Grayson
We pull into the car lot and I step out, motioning Rowan to follow. I send my coordinates to my mom and lead Rowan to the cargo van we’re taking.
“This is completely bulletproof. Windows, doors and tires. Sit in here while I grab the bags from the car.” I tell Rowan.
“What about Deirdra?” She asks.
“What about her?” I snap. This wasn’t a time to answer questions about my staff.
“Is she safe? Are they going to go after her?” She snaps back.
“Deirdra is fine. She’s a designer, they’re not worried about my staff unless they’re part of the inner circle, like security or transport.” I say nonchalantly.
“I need to call her. She’s my friend and I want to make sure she’s okay.” Rowan tips her chin up stubbornly .
“We’re not calling anyone right now Rowan! I already tossed my phone in the sewer drain when we got here.” I shout. I see her tense but I don’t have time to coddle her like a child if I want to get her to our destination safely. She needs to understand that, especially after I almost lost her too.
My mom and Laila pull in, startling me as I pack the last of the money into the cargo van. They both exit at the same time and rush over to us.
“Get in the back. Now.” I order them. We all pile into the van and I drift out of the car lot and onto the road, kicking up the speed. “You both have your main phones tossed?” I ask. My mom and Laila nod quickly, their faces swollen and red from crying. “Alright, here's the plan. We have another Hangar in Homestead, just south of Miami. If they suspect that we’re fleeing out of state they’ll likely think we’re heading to the west coast where dad owns property. The hangar isn’t registered so they have no way of finding it. On the off chance they find out we’re headed south they’ll be expecting us to take I-57 because it’s quicker, but we’re going to take US-35 cutting through toward West Virginia. It’s only a couple of hours out of the way.”
“So we’re just going to let them get away with killing dad and Luciano?” Laila shouts .
“I know you think you know more about my business than I do Laila, but it’s going to take time to plan a counter attack with almost all of our men being killed off.” I snap, gripping the steering wheel until my knuckles turn white.
“Well, do you have a plan?” Laila asks. Of course I wouldn’t let anyone–even the cartel– kill my family and take my business overnight without retaliation. But if I want to be smart about this, I have to go into hiding for a while and build my empire back up just like Conejo did. They are going to get what’s coming– but in due time.
“Yes, Laila. I have a plan but I still have to iron out the details. Right now our priority is getting out of here safely.” I advise her. “We’ll drive until we get to Virginia. One of my military buddies has an estate in the mountains where we’ll be staying for two weeks. It’s remote so they won’t find us there.”
“You were in the military?” Rowan looks surprised.
“Yes, Marines. I had to learn hand to hand combat and tactical defense somewhere.” I shrug.
“Did you say two weeks?” Laila cuts in.
“Yes. Like I said, it's remote.” I say, annoyed at how much she’s talking .
“Then why don’t we just stay there until things blow over?” She asks.
“Because it’s too much of a risk to stay in the states. The place is safe, but the house in Italy is safer and we’ll actually be able to leave the house. If we stay in Virginia, there's more of a risk being found if one of us has to leave to get groceries or anything like that.” I toss over my shoulder. Laila doesn’t understand that every plan I come up with is very calculated. I didn’t run a multi-million dollar empire by flying by the seat of my pants with no preparation. My brother and I had all of this in place before Conejo came around. We just didn’t anticipate having to use these resources anytime soon. We didn’t act fast enough and that’s the only reason I don’t have Luciano here with me, and Pops too. I could only imagine how shit would have gone down had I not watched Rowan and found out about everything.