Love Games

13||No Slacking

⚡️Easton

I had her now, finally, and the pieces of my plan were slowly falling into place.

But as I savored the victory of finally capturing her attention, her image lingered in my mind like an intoxicating melody. Her lips, her taste, her smile—each detail was etched into my memory, a constant distraction from the task at hand. Playing this game was my choice, but she wasn't making it easy, her beauty a formidable obstacle in my path.

Shaking off the thoughts that threatened to consume me, I was abruptly pulled back to reality by Drew's urgent call. Mark had failed to pick up the package from Aunt Dee once again, leaving me suspicious and on edge.

I made a mental note to investigate Mark later, but for now, I needed to find a new runner. Doing things firsthand was becoming too risky, especially with Tia's surveillance ramping up again. Another headache to deal with, and to top it off, Rob hadn't been in touch for over a week.

"Bullshit after bullshit," I muttered, running a frustrated hand through my hair. The complications were piling up, but there was no time to dwell on them. I had a plan to execute, and nothing—not even the tangled web of obstacles in my path—was going to stand in my way.

Entering my dimly lit at-home office, the air heavy with the scent of aged wood and cigar smoke, I wasted no time in dialing up my top men: Josh, Jo, and Drew. It was a crucial moment, and the gravity of our situation hung in the air like a thick fog. Normally, we'd convene at the warehouse, the heart of our operations, but with the recent uptick in surveillance, I couldn't afford to take any risks. Leading them there could jeopardize everything we had built, and revealing the location of my stash house was out of the question. So, my home office would have to suffice as our temporary headquarters, a sanctuary shielded from prying eyes.

After what felt like an eternity, a few sharp knocks echoed through the silence of my front door. Stepping forward to open it, I found Jo slipping out of his sleek black car, while Drew and Josh stood sentry at the entrance. As I swung the door wider to welcome them in, a sense of urgency pulsed through my veins.

"Josh, Jo, Drew," I greeted them with a curt nod as they made their way into my domain. "We need to talk," I announced, gesturing for them to follow me into the depths of my home office, where secrets were shared and decisions made.

The men settled into their seats, their expressions a mix of determination and wariness, mirroring my own. Pouring myself a generous measure of my strongest bourbon, the liquid amber catching the light like molten gold, I could feel the weight of Drew's sigh breaking my concentration, causing me to snap my head in his direction.

"What is it, Eazy? You're pulling out the bourbon," Drew remarked, a nervous edge to his voice betraying the tension in the room.

Taking a slow sip, I wasted no time in getting down to business. "First things first," I began, my tone dry with a hint of frustration creeping in. "Seems like Mark's been hitting the snooze button on his responsibilities," I remarked pointedly, knowing that any lapse in our operations could prove disastrous. "So, we need a new runner. Someone we can trust implicitly, someone with no heat on them. Any ideas?"

"Maybe Mark's got a crush on Aunt Dee and can't focus," Jo quipped, a feeble attempt to lighten the mood, but Drew quickly intervened, his expression serious.

"Alright, alright, let's get serious, boys," Drew interjected, his tone cutting through the tension like a knife. "Yeah, so who can we trust?" I added, wiping the smirk off my face from Jo's ill-timed joke, the weight of our decisions heavy upon us all.

"I've got someone under me on the west side," Josh offered, his voice low and measured. "She's been flying under the radar, clean as a whistle. I trust her with my life."

Nodding in agreement, I acknowledged Josh's suggestion with a curt nod. "Alright, let's bring her into the fold," I conceded, a sense of relief washing over me as we found a potential solution to our runner predicament.

With the matter settled for the moment, I cleared my throat to address the next pressing issue at hand. "I've been noticing surveillance picking back up. There's no room for slip-ups; every move needs to be calculated," I asserted firmly, the weight of responsibility heavy in my words.

The gravity of my statement seemed to settle over the room as my associates nodded in understanding. Turning to Drew, I pressed on, my tone unwavering. "And Rob? He hasn't hit you back yet?"

Drew's brow furrowed with concern as he shook his head. "Nothing, radio silence," he admitted grimly, the weight of uncertainty hanging heavily in the air.

A chill ran down my spine as the realization sank in. Without my own intel, we were flying blind, vulnerable to whatever schemes Tia had cooking behind the scenes.

"Keep trying to reach him," I instructed Drew, my voice firm with resolve. "We need to know what's going on, no matter the cost."