Chapter 13
Ryan
"T he van is here," Bennett replied. I stretched, nodding. We had arrived in Salvador, Brazil and had been waiting over an hour for one of Diego's men to pick us up. It was lucky I had been able to change into some khaki shorts and a t-shirt, otherwise I might have punched someone in the fucking face...hard. I fucking hated the heat. I was irritable most of the time anyway, but there was something about humid heat that pissed me right the fuck off.
"How many men did Diego send?" I asked, still checking over my glock and its cartridges. I didn't trust any of these Brazilian fuckers.
"Two," Bennett muttered, looking over at Jamie, who was already conversing with the men.
"Keep your eyes on them. We can't be sure Diego hasn't been bought. This could be a trap," I muttered before getting up. I was beyond fucking pissed already, and we hadn’t even left the airfield. Then there was this fucking heat to deal with! I wouldn't be taking any prisoners when we arrived at Diego's compound.
"Mr. Lawson," one of Diego's men gestured toward me.
"Just get the motherfucking bags, asshole. I am not in the mood for this shit!" I snarled. "You're lucky you don't already have a bullet in your head for making us wait out in this godforsaken heat." That got a reaction from the two greasy fuckers and they rushed around, clambering to collect our belongings.
"You wouldn't really shoot them, would you?" Jamie muttered as we got into the van. I smirked, quirking my eyebrow. "You fucked her, admit it! She has totally affected your mood."
"It's this fucking heat!" I snapped.
"Who the fuck are you two talking about?" Bennett questioned as he got in the van. "You were bitching the entire flight."
"Shut the fuck up! That's an order," I glared as a final warning.
"They can't hear us. They're still collecting our bags from the side of the road," Bennett huffed.
"I don't care. We keep our minds on the job while we’re here. This isn't a fucking vacation ," I pointed out, pulling my phone from my pocket. I was still waiting to get a signal so I could let Carlo know that we'd arrived.
"Do you think it's someone inside trying to infiltrate our deal?" Bennett asked.
"I don't know, but there has to be a leak somewhere for our shipment to go missing."
"How much are we talking roughly?" Jamie pulled his gun out, placing it in the waistband of his pants so he was ready for action.
“Carlo thinks we've lost at least fifty-five thousand already."
"Motherfuckers!" Bennett murmured before Diego's men got into the van.
An hour later, we had finally arrived at the compound. Diego was outside waiting to greet us.
"Ola?meu amigo!" He gestured with his arms as I stepped out of the van but I was in no mood for his fucking Portuguese today.
"Diego, why the fuck did you keep us waiting?" I glared.
"I have a business to run, Ryan." Diego smiled.
"With Carlo's fucking money," Bennett added as he and Jamie joined me.
"I'm sorry. I can assure you we got to you as quickly as we could. I have some ice cold beers for you inside as an apology," Diego offered, gesturing toward the door.
"And women?" Bennett questioned. "Please say there are fucking women." Bennett always let his dick do the talking, the fucking idiot.
"Why are you guys here, anyway? Besides the women?" Diego was still chuckling at Bennett's outburst, but had his arms crossed in suspicion. "I know how much you hate this heat, Ryan."
"Jamie needed a tan," I quipped, watching my closest friend roll his eyes at me.
I was aware of all the eyes on us as we made our way across the property. There seemed to be a lot of new faces around. The compound was full of small shacks with men huddled around them. With the amount of money Diego made, he could afford to get these fuckers out of the poverty they were living in, but he was all about filling his own pockets. I knew most of these men were probably wanted for some crime or other, and in this part of the world, anything was better than jail to them. The main building was in the distance: Diego's palace as he liked to call it.
It was quite the operation here in Salvador. The fields were guarded twenty-four hours a day by armed men. The drug shipments were prepared and distributed with ease from a large building on site. Carlo had the local authorities in his pocket, ensuring that his supply chain was never messed with—no one questioned his power here. The arrangement had been made between Carlo’s and Diego's fathers decades ago.
"Shall I show you to the house so you can settle in?" Diego offered. I nodded. I needed to get out of this motherfucking heat before I ended up killing someone.
"Have you found anything yet?" Carlo asked. I had finally gotten a few bars of signal inside the house after I'd been shown to my room.
"There are a lot of new faces, but that’s all I’ve seen so far. Don't worry, we'll take a good look around."
"I don't know what I'd do without you, Ryan," Carlo chuckled over the phone.
"How is Tony?" I didn't give a fuck about him, really, but I was hoping Carlo would tell me that Siena was alright. She didn't have me watching out for her, and I knew what those perverts were like in that club. Fuck, I had been one of them in the past.
"He's taking care of everything while you're away." Yeah, that was bullshit. Tony couldn't take care of shit. "Trixie is fine, too." Fuck, even her stage name made my cock harden.
