Chapter 1
Alexander Prince
Today had been a shitty day on top of a shitty week.
One of our warehouses just outside the city had been hit, product stolen.
Fortunately, my men had taken out five of the six assholes who’d dared infiltrate our security.
As required, they’d also managed to capture and cage one of the thieves, yet even the act of slitting his throat after a long interrogation had done nothing to improve my mood.
He’d told me shit even after taking my time snapping one bone after another.
Italian. Russian. Albanian. Hell, even the Mexicans were trying to encroach on our territory. Where once before there’d been enough business to go around, now everyone in the business was hoping for a stronger hold on New Orleans.
While the captive hadn’t disclosed any decent information, the act itself had all the earmarks of the Russo clan.
Without hesitation, I’d retaliated, completely destroying one of their warehouses. What had pissed me off even more was that I’d lost a good man, a highly trained soldier in the process. Now the tension was higher than normal, presenting the possibility of a war.
I was the man capable of preventing that from occurring. In fact, it was my duty, a command issued by my father the Don. He and I differed on tactics, but going against his decision would be considered an act of betrayal.
Regaining peace was important business, which was why dealing with a two-bit traitor did nothing but drive my mood further into the gutter.
Fucking monster.
I’d been called one myself over the years, something I’d never admitted to mainly because there’d been no need. I’d never shied away from the fact I was the devil in disguise. Wasn’t that exactly what my critics had stated in various magazine articles and statements tailor-made for the press?
Wearing expensive tailored suits certainly couldn’t hide the fact that I had voracious bloodlust, rarely tempered and often fueled by the stupidity of others.
Tonight was one of those occasions.
One of my men, a soldier I’d recently promoted from little more than an errand boy to a made man and he’d managed such an atrocity on his second night?
My fist found his face for the fifth time, bloodying my knuckles and splattering my crisp white shirt.
Something else to piss me off.
The sound of bones crunching did little to soothe the beast within.
“You fucked up, Randy.”
I raked my hand through my hair, shaking off the brutal punch. There would be others.
The man’s head lolled toward the floor, the slight blubbering sound he managed doing little more than keeping the raging fire ignited. I issued another savage punch, but any enjoyment in his punishment was long gone.
“Tell me something, Jarvis. What do I hate more than liars?”
“That’s an easy one, boss. Thieves.” His tight hold on the man didn’t stop his look of amusement. He knew how I was, the anger simmering until I had no self-control. How many times had he cautioned me against my blind rage turning into a massacre?
My Capo was correct. Not that there’d ever been any doubt. I wasn’t considered forgiving or even decent, but I was fair.
And when a crime involved the theft of my hard-earned product, any sale to kids, or the murder of women, I needed to draw the line.
Granted, his heist was a mere pittance of what the Russos had walked away with a few nights before. Unfortunately for him and given my nasty mood, he would face a harsher punishment.
Everything else was fair game in the war on illegal drugs, something the Prince family had excelled in for generations.
However, one misstep like the idiocy from this shit-for-brains man could put an end to both the family’s reputation and our freedom.
That couldn’t be allowed. Nor could a single offense be left unpunished.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Prince.”
Crime often attracted lowlifes such as Randy, thinking the sale of illegal drugs was a quick route to fame and fortune.
Assholes like this were nothing more than an annoyance.
I didn’t give a shit he’d taken a dime bag for his own use, partying with his brother and the kid’s classmates.
That was beside the point. He’d ignored the rules, acting as if his position afforded him special treatment.
Maybe sending a warning to my men was long overdue.
My fist found his face again, easily and brutally. A tooth popped out and I sighed. Perhaps the long hours I’d put in lately were the reason for my eternally bad mood.
Randy’s strangled sob turned into a coughing fit, strings of blood oozing from his mouth.
“What exactly are you sorry about, Randy? Stealing my product without my consent, providing it to underage kids, or your traitorous acts being discovered?”
My hand ached, which meant it would soon begin to swell. A casual condition of my employment.
“Everything.”
I almost laughed at his admittance. I snatched him around the throat, yanking him free from Jarvis. The adrenaline was such I lifted him off the concrete floor, leaving his legs dangling. “Do you know what would have happened if the kids you sold the drugs to had overdosed? Do you?”
His face was turning a lovely shade of crimson, although in the dull warehouse lighting, his skin appeared the color of a fresh beet. I’d give him credit. He managed to nod.
Disgusted, I tossed him against the wall, unnerved that I had to dole out punishment more frequently. He’d thought he was a tough guy, telling me as much several times in pleading for a promotion.
He’d promised me he could handle the pressure. In a sense, I’d allowed the theft by becoming too lenient over the last few months.
Not that anyone else would agree with me.
Other than the Russos. Additional training on security methods would soon follow.
“Please. I won’t do it again. I swear to God. They’re fine. I didn’t let them take much. Just a hit. Nothing more.”
Fuck me.
I pitched him against the hard concrete, silencing him with a single look, watching as he slid down the wall. “As I said, Randy. You fucked up and doing so won’t be without punishment.”
Tears slipped down both sides of his face. He was certain I had plans on putting a bullet in his brain and I should. However, as I’d learned over the years, warnings were an excellent incentive. Some would even say his small infraction warranted it.
However, I wasn’t like everyone else.
“I have some information you can use. Maybe. I think so.”
