18. Damian

Damian paced up and down his office. Using all of his willpower to not immediately reload his whiskey glass and down another icy shot, Damian composed himself.

‘Stay cool,' Damian muttered. ‘Stay fucking cool.'

Only a few minutes prior, Damian had received word that Connor Reed had unleashed another wave of assassinations. Not one. Not two. Not even three killings had been reported. According to some reliable intel, Connor Reed had ordered the execution of seven of the city's hitmen.

This was unprecedented.

Worse, it was now seriously looking like it was only a matter of when and not if Connor would send his squad of underhanded, low-down killers after Damian.

Damian looked at the photos on his office walls. There were pictures of him on his annual hiking trip in the Appalachian Trail, the good times rolling with Nico and Antonio. An old family photo of a trip back to the motherland was there too, an image from a happier, more innocent time. But perhaps the most impactful photo in that moment was one of the final photos Damian had of him and his mentor, Gianluca.

Talk to me, boss.

What would you do?

What's the play?

Damian furrowed his brow as he looked to the photo for inspiration. It was a simple photo, just him and Gianluca enjoying their morning espresso outside of Bepe's Café and Bar on the lower east side. But in that moment, Damian would have done anything to have his old guiding star back in his life.

Before Damian could do any more ruminating on the past, he saw his phone flash up with a message. Something told Damian that it wasn't going to be good news. But nothing could have prepared him for just how bad it was…

It's Antonio. He's been shot. Still alive, going into the operating theater ASAP. Fucking Reed! Antonio managed to kill the two thugs who shot him but took a bullet or three in return. This is fucking WAR now. Agreed? Nico.

Damian didn't have to spend long thinking about it. A feeling of primal rage came over Damian as he took his whiskey glass and tossed it across the room, the sound of it shattering against the steel re-enforced door echoing around the high-ceilinged office.

Nico, this isn't just war. It's far more than that. This is personal. Make sure that Antonio's surgery goes okay and then come over to my place. We need to put together a plan for how to end this situation once and for all. Damian.

Damian hit send on the message and then walked over to the window. His mind was running at a million miles per hour. Usually, looking out onto the busy streets beneath him would give Damian a feeling of calm. But not this time. All Damian could do was wonder whether some of Reed's assassins were staking Damian's Den out, waiting to make their move.

I can't fucking live like this.

Reed is going down.

And I don't care how many of his thugs have to go down with him…

* * *

Damian and Nico were sitting at the VIP table down in the main restaurant. Nico had sped over to Damian's Den as soon as it became clear that Antonio's surgery had been a success. Fortunately, the bullets had gone straight in and out of Antonio so there were no complications beyond a general loss of blood and the need to make sure that no vital organs had been hit.

But this was still a highly precarious situation.

Both Damian and Nico were equal parts concerned and gunning for revenge…

‘This motherfucker just doesn't play by the rules,' Nico said, shaking his head in disgust. ‘There are ways of doing things. The old ways. Killing when it needed to be done, when there was no other option. But this… this is just wrong.'

Damian nodded.

‘Connor Reed wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in the day,' Damian said. ‘The old families would have swarmed around him and removed him from this earth after the first unauthorized killing.'

‘We need to strike,' Nico said, taking a sip on his red wine.

‘And it needs to be brutal, ruthless, and final,' Damian added, his eyes scanning over the restaurant clientele on the tables near to them.

‘We've got the guns. We've got the soldiers. And I think we have the upper hand when it comes to strategy,' Nico said, taking a moment to inhale the wine's full-bodied aroma.

‘I'm not sure that we have the numerical advantage,' Damian said, his voice full of concern. ‘Yes, our soldiers may be better trained. But if we're outnumbered by three to one, then that's a different situation. There's something else too…'

‘What?'

‘I don't know,' Damian said, running his hand through his hair. ‘There's something just not right about all of this. I've thought it from the start. But I just don't know what.'

