Chapter 19
NINETEEN
LYKOS
Salvatore leaned against the edge of the desk in my office back at the villa and crossed his arms, watching me pace.
“You’re wearing a groove in the floor,” he muttered.
“I’m thinking,” I shot back. “Nobody pulls something that clean without backing. This Obsidian Society must have some pull to make this happen.”
Salvatore shrugged. “He got caught, so it couldn’t be that strong of a pull.”
I stopped pacing and looked at him. “This organization knew enough to be dangerous. I suspect the only reason he got caught was because he was green.”
Salvatore’s expression tightened. He knew I was right.
“So, what now?” he asked.
I exhaled slowly and reached for my phone. “Now we ask someone who might know or has heard of them.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Who would that be?”
“Mateo Agosti,” I corrected. “He’s based out of Boston. Granted, he runs the Italian mafia there, but since it’s his home, maybe he’s heard of them or can point me in the right direction.”
The Agosti family was very powerful and ran criminal activity along with the Irish and the Tijuana Cartel. It was the beauty of marriage alliances.
I dialed his phone number, and waited as his line rang twice before a smooth, measured voice picked up. “Mateo Agosti.”
“Mateo, it’s Lykos,” I greeted.
A small pause followed. “To what do I owe this phone call? I haven’t talked to you in ages.”
“It’s been too long,” I agreed. “I need information.”
“Sounds like something’s rattled your cage,” Mateo said. “That’s not common.”
I smirked faintly. “Shipment got hit. Sloppy, but bold. However, I want to know if it’s connected to something bigger.”
“What does that have to do with me?” he questioned.
“The captive mentioned an Obsidian Society,” I said, my tone flattening. “Something about powerful families in Boston. Do you know anything about it?”
Another pause followed, and when he answered, amusement crept into his voice.
“Ah,” Mateo said. “Them.”
“So you’ve heard of them.”
“I’ve heard rumors,” he replied. “But not in the way you’re thinking.”
I glanced at Salvatore, who was watching me closely. “Then enlighten me.”
Mateo chuckled softly. “They have nothing to do with our world, Lykos. It’s a circle of very rich men and women, bankers, market movers, people who think numbers are more powerful than bullets. And sometimes they’re right.”
“Sounds like a bunch of cowards.”
“Not cowards,” Mateo corrected. “Detached. They play in stock markets, not streets or illegal shipments. They don’t need blood when they can bankrupt a man before he wakes up.”
I let that sit for a second, then asked, “I’m guessing there’s more to it than just that?”
His tone turned drier. “Unfortunately.”
“Tell me.”
He let out a quiet exhale. “They indulge in… eccentric tastes. Power attracts that sort of thing. Strange parties. Stranger habits. But that’s not your problem.”
“Maybe it is.”
“It isn’t,” he said firmly. “Because they don’t touch our world. Not yours, not mine. They steer clear of organized crime. They’ve always kept away from it.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Then they wouldn’t have hit my shipment.”
“I’m telling you that’s not their style. Too crude. Too visible,” Mateo said without hesitation.
Salvatore shifted slightly.
“Then someone’s trying to make it look like them,” I said.
“Or,” Mateo countered, “someone wants you looking in the wrong direction.”
I rubbed my jaw. “If you hear anything—anything at all—you call me.”
Mateo laughed quietly. “Careful, Lykos. That almost sounded like a demand.”
“It’s a request between two old friends,” I replied.
“You got it.” He let a beat pass before he said, “Lykos?”
“Yeah.”
“Whoever took your shipment… they’re either very brave,” he said, his voice cooling, “or very stupid.”
The line went dead and I lowered the phone slowly.
Salvatore pushed off the desk. “Well?”
I looked at him and summarized the call. “He doesn’t think it’s the Obsidian Society’s style to dabble in the criminal world.”
“Then who?”
“Someone who wants me chasing shadows.”
Salvatore nodded once. “And what do we do about that?”
I slipped the phone into my pocket and threw myself into the seat behind my desk. I had a shit ton of work to do that had nothing to do with this cursed society and the havoc they brought to my doorstep.
“We drag them into the light,” I said.