Chapter 2
Climbing from one of the Mercedes outside of our family home, I glance at Dodge. “Find them,” I order as I button my suit. “I want them all here in the next two hours.”
I don’t even have to tell him who. He knows. We let them go for the children, but that doesn’t mean they are free.
They invaded my younger brother’s birthday party.
They dared to threaten my family and lay hands on innocents.
Despite . . . her, Bexley, making them pay, she is not family, so they will answer for this.
Dodge inclines his head out of respect as I meet with my three younger brothers before the steps to our home, which is more of a hotel. That’s what it used to be before I bought it and turned it into a haven for our family and security.
Ruffling Tommy’s hair, I grin down at him. “Did you have a good birthday?”
It was our consolation. He had been so sad about his birthday, wanting a normal party like the other kids.
The bar we owned was our compromise, and I hate that it was disturbed, but our enemies don’t care about the importance of family time.
They only care about trying to end us—the three heads of the Sai family.
As the oldest, it is my responsibility to keep my family safe.
Neo is a few years younger than me and has taken over the construction side of the business, helping me keep our companies and men in line.
Zayn, the youngest, recently graduated law school and has started keeping our family safe that way.
Together, we are unstoppable, and everyone knows it.
No law can touch us.
There isn’t any other leading family who can challenge us, but it doesn’t stop them from trying in underhanded ways. This was a local gang, though, not a leading family, which is surprising. They rarely make a move against us because they know better.
“Yes, it was good.” Tommy perks up and tugs on Zayn’s suit leg. “Can we go watch Howl’s Moving Castle now?”
“Go get it ready. I’ll be there soon,” he promises, nodding at me. He knows what to do. He’ll make the calls to cover up the mess the girl made at our bar.
Neo pulls his phone out when Tommy hurries inside, ready to make calls. “I’m going to ask some of our informants what happened.”
“Neo.” I catch his arm. “Ask about her too. Find out who she is.”
He grins. “I thought you’d like her.”
I arch a brow at that. “I’m just curious. I don’t know her, but they did, and I don’t like secrets.”
“Sure, big brother, whatever you say.” He heads inside, followed by Zayn, before I roll my shoulders with a sigh and glance up at our home.
I am doing everything I can to keep them safe. It isn’t easy, but it’s my responsibility, something that has been driven into me since birth. Our upbringing was intense, but my father knew what we would face and wanted to prepare us for a world where everyone is either out to use or kill us.
It’s a lesson I quickly learned.
“Mr. Sai.” The guards bow as I pass, heading inside to speak to my father.
He will want to know what happened today.
Despite him handing leadership over to us when he deemed we were ready, everyone knows he is still the head of this house, and out of respect and love for him, we keep him apprised of everything.
He built our empire with his bare hands, a kid from the streets with nothing but a name—one he turned into a brand and a threat to the world that hurt him.
Sitting across from my father, I watch him contemplate the chess board, his brown eyes covered by his thick-rimmed glasses.
Even now, he is in his designer suit, his jacket unbuttoned as he leans back in a decorative chair on the veranda overlooking the back garden.
He spends hours out here, refusing to let anyone else touch his flowers and plants, nor his fish in his pond.
He said he needed purpose when he “retired,” but I think he just uses it as an excuse to avoid us.
Raising four killers isn’t easy.
“Sir.” Dodge bows, and when my father nods and waves his hand, he smiles.
“How many times do I have to tell you that you can freely speak and not wait for me to allow it?” He sighs as he leans over the board and moves a piece.
I cover my smirk with my hand, but he catches it. “I never should have taught you chess.”
“You said it would help me with our business. Don’t blame me, old man, for always beating you now.”
“Dodge, what is it? Tell me before I shoot my own son.”
Dodge smirks and glances at me. “They are here.”
I nod, dismissing him, and he bows before leaving again. Standing, I button my suit and move my king. “Checkmate,” I say, and my father sits back heavily.
“Sometimes I think I raised you too well. You are too devious for your own good.” He waves me off. “Go deal with things. I will ask one of my guards to play with me. Probably West. He’s good with a gun but terribly stupid. It might make me feel better.”
“Hey!” West protests from his post to the left.
Laughing, I lean down and press a kiss to my father’s head. “You could still beat me if you tried, Father. We both know that.” My smile drops as I turn and head inside, taking one of the many central elevators down to the ground floor.