Sighing, I slowly lifted my head toward Jarvis, who promptly shook his head. He had no idea what the kid was talking about. When Randy wasn’t forthcoming, I crowded his space, making him sweat a little more. “Talk, Randy. My time is valuable.”
“The guy with my brother. He spouted off some shit. You know, when he was high.”
“What exactly did he spout off?”
“The Russos. Something big is going down.”
Solid confirmation that the Russos were behind the warehouse break-in.
That would make the most sense, regarding who’d disabled our security system and taken our product.
It was a child’s game, which should be nothing but an irritant.
Unfortunately, we’d been playing a game with the Russos for years, my father, the Don of the Prince Crime Syndicate coming closer to starting an all-out war.
In my opinion, it was time. Past fucking time.
That wouldn’t be good for either family or the city, but the last thing we could allow to occur was to appear weak to either the Italians or any other syndicate. That’s when the most blood was shed.
We were always at war over something, clashing over land, warehouses, or power within New Orleans. It was a feud that had lasted for generations, although lately both sides had chosen peace over bloodshed. That meant nothing in the world and warring status of crime syndicates.
There’d even been talk as recently as a few years ago about forming an alliance by marriage. I’d refused to allow Emmeline to get near the pricks.
So maybe tensions were still running a little high.
“Care to elaborate?” I asked. I was a man of few words and little patience. “Is this about the warehouse?”
He licked sweat and blood from his swollen lip. “I don’t think so, but I tried to ask. You know, to see what I could learn. The kid just said soon the Russos would own New Orleans.”
That came close to sounding like a declaration of war.
“Did this kid have a name?”
“Bobby. I don’t know his last name.”
I backhanded him again for added incentive.
“I swear to God. I never saw him before. My brother came to me and said he had a good buddy who wanted some blow. I just… It was my brother. You know?”
While I wasn’t the kind of man to believe in conspiracy theories, if what Randy had just said was true, the kid had sought him out on purpose. Possibly to issue a warning that would eventually get to me. Or possibly the kid was bragging. Either way, nurturing the ‘relationship’ could prove useful.
Exhaling, I pulled out a cloth from my jacket, wiping the blood from my hand, watching as he slowly crawled up from the floor. At least the fucker hadn’t had the nerve to beg for his life.
Yet.
Without hesitation, I whipped out my weapon, one single step and I had the hard, cold steel of the barrel placed against the center point of his eyes.
“You’re a disappointment, Randy. To yourself and to the organization who employs you, but today is your lucky day.
I have other business to attend to. I’ll allow my associates to finish cleaning up the mess you created.
You’re going to find this Bobby for me. And you’re going to bring him to me.
If you do, this incident will be put behind us. Understood?”
I allowed the words to hang in the air and I applied pressure with the gun.
“Yes, sir. Oh, yes, sir.”
When he started to apologize again, all I had to do was cock my head to once again silence him.
As I backed away, I nodded to the two men standing in the shadows.
They were part of my cleanup crew, men highly skilled in the removal of evidence.
When they were finished, there wasn’t a forensics team in the entire state of Louisiana who would be able to dredge up a single scrap of DNA.
Jarvis had called them in ahead of time, uncertain what to expect.
No one did when it came to decisions I made. Maybe I liked to keep my men guessing. Or maybe I wasn’t wired to chart things out when it came to handling traitors.
Repulsion pooled in my stomach like a venomous snake, keeping me on edge while never quite satisfying the fury lurking just below the surface.
When I walked from the building, I took several deep breaths of the late afternoon air as Jarvis flanked my side.
“What punishment would you like me to inflict?”
Sadly, I’d need to be careful. The asshole had run as soon as he’d seen me heading in his direction.
I’d been forced to drag him into one of our warehouse spaces located conveniently close to a string of our family businesses, but far too close for the levels of interrogation that were sometimes necessary.
The French Quarter was crowded with tourists, discovery a chance I couldn’t take.
At some point the police would become wise to the battle shared with the Russos. While we controlled a significant number of members of law enforcement, it wasn’t enough to keep an indictment from being issued.
I thought about his question, debating ending Randy’s miserable life.
In some ways, it would make the world a better place.
It was obvious he wasn’t a good role model for his kid brother, but was it fair to remove the only breadwinner in a family?
At least that’s what he’d blabbed on about even before the promotion.
However, being fair had been challenging. With my teeth gritted, I spit out orders. “Take a finger. Wrap the wound and send him home.”
“Understood. Anything else?”
“Not today. I’m hoping to meet my father for a discussion on how to handle the Russos.
” What troubled me was that I’d left a message with my father and had yet to hear back.
That wasn’t like him. I was at the point of tracking him down through his second in command.
“We’ll meet tomorrow morning and discuss the new shipment and laying down plans for additional security methods. ”
“You got it. What do you make of what Randy just said?”
“I don’t know what to think at this point. Kids boast, but I want this Bobby tracked down. He could prove useful.”
“Yeah, they do, but you’re right. I smell something off about the interaction myself. I guess we’ll see if Randy comes through.”
“For his sake he damn well better.”
Jarvis chuckled, given he knew me so well.
While there was always music blaring from open bars and coming from street vendors, I wasn’t immune to the need of taking extra precautions. “By the way. Put a rag in his mouth. The last we need is attention drawn to the area.” I handed him the rag I’d used before.
Jarvis laughed. “Always careful.”
I had to be.
There were always sharks in the water eager to clean up the chum.