“Martin is back, and he wants you at the hideout immediately. I think Drogo heard about the shootout you ordered.”
Louis’s throat went dry, and he felt his heart jump out of his chest as he listened to the last part. He wasn’t as brave as he was when he ordered the shootout before getting confirmation from Martin, who was his superior.
“H-how the fuck did that happen? Did anyone snitch?” He asked in an unstable voice.
“No one needed to, man. It’s all over the news and everyone knows that you and Martin control this district. If Martin didn’t order the shootout, it means you did. It’s quite obvious.” The man over the phone replied.
“Shit!” he exclaimed.
“Come quickly. Drogo is angry.” The man said, and ended the call, leaving Louis to wallow in fear.
He quickly put on his jacket, threw his phone into one of his pockets , grabbed his wallet and dashed out of his apartment. As he drove to the hideout, he searched his mind for a suitable lie that would get him out of the predicament he was in.
“Lily isn’t even with me, but she’s still causing me problems.” He grumbled as he pulled up in the parking lot.
The hideout was disguised as a bakery, owned by Mehdi King. It wasn’t as big as his other businesses, but it was big enough to accommodate his men.
While some of the ladies baked and sold bread in the main room, there was a door in the storehouse that led to an underground house that belonged to the gang in Louis’s district.
Louis got out of his car and was about to walk into the small old bakery when he noticed an unfamiliar car sitting in the parking lot. Concluding that it belonged to one of the customers, he walked into the bakery and headed to the underground house.
As he entered the dark house which smelt like cigarettes and liquor ninety percent of the time, he noticed that it was quieter than usual. There were no screams coming from the brothel or loud music from the bar. It was dead silent, almost as if there was no one around, but as he entered the first room, he realized that it wasn’t empty, the people were just quiet, which was unlike them.
“What’s happening? Why does it look like a ghost came in here?” He asked one of the young boys who sat in a corner with a frightened look on his face, but the boy only shook his head and pointed to the bar.
Louis noticed that there was fear in the boy’s eyes as well as the others. It made him wonder if they had been caught by the police.
He slowly made his way into the bar and the first thing he saw was Martin standing with his head bowed and a few other leaders of other districts were also present. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, he noticed a figure directly in front of Martin, and it looked like everyone in the room was focused on that strange person.
Noticing Louis’s presence, Martin turned, his eyes filled with anger. It was only as Martin moved a bit that Louis could finally see who the figure was and as soon as he did, his heart jumped out of his chest.
“Draco!” He exclaimed and lowered his head immediately.
Seated before them was Mehdi King, dressed in a corporate suit with a cigar in his hand. His sharp jawline gave his features a frightening and dominating look, one that could make anyone writhe in fear. But, he always made sure to soften his features with a smile when he was faced with reporters and cameras.
Mehdi King was an unmarried billionaire who was only thirty-two years of age. At such a young age, he not only controlled a quarter of the country’s wealth, he also controlled over a thousand men who were members of his gang.
Louis couldn’t believe that he was actually before Draco, the ringleader of their gang who loved to stay hidden. Despite being one of the leaders of the gang, Louis had only heard of Draco but had never seen him. It was now more than obvious that whatever made Draco come out must be a big deal to him.
“Is he the one?” Mehdi asked with his fingers pointed at Louis.
“Yes, Draco. He was the one who gave the order for the shootout. I was out of town so, I had no hand in what he did, boss.” Martin replied immediately, saving himself.
Mehdi hummed and flicked his fingers at Louis, calling him forward. Louis wasted no time in moving forward with his head still bowed.
“Do you know what you have done?” Mehdi asked, taking a sip from his whiskey and Louis cleared his throat before speaking.
“Draco, I…I can expla-.” He started but was interrupted by the sound of Mehdi’s glass shattering.
“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Mehdi yelled, throwing his glass and jumping to his feet, his eyes blazing with anger.
“No one asked you to shoot at innocent people, but you did it because you thought it was best? Because you had your reason? There’s no explanation you can give to rectify this. Do you hear me? This isn’t your fucking play house! You don’t call the shots here, do you hear me?” He growled, his face only a few inches away from Louis’s.
“I spent fucking millions on that damn hospital because of your fucking mistake and now, the government has deployed a special unit to fish us out and there is absolutely nothing I can do to stop this!” Mehdi growled and gripped Louis’s jaw, forcing him to look up.
“If this little act of yours ruins me, I will kill you in the most brutal way, do you hear me?” He warned with all seriousness and Louis nodded quickly. After a few seconds, Mehdi let go of his jaw and adjusted his clothes, getting rid of imaginary dirt.
“Now, tell me.” He returned to his seat and crossed his legs. “What was your reason for doing this? I’m sure there was one, right?” He asked in a calmer tone and Louis nodded, swallowing his spit as his body shook with fear.
“Y-yes, Draco. I had my reasons.” Louis replied in a shaky voice and Mehdi nodded, telling him to speak.
Louis took a deep breath, preparing himself for whatever might happen after he told the truth. He knew that telling Draco the truth was the only way to save himself and maybe get help.
“It’s my girlfriend.” He started and Draco raised his eyebrows, wondering what she had to do with the shootout. Louis explained, seeing the confusion on Mehdi’s face.
“I had to do that to scare her and make her return to me. She left me and went to live with another man.” He said, and everyone looked at him like he had hit his head on a wall.
“Are you fucking stupid? You killed over a hundred people because of a fucking bitch?!” Martin yelled.
“I wasn’t done!” Louis retorted.
“She knows about this gang and, even worse, she knows that you, Mehdi, are the gang leader.” He revealed, and the room went silent immediately.
“Also, the man she is with now is Tony Martinez, the owner of TM Hospital.”