Breeding Justice

25. Chapter Twenty-Five Bash

Chapter Twenty-Five: Bash

T he safehouse had taken on a war room feel, maps spread across the table, each line and marker a promise of blood. Phones lay between them, silent but looming. I watched as the crew gathered, the tension among us as thick as the humid air outside. Skylar and Zane sat close, a united front, while Justice leaned against Hassan, her wound barely slowing her down. SJ gnawed on a piece of bread in the corner, blissfully unaware of the storm we were about to unleash.

"We hit his supply chain. We take out his operations before he gets a chance to retaliate." I laid out the plan, making sure every word landed with the weight it deserved. The moment felt like a held breath, each of them waiting to exhale until I finished. "We use Moretti to set the bait."

“I thought we were just going to kill him,” Justice said.

“I know, and that’s tempting—but he’s looking for an heir right now, right? That’s why he desperately wants the baby. And at the end of the day, when we kill him, someone from his cohort is going to want to take over his op. His op is SJ’s by right, so…we take over, we destroy him, and we protect our child.”

“Sounds easy,” Skylar said.

Zane chuckled under his breath. None of them said anything for a second.

“It won’t be easy,” I said. “But it’s what we have to do.”

Justice nodded. “I think you’re right. We can't give Vito time to regroup. We push the timeline by baiting him with something he can't resist—like Dante flipping on him." Her voice had that edge, a knife wrapped in velvet.

Skylar leaned back, arms crossed, a challenge in his gaze. "Yeah, because Dante's just itching to betray the mafia kingpin." His sarcasm broke the air, a reminder of the risk hanging over us.

“From your briefing, I understand that Dante isn’t in Vito’s pocket right now and their relationship is up in the air. Obviously, Dante’s dad probably won’t want to hear about this…which is why we have to use Dante. The prince, not the king. That’s the only way this works,” I said.

Hassan nodded, a slow, deliberate gesture. "You’re right. Dante needs to see something worth switching sides for. We can promise him influence in the Miami trade. That's the only angle he's going to buy." His calm presence was a counterbalance, the voice of reason when the stakes were high.

I let their words settle, taking in the mix of skepticism and resolve. This was who we were—a family bound by blood and necessity, driven by a cause that was bigger than any one of us. "We show him we mean business. We lay it all out and give Vito nowhere to hide."

For a moment, the only sound was SJ's contented munching, a stark contrast to the tension ready to explode. Then, as if on cue, the room hummed back to life, each of them lost in thought, planning, readying themselves for what came next. We were committed now, and there was no turning back.

“Okay,” I said. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

Zane dialed the burner phone, his fingers steady despite the tension crackling around us. The rest of us fell silent, each waiting for Dante to pick up, each breath held hostage by the stakes at play. I focused on the phone, ready to jump in and steer the conversation the second Zane needed backup. The clock was ticking, and every second felt like a countdown to a war we couldn't afford to lose.

“Moretti,” Zane said as soon as Dante picked up.

“Dr. Silva. Did you make it to Miami?”

“Almost. We’ve recovered the package,” Zane said. “Thank you for your help.”

Dante was quiet for a few seconds. “Why do I feel like you’re about to ask me for another favor?”

“Because you’re a perceptive man, Dante,” Zane replied, a smile in his voice. “We need you to set up another meeting with Vito.”

“Because the last one went so well?”

“We have leverage. We just want to broker a deal.”

Dante sighed. “I don’t know if he’ll give me the time of day. Not after what happened last time.”

“I’m sure you can talk some sense into him, Moretti. We can make it worth your while.”

"You think I want to get caught between two hurricanes?" Dante's voice came through, sharp and wary. "You Knives might be sharp, but Vito's a fucking storm."

Zane stayed calm, the cool surgeon even now. "We can control this. You've seen what we do in Miami. Imagine a cut of that, Dante. We control the ports down here…you do up there. My boss is prepared to offer you a deal that you’ll struggle to walk away from."

I watched Skylar's eyes roll, skepticism written all over his face, but he stayed quiet. Justice was less patient, her fingers tapping a rapid beat on the table. Hassan listened intently, his gaze fixed on the phone, absorbing every word.

I leaned in, my voice cutting through the doubt. "Help us, and you'll be the one left standing after the storm passes. We've got control over Miami's distribution—you want in, this is your shot."

Dante hesitated, his suspicion palpable. I could almost see him weighing the odds, balancing fear against ambition. "You better not be bluffing, Rivera. If Vito smells a trap, I'll sell you out before he even takes his next breath."

The threat hung heavy in the air, but the tension didn't crack us—it fused us. Justice met my eyes, her resolve a mirror of my own. Zane nodded, his practicality undiminished. Hassan offered a quiet understanding, the kind that went deeper than words.

We were all in now, no safety net, no way out but through. The phone clicked dead, and I looked around at my crew. Their faces were set with the kind of determination that would either save us or bring us crashing down. In that moment, the risk felt as tangible as the blood we'd be spilling, but it was a risk we had to take.