I stride into the formal sitting room. The men are on their knees on the marble floor, the large windows allowing light to shine down on them.
Ignoring them for a moment, I walk over to the bar where Neo sits, looking at his iPad.
Pouring two drinks, I slide one over to him before pouring a third, and a moment later, Zayn wanders in, still on the phone.
When he’s done, he takes the drink and leans back against the bar. I continue to ignore the men, letting them sweat to show them they are nothing to us. Mind games are just as important as physical torture in my line of business.
“Well?” I prompt.
“I’ve asked around, but nobody seems to know her,” Neo scoffs. “It’s a lie, and I will keep digging.”
“Tommy is watching his movie with his guards, so he will be busy for a while,” Zayn adds, and I turn to follow his gaze to the thugs who are waiting nervously.
They know nobody walks out of this house alive.
Enemies come in, but they never go out.
It is a fortress for a reason, and a death sentence.
Nobody fucks with my family.
Draining my glass, I wander over, dangling it from my fingertips, and when I reach the biggest man on the left, I smash it into his head.
I hold one of the shards, driving it into his eye as he screams. Blood pours down my hand and arm, and I see one of my newer guards wince and look away.
I take note of it, and when I look at Dodge, I see him doing the same.
He is the head of security for a reason, and he has been with us since we were boys.
It is his job to train new recruits and break them of any fear or morality they might have. They can’t afford to have any of that in this line of work. We demand the best. We make killers and sinners, but we also pay the most. That’s why they flock to us.
Stepping back, I let the glass fall to the floor as he continues to scream. “Be quiet, you’re annoying me.”
He keeps shrieking, however, covering his eye, and I nod at the closest guard. He approaches and stuffs something in the screamer’s mouth to silence him as I look at the others. “You dared to attack me and my family on a special day. I’m curious to know why.”
“You made a move on our territory,” the one on the right spits. “The boss just wanted to remind you who it belongs to.”
“To me.” I arch a brow pointedly. “You’re nothing but bothersome little boys playing gangster. I take what I want, and I want that land, so it’s mine. You and your boss were stupid to attack us—my family. Did you really think it would get you anywhere?”
“You’re not as untouchable as you think,” the one in the middle sneers.
“No, I know we are,” I respond. “Never mind, I will send your boss a message he won’t forget.
He only lives because I say he can. He works and earns money only because I allow him to.
I’m sure he’ll understand, and you’ll help me send that message, but first, I have one more question.
” Pulling my gun out, I approach the mouthy one.
“Karma,” I murmur, tipping his head up with my muzzle. “That is what you called her, did you not? I want to know everything about the woman who was there earlier.”
His face pales, and for a moment, he looks truly terrified, and not of my gun. Interesting. Just who is this woman, and why don’t I know about her? “You might as well kill me. I won’t betray her. I fear her more than you, so do your worst.”
“As you wish.” I pull the trigger, and before his body even hits the floor, I turn to the others. I have other ways to get the information. If they know her, others will too.
I don’t negotiate, ever.
I raise my gun. “Wait—” I pull the trigger twice, then put it away. The only one left alive is the one who’s still bleeding, and he spits the tie from his mouth. He glances at the glass on the floor then back to me.
I see the moment he makes his decision. He grabs for a shard and tries to dive at me, ready to slice my throat. I do not even flinch as he gets inches away.
The shot is loud, ringing around the room, and he drops back with a hole in his forehead.
I glance over to Neo, who’s putting his gun away, not even looking up from his iPad. “You getting sloppy, brother?” he teases without looking.
Zayn smirks. “It’s his old age.”
“Old age my ass. I’m thirty-five,” I snap as I accept the drink Zayn gives me and turn back to our guards.
“Cut off their hands and heads, then send them to their boss in boxes. Make it clear that if he makes a move again, I will destroy everything he loves before I kill him,” I order as I stroll over to the bar and wipe my hand on my handkerchief.
“And find Karma. I want to meet the woman they are all so afraid of.”
“Yes, sir.” Dodge looks at the guards, and they spring into action as I sit between my brothers.
“What are you going to do when you find her? Tommy knows her niece,” Neo murmurs, looking at me.
I shrug, knowing my smile is dark. “I’m just intrigued.”
They both groan, knowing that isn’t good news.
For her at least.