Gregory
Tess stands by my side overlooking a burned-out field. It’s nearly midnight, the waning moon still casting a gray light over the wreckage, the sky spattered with stars. “I want to be long gone before it happens,” she says, her face grim.
“I’m going to be honest with you. I’m surprised you’re willing to play a part in this at all.”
She wrinkles her nose. “I’m more pragmatic than the rest of them. Besides, I’m still young, I have to think about my future.”
“I could give you a bunch of easy platitudes about the Callahan family’s gratitude, but I suspect you won’t care about that.”
“No, I won’t. I care about money and opportunity.”
“Then we’re in agreement.”
She grunts as she turns away. “Just make sure you clean up after yourself.”
“What, you don’t want him left behind? It might makes good fertilizer.”
She doesn’t respond as she walks off. I watch her go, my smile slowly fading. She’s going to be a problem-the fact that she’s aware of this operation at all is a massive risk. However, we do have written and verbal proof of her complicity, which means the Callahan family now owns her, whether she realizes it or not.
I turn off the recorder once she’s gone and hand it over to Orin. “Make sure this is kept safe.”
“Got it, boss.” He pauses, squinting in the dark. “You’re sure he’ll show?”
“He’s in a bad spot right now. He won’t be able to resist.”
Orin nods, looking thoughtful. I leave him there and walk back toward the field. Sean falls in beside me. The ground crunches with remnants of old, charred weed plants, each step taking me deeper into the wrecked wasteland.
Nobody speaks. My soldiers are hidden all over, camouflaged with black blankets and half buried in the dirt. I crouch down once we reach the designated position, and Sean does the same. We’re both in dark clothes, and I raise a pair of night-vision binoculars to my eyes, scanning the far side of the fields closest to the road.
Tension heightens. My heartrate remains slow and steady like always before a fight. This is a gamble and a massive risk, but I can’t keep letting this war drag on and on. It’s bleeding me, not killing me, but causing enough pain that I’m beginning to get uncomfortable.
Worst of all, it’s hurting Allison.
She doesn’t want to hide away in Boston, and I can’t blame her. If I were in her position, I’d rage too. Except this is what’s best for her safety and for the baby, and we’re at the point where I can’t keep letting her put herself and our child at risk.
These are the sacrifices we have to make. Even if they hurt.
And there’s more pain to come.
“There,” I say, handing the binoculars to Sean.
Down on the road, headlights stab through the blackness. The cars rumble forward then stop, pulling off to park in the grass. Sean counts quietly. “Fourteen in total.”
“He packed them in,” I say. “How well armed?”
“Well enough.” He hands the binoculars back to me.
Fourteen men are spread out around the cars, including Paul. They begin toward the field, the bulk of his warriors splitting off from the main group to check for danger and screen their boss’s arrival.
My fighters are out there. Forty in all, every man I could pull together on short notice, including some of my best. Tonight, I have to trust in them.
Paul’s entourage gets closer. They angle toward where Sean and I are crouched in the darkness. He can make us out, but I don’t think he recognizes us yet. They slow before they get into range, obviously worried about a trap.
But there’s nowhere for him to go now. They’re too far from the cars to escape, and there are at least fifteen men between them and the road.
Slowly, I stand up, drawing myself to my full height. “Paul,” I call out. My voice sounds harsh in the otherwise cold silence.
Nobody moves. His men raise weapons, all of them aimed at me. If they open fire now, I might not make it. While I’m in a bullet-proof vest, one lucky headshot would end everything.
But instead, Paul comes forward. “Gregory,” he says. “I thought I was here to meet with my unruly farmers.”
“You’re not.”
He comes close enough that I can see his expression. It’s grim, and his eyes dart around the dark. He knows what’s happening, and he knows there’s nothing he can do to stop it now.
“How did you turn them?”
“All I had to do was show them the truth of what you are, and offer them a better deal. That was enough.”
He makes a noise in the back of his throat. I keep myself on my toes. Cornered animals are the most dangerous. “I knew this felt wrong. When that bitch said she wanted to show me what you did to her fields, but she wanted to do it in the middle of the night so we could safely discuss business without any prying eyes-” He stops himself. “She told me half the farmers in my stable would be here.”
“She lied,” I say with a vague gesture. “And now you have a choice to make.”
Nobody moves. Paul’s men look uncomfortable. If they haven’t figured out what’s going to happen, they will shortly.
“You’re alone out here,” he says. “I outnumber you.”
“Please, don’t be pathetic. We both know that isn’t true.”
Another silence. I feel every eye in the field locked on me, waiting for the signal.
“What do you want?” Paul asks. “I’m more useful to you alive.”
“I’m not so sure about that. Maybe that would’ve been true a few weeks ago, but you made it abundantly clear that you aren’t interested in being a worthwhile partner.”
“That was before.”
“Before what? Before I outmaneuvered you? Here’s the thing, Paul. If you had just tried to kill me, I could work with that. I understand how these things go. But you hurt my wife. You hurt the mother of my child. And that I cannot abide.”
His eyes widen. “She’s pregnant? You’re serious about her?”
“Unfortunately for you, yes, I am very serious about her.”
I raise my hand and drop it, and suddenly a dozen shapes appear in the darkness.
Hell breaks loose. I hit the ground the moment my men appear. Gunfire erupts, tearing into Paul’s entourage. I fire at the man himself, catching him in the chest. He screams in rage, growling his frustration as he tries to level his weapon at me, but I fire again, again, again, and the bastard drops to the blackened earth.
The shooting continues. There are a few scattered pockets of resistance as Paul’s scouting party gets caught one-by-one and murdered. But once they’re all down, I stalk through the field, checking on my men. I lost three, and more are wounded, but overall, we came through as unscathed as possible.
Paul’s corpse lies at my feet. Sean joins me, holding a bloodied arm. When I gesture at it, he only waves me off and points at my rival’s body. “What should we do with that?”
“Nothing special. Dispose of it.”
“You don’t want to make an example of him?”
“And do what, put it on a spike outside of my castle? No, toss him in a very deep pit with the rest of this trash and make sure nobody ever finds him. The city will know what happened.”
“There’s going to be heat.”
“We’ll weather it. Everyone here gets a bonus and a free trip back to Boston. Make the bonus very worth their risk.”
“Understood.” Sean turns away, heading out to speak with the men.
I drift back toward where we parked the cars on the far side of the farm, hidden behind the outbuildings. If Tess and the other farmers hadn’t turned, there’s no way I would’ve been able to lure Paul into a trap like this. But that’s the beautiful thing about leverage: find a little and amazing things can happen.
I survey the carnage. All the bodies, all the lost lives. The war is over-at least, more or less. The Debarcio Bratva likely won’t crumble, but their new leader won’t be stupid enough to keep going down Paul’s doomed path. They’ll come to the table, and I’ll work out a truce that heavily favors me and my family. Perhaps I’ll even make them vassals.
But most of all, Allison is now safe.
In years past, winning a stunning and brutal victory like this would’ve fed my ego and soothed my anxiety for months to come. I would’ve reveled in defeating my foes and viciously taking what I sought to control.
Instead, all I can think of is my wife.
Keeping her home.
Giving her what she wants.
It’s obscene, this sudden need I have for that girl.
But it’s real, and despite my best efforts, I can’t seem to make it stop.
And so, instead of drinking in the sweet scent of my enemy’s blood on the ground, I walk back to my car and drive home.