The Deadly (Part 3 of the Syndicate Series)

Chapter 2- Bathtub Rituals

 Aldrich:

"Shit," I swore. Tanner Stone was dead, and I had no idea how. I didn't have any remorse since the man was a total bastard, but Chris and I didn't even see it coming.

We had been working that club undercover for days posing as bartenders, trying to figure out if the rumors were true about the human trafficking. Someone else must have gotten to him before we could confirm it. My anger was more a matter of putting in all of the work and not getting the satisfaction of doing the deed ourselves.

"Stone being dead saves lives, and the dead one they found behind the building was one of his foot soldiers, too." My right hand collapsed into his favorite chair across from my desk, gesturing to the clothes he was wearing. He was covered in sweat and alcohol, grimacing, "I thought my partying days were done after college. Hell, if I knew this was going to be part of the gig..."

"He has other men, I'm sure one of them will try to step up and take over. It's a lot of money, and they've been building it into an empire for a long time."

"It'll be awhile before they can stop fighting over dominance and figure out who will actually take over. We can keep an eye on them, but I don't think we'll be the only ones. Whoever got rid of Stone is probably going to keep watching as well."

I ran my hands through my hair in exasperation, "How the hell did we miss something like that? We've been watching in there forever, and somehow someone got to him? Do you think it was a competitor?"

"I don't know," Chris leaned forward so that his elbows were on his knees. "But I'm glad to be home at night again. I can actually tuck Nova into bed, apparently she hasn't been too happy with anyone taking care of her this much."

Christopher was a good father. I wondered when his wife died if he would step down from his position as my second, in order to take care of his daughter full time. He never even brought it up, but he knew it was an option. I had mentioned it once to let him know that if he wished, I would ask one of my other men to take over, even temporarily, but he never faltered. He got most of his work done, once or twice he had missed a deadline or something, but I didn't mind doing a little extra if it meant I could keep him around. He had been my best friend for a very long time. Hell, I was his best man at the wedding, and if I was married, he would have been mine.

"How is Nova?" I asked, reaching for a drawer on my desk where I kept the expensive liquor locked up.

He sighed, holding out his hand for a glass he knew I would offer. This was a tradition of ours, just a drink between friends so that we could take a break from work. Besides, being at a bar all night made me miss the days when we used to actually go out and have fun. Now that we were in our late twenties, we were much more focused on work.

"I'm a little worried. She keeps asking about our work."

"She's curious, and her dad is her hero. I'd be more surprised if she wasn't asking about what you do."

"What the hell am I supposed to tell her?" He growled, throwing back some of his drink. "It's not like I can keep her in the dark for very long."

It was true- if Chris wanted to hide what he was doing for much longer, he would need a good cover. After Cecilia was gone, Chris didn't want to stay in their house. I completely understood, I probably couldn't stomach staying in the house where my wife was murdered, either. I had offered for him to move into the main house again, which he took without hesitation. But that meant that his work was also a part of his personal life- men covered in blood or bruises were not uncommon walking the halls, and while none of it was ever a threat to Nova, she was old enough now to know that it wasn't normal.