moss however, surely enough there was a white paneled van sitting in the street at front.

We left the three SUVs some distance away and stalked up the street by the cover of night and the overgrown grass, the men confirmed when they surrounded the building and we took that as our cue and stormed in.

Jaxon kicked open the steel door and I followed closed behind him with August and my father on full alert, we sweep the area guns strapped to us and in hand it was oddly quiet. Did we have the wrong place? Or did they think we wouldn't be able to find this place?

We ventured further into the building and was now at an area that looked like the kitchen meaning the wine cellar was close we separated for a few minutes and search the kitchen as it was quite large undoubtedly there was a wooden panel on the floor that looked out of placed I placed a silencer on my gun and shot the lock open. There were stairs leading down, I called out to them signaling with two fingers that I found it.

August handed me a flashlight from his pants and we began our descent.

                                                      ______________________

Bumbershoot -Here is a fun word that most people know. This is referring to an umbrella and is something we have heard in many a Disney film or in many different books. It is quite fun to grab your umbrella and say in a fun voice, "I think I need my bumbershoot today!"

:')