Everyone was charmed by Leo's bright smile but behind it all, he could barely keep it together inside. From taking care of his sick mother to suffering mental and physical abuse from his father to keeping up his perfect grades in school.
King was th...
We walked into the warehouse, but all my thoughts were back at the house, anxious to get back to my bed so I could hold Leo, kiss him, and whisper things in his ear that would make his whole body turn red.
I always loved the color red, but the dark and deep red that reminded me of blood until I saw the soft, blooming red in Leo's cheeks for the first time. A shade of red I never knew existed until him. One I craved to see on his cheeks, covering his ears, and running down his neck to his chest.
Closing my eyes, I inhaled deeply to try and control myself as we walked over to Dom, Olivia, and a few others. I wanted this to go as fast as possible, but Uncle Ben made it clear this was important, so I needed to pay attention as Dom started giving the locations to all our men and telling him all was good so far.
Since I left, three more of our members got killed in the turf war that hit the docks. Things were getting bad, and they still couldn't find Rex's dumb ass. It seemed like Uncle Ben was losing this war, and it made my stomach twist in knots. If they took the docks, who's to say they won't try to push further into our territory? People's families would get caught in the crossfire, which means Leo too. The thought made my blood boil.
"They are demanding we leave the docks tonight, or things will worsen," Dom said to Uncle Ben. "I say we find their hideout and blow them all to hell before that happens."
"The docks are our goldmine," Olivia spoke up. "If Benjien backs out, all of us are fucked if we don't switch to Rex's bullshit. Not to mention, the drug lords will be after Benjien for not holding up his end of the deal. It's not just your crew this asshole is fucking with. I need my shipments, too, and I don't trust that scumbag anymore than I could throw Tank over there. No offense, Big Bear." She smiled Tank's way, blowing him a kiss, and I could see him shift in the corner of my eye.
"I do not doubt that if we give an inch, he will take a fucken mile," a man named Midas said next. "Then what? We'll start losing our dealers because they will have to go to that fucker for the goods or be stabbed back by some tweeter because he can't get his next fix. That's what will happen. You think all of them are loyal to you? Not a chance. They're loyal to the money, and that's it."
Fuck, he wasn't wrong there. Nearly took the words out of my head.
"What I want to know," Uncle Ben said, tapping his finger on the medal table, "is why you all are trying to convince me not to do it? I don't care what he demands. He isn't getting what is mine. End of story. Does anyone know what he means by worse? Let's focus on finding that out so we get ahead of him. Dom, find out if the cops are still in our pockets. If not or questionable, deepen those pockets. I don't care what you tell them, I'll cover it. Olivia, I know your girls are getting antsy, but you need to keep them focused on trying to find this fucker. We nearly had him once. We can find him again. Midas, in the meantime, start changing the dealers' locations; don't stick to a rotation. If you're right and he starts going after them, I don't want him to find them so easily. Kiki and King, I want you both to stay away from the fighting rings. Everyone knows you go there, and it will just leave you open to anything."
Uncle Ben continued giving orders to everyone. We had to find out what he was planning, stop that from happening, and push him out of the docks, but that was easier said than done when we couldn't even find him.
After everyone said their peace, I was ready to leave. I nearly ran out the door to get back to the car, but once outside, Olivia grabbed Uncle Ben. Her face looked like a ghost as she lowered her phone from her ear. "Molly's is on fire."
Kiki rushed over to her, asking what she was talking about. Dom grabbed her to stop her from falling over. "In the truck now!" Uncle Ben demanded, throwing my back door open, but he grabbed Dom's shoulder before he could get inside. "Jay isn't responding. I need you to go to the house."
"I'm going with him!" I yelled, slamming my door shut. Is Leo in danger, too?
"No. I need you with me. We need to go," Uncle Ben said, shoving me towards the truck's driver door. "I'm not playing games with you. We don't have time for this. We need to see what the hell is going on over there."
They were already in my truck as I watched Dom enter Olivia's car. He looked up, giving me a nod before hightailing it away from us. My blood was ice as I opened my truck door, feeling sick at the thought of something happening to Leo, but this time, there was no way to be there to save him if something did happen. I had to leave it to Dom, and even though I didn't like him, I knew he was the next best person to keep him safe.
I drove as fast as I could to Molly's. The place was small on a corner. The downstairs was designed to act as an antique shop, but upstairs was one of many spots where Olivia's crew worked, hustling money, hacking, and whatever else she did.
As we got a block away, black smoke covered much of the view. Fire trucks lined the streets. I had no choice but to pull over, getting us as close as possible before we jumped out and ran the rest of the way. The fire was massive, jumping into other stores down the long strip of connected buildings.
"Mia!" Olivia yelled, running for an ambulance. We weren't far behind her as she ran up to the girl in the back, covered in black soot and wrapped in a blanket. "Are you okay? Where are the others?"
Olivia grabbed her, looking her over as she pulled the oxygen mask away from her mouth and nose. "I don't know. I... I haven't seen them. They were upstairs when it started."
I had to grab her as she tried running for the building, pulling her back while the firefighters tried to do their jobs. There was nothing we could do but watch as the building crumbled into itself. The heat from the flames warmed my whole body; it was so strong. It seemed like everything moved too slowly around me as I watched the orange and yellow colors dance against my eyes. I couldn't look away.
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