Chapter 11 Enzo #2
“Boss, there is a group of guys here to see you,” Jake, one of my guys, said through the phone as I sat in my office the following afternoon.
Everything had been decent with Fox since last night.
He seemed a hell of a lot happier, and for that, I was ecstatic. It was almost like he’d returned to us.
“Check them, and then send them in.”
“You got it.” The line disconnected, and I waited at my desk for them. Several long moments later, there was a soft knock on my door before Jake poked his head in.
“Lorenzo,” he greeted me.
I nodded and gestured for him to bring the visitors in. I didn’t typically allow people in the home, especially unannounced visitors, but something about this just felt different. I couldn’t explain it.
Four men came into my space. Young. Around my age. I stood and watched as they approached. They looked like regular guys off the street. Nothing about them said money or status.
Jake stayed at the edge of the room for a moment before E came in and stood behind me as I settled in my chair behind my desk.
“Sit,” I said, gesturing to the seats in front of me.
The guys sat, clearly feeling a little awkward.
“What can I help you with?” I proceeded, staring them down.
“My name is Elijah,” the one on the edge said. Dark hair. Dark eyes. All black clothing. “These are my friends. Christian,” he gestured to the one next to him before moving down the line. “Memphis, and Dmitri.”
“Dmitri,” I said. “Russian?”
“Da,” Dmitri replied. “But I’m not one of those Russians. I hate the fucking Ivanovs.”
I surveyed him for a moment, taking in how he looked. Dark hair. Gray eyes that looked like the color of a storm. And built. Fuck, the guy looked like he enjoyed bench pressing cars in his spare time.
“What can I help you with?” I asked, tearing my focus from Dmitri and looking back to Elijah. I could tell he was the leader. Not only was he first to speak, but he also had a no-nonsense way about him that just screamed control.
“We want to work for you,” he said. “I’ll be blunt. We use sugar. We believe in the product. We want to push for you. We want to enforce for you. Collect. Rough up people you need roughed up. Whatever it is. We want in.”
I said nothing as I stared at him.
He didn’t waver.
“What else?” I finally asked, knowing there was more to it than that.
The guys all shifted, telling me what I assumed. There was definitely more to it.
“Our girl,” the one called Memphis spoke up in a deep voice. “She’s been missing for years. She was our best friend. We have reason to believe Matteo De Santis has her.”
I sat forward and narrowed my eyes at him.
“And why do you think working for me can help you with this?”
“Because we want more,” Christian spoke up. “We want to be able to gain more information on her whereabouts.”
“So simply ask,” I said. “Why would you want to join this life?”
“We were built by these streets,” Elijah said. “We grew up on them. We own them. We know them. But what’s more, we’re willing to die to get our girl back, and if you give us the opportunity, we can prove to you how loyal we are.”
“What’s your girl’s name?” E asked from behind me.
“Indigo,” Elijah said, “Indie.”
Christian rifled through his jacket pocket before pulling out a photo and handing it over to me.
I took it and stared at the image of a beautiful young woman, maybe fifteen at the most. Hair black as pitch and hanging to her waist. Vivid blue eyes. Far smaller than the guys who towered over her by at least a foot in the photograph.
“Tell me what happened,” I said, placing the photo down in front of me.
“We all grew up on the streets. Indie had a foster dad who used to hurt her. He owed De Santis a lot of money. He owed Ivanov, too. One day, Indie went home and that was it. We never saw her again. Rumor has it that Matteo De Santis and his men paid a visit to her foster father. After beating him nearly to death, they took Indie with them. We’ve been looking for ages. ”
“So for ages you’ve known she was with Matteo De Santis?” I asked.
“Not really,” Memphis said. “We only just found out a few months ago. For a long time, we thought her foster dad sold her off to Everett Church, but that turned up nothing. It wasn’t until we found her foster father and beat the shit out of him that he told us that Alessio Valentino took her on Matteo’s orders. ”
“I see,” I murmured. “And working for me helps how?”
“Access,” Dmitri said. “Status. No one fucking listens to us. We want to be heard.”
“You want to be feared.” I settled back in my seat again.
“Lorenzo, please,” Elijah said. “You’re right, but it’s more than that.
What if you had a girl you cared about? Wouldn’t you want to find her?
We worry that terrible things have happened to Indie.
She’s a sweet girl. She’s soft. I-we could never forgive ourselves if we didn’t do whatever we had to do to get her back.
It’s been five years. The horrors she must have lived through…
” His Adam’s apple bobbed. “Our word is gold. We are loyal. We want to make a bigger name for ourselves. We want to bring her home. Give us a task. We’ll complete whatever it is. ”
I was silent for a long time, taking in how they each stared back at me. They looked like they could get shit done. Big. Powerful. Muscular. I could see how they’d be intimidating, and I was always looking for loyal men.
I wrote down an address and slid it across the desk. Elijah scooped it up and stared down at it.
“Peter Reed owes me money for sugar. See to it that he pays me. With interest. Blood or cash. I’m open to either. You bring me that, and we’ll talk. Sound good?”
“Yes,” Elijah said immediately. “Consider it done.”
He got to his feet, his men following.
“My number is written at the bottom. Let me know when you’ve finished.”
“You’ll be hearing from us soon,” Elijah said fiercely.
I inclined my head at him. He gathered his men and left, Jake escorting them out.
Once they were gone, I rubbed my eyes.
“They’re big dudes,” E finally said. “I bet they get shit done.”
“I hope so. If they’re as good as I hope they are, we may have just found us some new enforcers.”
“Cole will be excited. He was complaining he wanted to have four day weekends,” E said.
I chuckled at that.
“Don’t remind me. He was bitching about it before he left.”
“You know, they might be good to look after Rosalie,” E said thoughtfully.
“Let’s see how they do with this, and I’ll consider it.” I stood and went to the leather chair in the room and took a seat, E following and grabbing a spot on the couch.
“Is Fox still at the gym?” I asked.
“Yeah. He seems a little happier. I’m glad you guys hung out.”
“Me too,” I murmured.
“I hope it lasts,” E said, his voice soft. “It scares me when he’s distant.”
I nodded wordlessly. He scared me too.
“I worry he’ll leave us,” E continued, staring me down. “Don’t you?”
“I do,” I replied truthfully, “But I think he’s going to be OK. He promised.”
E let out a soft laugh. “Fox always keeps his promises.”
“And that’s why I believe everything is going to work out,” was all I said before E changed the subject to Cole having left another cucumber in his dresser, this time with a dick painted on it and a smiley face.
Some things never changed.