The safehouse felt like the eye of a storm, quiet but charged with a danger we all sensed. I watched the crew, their focus as sharp as the weapons we'd soon be carrying. SJ sat on the floor, a fortress of wooden blocks his only concern. The rest of us had our minds on another kind of construction: the plan that would bring Vito crashing down.

"Dante gives Vito intel that leads him to the industrial yard," I said after looking at the message Dante had sent me, outlining the next steps. "We make him think it's a goldmine, and we take him out when he's most exposed." Each word was a directive, leaving no room for misinterpretation.

Justice leaned forward, her determination nearly a physical presence. "I'm coming with you," she declared, as if challenging me to stop her. Her eyes burned with a mix of stubbornness and fearlessness that I loved and hated in equal measure.

I shook my head, firm but not unkind. "You and SJ stay at the secondary location. If things go south, you'll have the only exit strategy." I tried to keep my voice steady, but the thought of them in danger made it crack, just a little.

Hassan took it in stride, nodding as he often did. "Zane and I will work on security coverage with Dante's contacts," he offered, his voice steady and practical. It was the reliability I'd come to count on, a surety in a world that was anything but.

Zane agreed, but his eyes flicked to Skylar, a silent check-in that spoke volumes. Skylar met the glance with a slight nod before smirking. "And I'll be the bloody eyes and ears," he said, his bravado both comforting and reckless. "Nothing slips past me."

Justice's shoulders dropped, the fire in her gaze dimming but not extinguished. "If Vito finds me or SJ," she warned, "no amount of planning will save us."

The weight of her warning followed me as I took a last look around. Each of them had their roles, their risks, their reasons. And I had mine: to keep us all alive long enough to see if the sacrifice was worth it. The room buzzed with focus and fear, the kind that could either electrify or destroy. This was the world we lived in, and the only way through was straight into its heart.

The air hummed with the sound of preparation—guns being loaded, engines being checked. The crew moved with the kind of precision that only came from facing death together more times than we could count. My eyes followed each of them, cataloging their motions, their readiness, the unspoken fear that hung over all of it. The time for planning was over. Now, it was about survival.

Skylar checked the clips on a pair of rifles, his confidence almost reckless. Zane and Hassan murmured over a map, their focus absolute, each man's presence grounding the other. Justice moved slower than usual, the bandage on her side a reminder of how close this game had come to checkmate. Yet her resolve never faltered, even as she watched SJ build a tower of blocks, oblivious to the chaos that churned around him.

I took a deep breath and crossed the room, pulling her aside. "This isn't just about survival anymore. We're fighting for something bigger," I said, letting my words carry the weight I felt in my bones.

She turned to me, eyes wide with something between fear and hope. "It better be worth it, Bash. I can't lose him." Her hand went to her side, the bandage a stark white against her skin, her vulnerability a sharp contrast to the warrior I was used to seeing.

I placed a hand over hers, feeling the fragile line we walked between life and loss. "We'll protect SJ. And we'll end this once and for all." My voice was steady, but inside, it was a different story.

The words were a promise, one I couldn't afford to break. The weight of it pressed against my chest, but it was a burden I'd carry a thousand times over for her, for all of us.

Around us, the rest of the crew continued their preparations, the urgency a living thing that moved and pulsed in every corner of the safehouse. We were almost ready, but the real battle would be in keeping the family we had built intact. I glanced back at Justice one last time, meeting her gaze with everything I couldn't put into words. Then I turned, the determination surging through me as fierce and dangerous as any weapon we carried.

The burner phone felt like a live grenade in my hand, each ring a ticking reminder of how close we were to blowing this wide open. I made the call, my voice steady even though the stakes threatened to crush us all. The crew watched, every set of eyes on me, as if waiting to see if I'd pull the pin or let it drop.

"You sure you're ready for this?" Dante's voice cut through, tense and tight. "Once Vito smells blood, there's no turning back."

He was right, but we were past the point of second guesses. "We've been ready since the day he came after my family." My response came with the force of everything we stood to lose, and everything I was determined to win.

There was a pause, the kind that stretched far enough to test anyone's nerve. "You better not be bluffing," Dante warned. "See you on the battlefield, Knives." The call ended, but his suspicion lingered like a shadow, a threat that loomed as large as Vito himself.

I let out a breath and met the crew's eyes. Justice stood closest, her resolve a match for my own, as unwavering as the fear she didn't bother to hide. Skylar's expression was wilder, a mix of excitement and recklessness that only seemed to fuel him. Hassan and Zane were calmer, their faces set with the same determination that pulsed through every inch of the safehouse.

I turned inward for a moment, feeling the raw intensity of the gamble we were about to make. It was more than a fight for control—it was a battle for survival, for a life that didn't end in blood and loss.

The air was thick with it as I faced them all, the last pieces falling into place. "Let's go end this," I said, my words a challenge and a promise. We moved as one, every step taking us closer to the moment when everything would either come together or break apart. And if it broke, if it shattered, at least we'd be there to catch each other on the way down.