13. CHAPTER 13
SEBASTIAN - SIX YEARS AGO
T he cloud of smoke floated through the room as I exhaled, before taking another drag on the cigarette. Everyone sat around the table, quietly discussing what we had just done and what to do next to secure the turf we’d just taken over.
There was just one loose end, and he was currently tied up behind the door in the other room.
Still, I was torn, the memory of my granddad tugging at me not to cross that line. He’d passed not long ago, and ever since, I’d found myself being drawn deeper into the fires of hell.
I knew full well I was nothing he’d be proud of right now.
Before I could speak, Nicholas strolled through the door. He wasn’t my first choice for what I needed, but I knew he’d eventually agree.
“Nice house, rich boy. Did your mummy buy it for you?”
I jolted up, the chair going flying behind me. Hayden grabbed my arm, shaking his head at me—a warning not to start anything.
Nicholas and I had never seen eye to eye. He didn’t think someone with wealth like mine belonged in the fighting scene. It didn’t help that I’d then beaten his sorry arse in the ring.
Since then, he was always trying to throw his weight around, but he wasn’t a leader in any way, shape, or form. He was too reckless.
But as much as it pained me to have him here, he knew money laundering inside and out.
He laughed, pointing at me. “That’s right—you and your mummy issues.”
Fire raged through me, my fists clenching, my jaw tightening. I went for him. But before I got there, Valon, Soran, and Hayden had grabbed me, trying to hold me back.
“Sebastian, he’s just trying to wind you up,” Soran said. “Leave him.” He squeezed my shoulder, and they released me once my body loosened.
“What did you call me here for, anyway?” Nicholas asked as he lit a cigarette.
“As much as I’d rather not work with you, you need us, like we need you.”
“And how do I need you again?” He unbuttoned his jacket, then pulled out a chair and sat down, resting his legs on the table as if he owned the place. I gritted my teeth.
“You want to get out from under your brother's shadows, and we need someone who knows money laundering. I’ll front the costs for you. Everything in your name.”
Nicholas flicked his cigarette on the floor. “You think you’re some sort of leader just because you’ve taken over a tiny turf of no consequence whatsoever? You don’t know the streets. I was born and raised in these back alleys.”
“Yet no one respects you.”
His nostrils flared, and he swung his feet back to plant them on the floor, leaning forwards in his chair.
“What did you do with Alex?”
I made my way to the door, stepping into the room for a few seconds and dragging Alex out by his collar. His mouth was taped, hands and feet bound together. His face was red, covered with sweat and splatters of crimson from the earlier punches I’d given him.
I threw him down in the middle of the room. His breathing was heavy against the silver tape, his eyes darting around.
Nicholas let out a low whistle. “I’m impressed, rich boy.”
That was something I never thought I’d hear him say.
“Everything is set up for us. Valon with products, Hassan sorting his routes. Hayden will deal with all the tech—”
Nicholas cut me off. “And the law?”
“Sorted. My barrister wants in.”
He rolled his eyes. “Of course you have a barrister.”
“Well, what do you say? Do you want to join us, or carry on being nothing more than a shadow in this life?”
He rubbed his chin, looking around at everyone before meeting my eyes again. “I’m in.”
I took a deep breath, pulling my Glock from behind my back.
I knew this was what I needed to do from the moment we decided to start the Organisation, but my granddad’s voice was niggling in the back of my mind, telling me not to do it, to be the good man he’d raised.
I pulled the trigger anyway.