"He's not giving her a hard time is he?"
"No. I'd say it's the other way round." That's my fucking girl. I really needed to stop thinking of Siena as mine. She never had been and never would be.
"I'll call you as soon as I find something."
"Try not to kill anyone, Ryan," Carlo teased. He knew that would be impossible if I found someone stealing from us.
"That depends on what I find."
"Keep yourself safe," Carlo added before finally hanging up. I was just about to get some sleep when a light tap came at my door.
"Jamie said you might want some company," a sexy dark haired Brazilian woman purred as I opened my door. Fuck, I just wanted to lay my head down and jerk off thinking about Siena.
"Jamie was wrong," I sighed, about to close my door when the female put her hand up to stop me.
"He said to tell you my name." What would her name have to do with anything? I was going to bed! "My name is Trixie." That motherfucker! I’m sure he was sitting in his room, cracking up at pulling a fast one on me.
Now she had my attention. "Trixie, you say?" I smirked, widening my door to invite her in. "Well, let's see if I can find you something to do," I mused, shutting my bedroom door.
"How was the watch last night?" I yawned, greeting Jamie the next morning.
"I didn't notice anything. I think they're all on their best behavior because you're here."
"Give them time. Someone will slip up once we've been here a few weeks. They'll miss their extra income." I yawned again.
"Did you get any sleep last night?" Jamie sniggered. Bennett was nowhere around, so I could speak freely.
"I fucked her all night."
"I thought you might," Jamie mused. "Are you going to tell me how you managed to fuck Trixie?"
"It's a long story," I sighed, watching a few of Diego's men come into view. It was early morning, and the next shipment was about to be loaded into the vans.
"We're here for weeks, Ryan," Jamie pointed out.
"I'll tell you later," I murmured, watching Bennett surface from the main house. "We have work to do."
The boys and I took shifts over the next few weeks to keep tabs on the shipments. Like we had expected, Diego's men ran the operation like clockwork. If we wanted to find out what was really going on, we'd have to dig deeper.
"We need to look harder into transportation. It has to be going missing there," I mused, watching Bennett check over all his guns. I had no idea how he was going to smuggle them all back into the county when we went home.
"And how do you suggest we do that?"
"You’ll have to go undercover." My boys loved undercover work—anything that meant they could get their hands dirty.
"We're listening," Jamie grinned.
"You're going away for a week—on vacation ."
"I think I see where this is going," Bennett snorted, downing his beer.
"I need you to watch those shipments twenty-four/seven. I will not go back to Carlo without an explanation."
"It's covered, Ryan," Jamie said as he patted me on the back. "Come on, Bennett. It's vacation time!"
"Are you going to be okay here alone?" Bennett asked, getting up.
"I'm sure he'll find some thing to do." Jamie raised his eyebrow at me and smirked. He knew I'd be calling on the sexy Brazilian Trixie again while they were away. She was a long way from my Goddess, but she sure knew how to ride my cock while I moaned out her name. Yeah, I think I'd be fine while the boys were away.
"Ryan!" Diego joined me at the dinner table later that night. "I hear your men have abandoned you."
"Only for a week. They needed a break."
"They are very loyal to you."
"They are loyal to Carlo," I pointed out.
"That's what I meant." Diego smiled, going to his fridge to pull out some beers.
"Don't you miss Chicago?" I asked as he passed me a beer.
"Not anymore. I need to be here. This is my kingdom, Ryan." I tried to hide my smirk. I didn't have the heart to tell him that this was no kingdom. "You've done well for yourself. Carlo holds you in higher esteem than his own son."
"Carlo knows what our strengths are, Diego. I'm not in a competition with Tony. He has his uses, just as I have mine."
"You're a better man than Tony and you know it!"
"Don't let Tony hear you say that, or those will be your last words."
"He doesn't scare me," Diego laughed. "Now, you on the other hand...I'll never forget Miami." Diego was referring to the incident when I killed a rival mob member with my bare hands. I didn't very often kill with my hands these days, but if a motherfucker deserved it, I'd make it as slow and as painful as possible. On that particular day, a rival mob had tried to hurt Carlo. Not a good thing to do while I was around. I'd smashed his face into the pavement a few times before crushing his jaw and killing the motherfucker.
"Are you still having nightmares?" I teased.
"Daily," Diego chuckled as one of his ladies wandered in. "If you'll excuse me." He smiled as she led him away. I smiled, thinking I'd do the same thing; getting up from the table, I went to look for my Siena replacement. What the fuck was I doing? This wasn't going to help when I had to go back home, but to be able to say her name as I climaxed was worth more than the air I breathed down here.
"You're sure?" I asked Bennett and Jamie when they returned later that week.
"It's being taken at the dock—only a few packages at a time, but it adds up quick," Jamie confirmed.