‘That's Gianluca talking to you, brother,' Nico said. ‘He always said you had a sixth sense. You have to trust it. Let the truth come to you. Now is more important than ever… we need your most instinctive, gut feeling to help us.'

Damian was taken aback by Nico's words.

As much as he wanted to have Gianluca with him to offer support, Damian knew that the answer had to come from his own instinct. But what made things harder was the fact that Connor Reed was almost certainly planning his next strike. There wasn't time to think. This was a time for action.

‘We need to make a decisive move,' Damian said, a steely focus in his words. ‘Gianluca trained me to follow my instincts. And right now, they're telling me that we need to wipe Connor Reed off the face of this earth.'

‘I hear you,' Nico said, a smile on his face. ‘We do it for us. We do it for Antonio. And we do it for honor.'

As the two men were about to toast to their new found resolve, Damian couldn't help but feel distracted by Jack Bouquet. Not for the first time since they had taken their seats at the table, Jack was suddenly all over them again like a fly around shit….

‘Just checking, would you like the new starter I'm testing out?' Jack said, his eyes darting around, a nervousness to him that Damian didn't recognize. ‘How is the wine? It's the '84 from Provence.'

Damian and Nico exchanged a frustrated look. They didn't need Jack's intrusive energy right now, the pair of them having far more important things on their mind.

But to Damian, it was more than that.

Jack was normally such an egomaniac when it came to his food that he would rarely bother to come out to the table, even if it was to see Damian. As far as Jack was concerned, he was God's gift to food and the only time he would leave his kitchen would be for a standing ovation at the end of the food service.

Why's he being like this?

What's the fucking angle?

Why does this feel so God damn weird?

Damian and Nico got back to discussing the precarious nature of the current situation with Connor Reed. As they attempted to put the pieces together of where and how Connor might try and make a move against them, Jack's behavior became more and more distracting.

‘Jesus. What the hell is up with your chef?' Nico said. ‘I'll be honest, I don't know about that guy. Doesn't he seem… a little off to you?'

Damian nodded in agreement.

‘To be honest, he crossed a fucking line with me recently,' Damian said. ‘He said some shit about Jake. It was unprofessional. And…'

‘And it was about your boy,' Nico said, a knowing look on his face. ‘I get it. You think Jack is jealous? Maybe he wants Jake to himself?'

‘I don't know,' Damian replied. ‘But we'll focus on Connor Reed for now. When that's all done and dusted, I think I'll be giving Jack the opportunity to leave this place and find a new kitchen.'

The two men smiled.

But it seemed like Jack wasn't ready to stop pestering them. Jack reappeared from the kitchen and this time was quizzing Damian on a trivial matter relating to a staff schedule…

‘Will you just leave us alone!' Damian said, slamming his fist down on the table. ‘That's not a request, Jack. Get back to the kitchen and do your fucking job.'

‘Well maybe if Jake was here, like he should be…'

Before Damian could reprimand Jack further, the chef turned and scurried back to the kitchen. But something wasn't right. Jack should have looked terrified after Damian's outburst. However instead of fear, there was a sly, malevolent smile on his face as he turned away from Damian and Nico.

‘Did you see that?' Damian said, a nod of acknowledgment from Nico confirming that he had. ‘I need to call Jake. I need to speak to him. Something's up…'

Damian took his cell phone out of his pocket and called Jake.

No answer….

No answer again…

Still no answer…

Damian suddenly felt a sense of panic. Jake was in danger, Damian just knew it from the pit of his heart. And even in the eventuality that Damian's instincts were wrong and Jake was currently safe, the way that Connor Reed was moving there was no guarantee that Jake wasn't at risk.

‘Something is very wrong,' Damian said. ‘I need Jake with me. I need him with me right now.'

Suddenly, it wasn't the time to eat and drink.

It was time for Damian to wrap his protective arms around his boy.

But the only question was… where the hell was Jake?