I lit the cigar slowly, savoring the burn as the flame caught. The scent of tobacco filled the room, its smoke curling lazily into the air. The Miami skyline glittered outside the penthouse window, a sharp contrast to the war brewing beneath the surface. The sun had set hours ago, but I wasn’t ready for sleep. Not yet. Not with the game still in motion.
The chair creaked softly as I leaned back, taking a long drag of the cigar, the familiar bitterness settling on my tongue. It had been a long week, but nothing I hadn’t expected. The Californian Devils thought they could press into our territory and walk away unscathed. They were wrong. I had been waiting for them to make their move. Now it was my turn.
Carlos hadn’t checked in for hours. That, more than anything, told me how the night had gone. The Devils were predictable, in a way. They thought like gangsters, with muscle and bravado. But this wasn’t just about who had the bigger guns. This was about who had the patience, the foresight, to play the long game.
Quarter was good, but I had been playing this game long before he was a name in these streets. And his right hand, Safewane… he was dangerous, no doubt about it. But the thing about men like Safewane was they could be led by their own aggression. You just had to know where to push.
I took another drag of the cigar, exhaling slowly. They had taken the bait with Carlos and Alice. The safe house explosion was a message, but it wasn’t the real play. No, that was still to come.
I stood and walked to the window, the lights of the city reflecting in the glass. Miami was a chessboard, and every street, every corner, was a piece in the game. The Californian Devils thought they could take it from me, but they didn’t understand what it meant to rule this city. It wasn’t just about territory. It was about control. Influence. I had deep roots here. My network stretched from the casinos in Little Havana to the docks in South Beach. They were on my turf, and I wasn’t about to let them forget it.
A knock on the door broke my thoughts. I turned as Nikolai entered, his broad frame filling the doorway. His face was expressionless as always, but I could see the tension in his shoulders.
“They’ve made their move,” he said, stepping into the room. “Carlos has been compromised. He’s talking.”
I nodded, unsurprised. Carlos was a good spy, but he wasn’t built for this kind of pressure. He was useful up to a point, but he wasn’t going to stand up to someone like Safewane for long.
“Safewane?” I asked, though I already knew the answer.
Nikolai nodded. “He’s involved, along with their hitters. They tracked Carlos to a club downtown. From what we’ve gathered, they’ve got a bead on Alice’s location.”
I took another drag from the cigar, letting the information settle in my mind. They were coming for Alice next, thinking she was the key to unraveling everything. In a way, they were right. But they were also walking into a trap. They just didn’t know it yet.
“Good,” I said softly, turning back to the window. “Let them think they’re winning.”
Nikolai didn’t question me. He never did. That was why he was my top enforcer. He followed orders without hesitation, trusting that I saw things others didn’t. It was how we’d survived this long, and it was how we were going to win this war.
“Prepare the team,” I said after a moment. “We’ll move on the Devils once they’ve overcommitted. Safewane’s smart, but he’s too aggressive. He’ll push too hard, and when he does, we’ll be there to push back.”
Nikolai nodded and left the room, his footsteps heavy as he made his way down the hall. I stayed by the window, watching the city below. Safewane was dangerous because he was unpredictable, but that was also his weakness. He didn’t understand the value of patience. He played the game like it was a sprint, but I knew better. This was a marathon, and I had all the time in the world.
