Justin’s Point of View:
“Alright boys,” Leo clapped his hands, rubbing them together as he plopped himself down on the cushioned bamboo couch across from us. We were all sitting under the shade of the cabana just off the shore of the beach in clear view of the water. The girls were sprawled on their towels, letting their skin soak in all the sun.
“Let’s get down to business, shall we?” Waving the waiter away after ordering us a round of beers, he looked around at all of us. “What’s been going on in Stratford? Word around here is you guys got a bit of a problem on your hands.”
My jaw tightened in a lock as I looked away, over towards Kelsey’s relaxing figure, reassuring myself to stay calm. “You could say that.” I muttered distastefully.
Leaning his elbows on his knees, he peered at us, curious to know how we were running his business back at home. “Who are they?”
Everyone fell silent, nothing but the sound of the waves and girlish giggles heard.
“Well?” Leo pushed, wanting answers. If there was anything he hated, it was being ignored.
John was the first to speak once he realized I wasn’t going to, all eyes watching me warily. “Ugh, Lyndon Mathews, he runs the gang alongside Cole Santangelo, members Sammy Constentino, Peter McCall and Connie Bergins.” He spoke through gritted teeth, the memories of that night coming to mind.
Leo nodded, processing the names. “I got off the phone with Prince a few hours ago. He told me they’re nothing like the others you’ve encountered. What’s going on?”
“We’ve dealt with a fair share of bastards but these guys… at first I thought nothing of them,” John admitted, “Just a couple of guys just like any other trying to take us down. I figured they’d try to run business here, fail and leave but they had other intentions for their stay. They came with one purpose and that was to turn our town upside down—”
“And you let them.” Leo interrupted, taking a sip from his beer once they were all placed in front of us, taking John by surprise.
“What?” He questioned, dumbfounded.
“You let them,” Leo repeated himself with a shrug, “With the way I taught you guys to run things in Stratford; this shouldn’t have become a problem.”
“You don’t understand,” Marco stepped up, “Justin just got out of jail and we couldn’t just get rid of them without suspicions rising.”
“You all let your emotions control the situation.” He sighed, “That’s what gets in the way of you getting the job done. You all think about what-if this happens or that happens and you can’t afford to go back on what you initially planned. If you want to win, you’ve gotta kill.”
“That’s too risky,” Marcus shook his head. “That’s like entering a cage with a lion and expecting it not to eat you.”
“How do you think you got the reputation you have now?” He looked at us, “By fixing the situation before it became a problem.”
“That’s easy for you to say when you don’t have a girl waiting for you at home.” I shot back, losing patience. “Before neither one of us had anything to care for. We got the job done because there wasn’t anything holding us back. Things are different now.”
“They don’t have to be.” Leo pressed, “If you want these bastards out of the way, you know what you have to do.”
“No,” I shook my head, “That’s the way we ran things before and look at where that ended us up. The Snipers, this is more than just a competition to them—it’s a game.”