"Do we have a name?"
"Mario Sanchez." The name didn't sound familiar, not that it mattered. I knew what I had to do. We had to set an example so it wouldn't happen again. We also had to find out if Mario was working for anyone else. Carlo knew mafia families all over the world who would kill to get their hands on this deal. He was lucky he had me to make sure that never happened.
"Okay, go and get Mario. I'll meet you in the clearing in half an hour." I couldn't hate this part of my job; it was what I lived for. Violence ran through my veins and had since I was a kid. I never got any peace from killing someone, though. Whether he was a thieving motherfucker or not, he was still someone's son.
"I haven't done anything!" I could hear Mario pleading his case as Bennett and Jamie pulled him into the clearing. I needed to get information out of him before I made an example of him back at the compound.
"You know that isn't true," I called as Mario made eye contact with me.
"Oh, no. Please, no..." Mario dropped to his knees at my feet. "I didn't mean to...please, Mr. Lawson...please!"
"Who are you working for, Mario?" I whispered in his ear before pushing him to the ground. "Tell me and I'll make it quick."
"I don’t know who. All I have is the name of the guy who contacted me!" Mario cried. "Please, Mr. Lawson. I'll tell you anything—anything!"
"Give him the fucking name," Bennett huffed, kicking him hard in the ribs. "We don't have all day."
"Paul, Paul Jenkins," Mario sobbed, digging his hands into the dirt. I'd never heard of that name before. "Please. I've told you all I know."
"Mario, you stole from us. Did you really think I'd let you get away with that?" I laughed, signaling for Bennett and Jamie to help him up.
"No! No...please, I beg you!" Mario was still crying and yelling as we dragged him into the center of the compound.
"Ryan, what is the meaning of this?" Diego asked as he and his men surrounded us.
"This man has been stealing from us." I glared.
"What?" Diego gasped, his eyes darting to Mario. "Why would you do that?"
"I had to—I have a family to support," Mario began to explain, but I was in no mood to hear his sob story. I'd been stuck in this hellhole for a month no thanks to this fucker. I wanted to go home. I needed to see Siena.
"You know what the penalty is for stealing from us!" I roared, turning to punch him in the stomach. Mario winced, crying out at my powerful blow. "You can't expect to walk away from this."
"Please...please," Mario was sobbing into the ground. This was how you sorted the men from the boys. When my time came, I wouldn't hide my face in the dirt and beg for my life. I would stare my killer right in the eyes, and remember his face for when he joined me in hell. Yeah, death didn't scare me at all.
I pulled out my glock. Mario was still sobbing, clawing at the ground.
"Let this be a lesson to everyone here!" I shouted, looking around at the gathered crowd.
Not one person stood up in Mario's defense. I had to admit, I loved the fear these men had for me, and they had every reason to be afraid. I was dangerous. I would kill any motherfucker who stood in the way of me doing my job. "Steal from us and you will be executed." With that, I pulled the trigger. With one shot to the back of the head, Mario’s body went limp.
There was a deadly silence as everyone looked stunned by Mario's lifeless form.
"Diego," I glared, "you need to be more selective with your men. He was robbing us blind."
"I had no idea," Diego gasped. "Is this the real reason you've been here all this time?"
"How about we talk back at your house?"
"Of course. Clean up this mess!" Diego ordered before leading me away. "You should have told me, Ryan. I could have helped."
"I needed to be sure you weren't in on it," I admitted once inside the house.
"You thought...”
"I had to be sure ," I interrupted. "No hard feelings."
"No," Diego smiled, handing me a glass of whiskey. "I can't believe one of my men would do that to me—to us."
"Have you heard of someone named Paul Jenkins?" Diego shook his head. "Mario was working for him."
"I'll ask around." Diego smiled. "Though, I have no doubt that you'll hunt this Paul Jenkins person down yourself. I wouldn't want to be him when you do find him."
He was right, of course, but as I finished my whiskey, all that was racing around my head was that in less than twenty-four hours, I'd be able to see Siena again. After our fucking incredible weekend together, knowing how fucking perfect her body was and how her pussy felt wrapped around my cock, I had no idea how I was going to act around her.
Jamie and Bennett were outside waiting for me.
"What's next, bossman?" Bennett asked.
"Home," I smiled. "Good luck trying to smuggle all your new guns in."
"I'm sure Bennett will find a way," Jamie smirked. "He's always been so inventive."
"I tried to shove a gun up my ass crack one time, Jamie. Are you going to mock me for the rest of my life?" Bennett complained as we collected our bags.
"Probably," Jamie laughed.
It looked like it was going to be an interesting trip back home with the boys.
I couldn't wait to be back in my own bed. Part of me wondered if Siena's scent would still be on my pillows. Fuck, I was so screwed! I hoped I could keep my shit together when I finally did see her again.