Chapter 4

Chapter 4ForgeI’d been in LA for almost two weeks, feeling like I was half nocturnal and not getting very far in my mission. I’d had another late night when I’d parked up near to the Russo house. I must have closed my eyes, because suddenly I got woken up by my phone.“I know you’re keeping a low profile, but I wanted to check in. Sophia is worried about her brothers, and I’m worried about our allies.” Storm’s voice cut through my sleep-deprived skull, and I was instantly alert.“Shadowing them is exhausting. I don’t think they ever sleep, I feel like I’ve aged ten years already.”“What’s it like acting like a big city gangster?” my club president asked.“Honestly, it sucks ass.” I said yawning, as I scrubbed my hand over my eyes. “As far as I can tell, the Russo brothers seem to be in conflict with everyone in their orbit. So there’s no telling who’s trying to snuff them out.”“Tell me what you’ve seen so far.” Storm sounded antsy, I got that he needed intel, but after two weeks I felt like I was no further forward.“Diego’s job is apparently to piss everyone off, Nicco jumps in and tries to smooth things over, and Lucas just lurks around in the shadows like a movie villain. They’re all weird as hell if you ask me.”“You’re not supposed to be watching the fucking brothers. You’re supposed to be watching everyone around them to figure out who’s trying to kill them.” Storm retorted.“I’m doing that too. With so many people hating on them, it’s hard to pick a favorite.”“Surely, you gotta have some suspects?” Storm sounded pissed, I could imagine his feet pounding the floor of his office as he spoke.“If I had to name someone at this stage, I’d have say I like their father as the most logical suspect.” I was joking, but old man Russo was like one of those old school gangsters, and to be honest if his sons crossed him, I doubt that he’d even think twice before putting a bullet through their brains.“Fucking hell, Forge. I know he’s a total fucking sociopath, but he’s not so far gone that he’d kill his own sons.”“He put a hit on Sophia, didn’t he? If they stood between him and assuming power, I wouldn’t put anything past the old bastard.”“I didn’t know he was in the running for the position of the new Don. Diego said his old man was looking to retire,” Storm gave a hollow laugh.I had to admit, the idea of Mr. Russo Senior retiring seemed absurd. I could just imagine him terrorizing the pensioners in some Miami retirement facility. “That’s the problem. Near as I can tell, he’s not, and that’s going to be a problem. But so far, he’s the only person the brothers are really cautious around. I can tell they fear him, and for good reason. From what I’ve seen he’s an unhinged lunatic.”“Is this personal experience or from watching?” Storm asked.“Just watching, I’ve not had any reason to approach him.”“Good, keep it that way. Have the brothers noticed you tailing them?”“Yeah, they spotted me the first night. I’m guessing Sophia told them you were sending someone, ‘cos they just act like I’m not even here.”“Yep, we gave them the heads up.” Storm answered. “That’s exactly what they’re supposed to be doing. You checking their vehicle for explosives regularly?”“You know I am. Since someone tried that before, it makes sense to be vigilant in that regard.” I know he trusted me to do my job, but it was a bit riling to be told the obvious. I sighed, maybe lack of sleep was making me pissy.Storm must have detected the tone in my voice, “I trust you, Forge. Take your time and make sure you finger the right person. If you get between a rock and hard place let me know and I’ll send in reinforcements.”“Will do, boss.”I slipped my phone back into my pocket and took a sip of my coffee, it was cold. I felt a bit like a cop on a stakeout, sitting in my car outside the Russo house. I hadn’t seen my hotel except for long enough to shower and change clothes in fucking days.Their front door opened, and the three brothers came spilling out, laughing and joking with each other. These guys were the jovial sort. Well, Diego and Nicco were. The perpetually silent Lucas got into the back seat of Diego’s SUV. I’d already decided if they were to split up, I would stick with Diego. He was the most irritating and confrontational of the three. To my mind, that made him a higher value target.I waited for them to pull out and speed past me before slowly pulling out to trail them. Before I could ease out onto the road fully, someone stepped in front of my car and slammed their hands down on the hood. I flinched. One look at his face and I knew exactly who he was. It was their old man, and he was glaring at me through the front windshield. If looks could kill, I’d be deader than doornail. I jerked my chin toward the sidewalk, in a silent gesture for him to move his ass out of the way.Instead, his face took on a furious edge as he stalked around to the driver’s side of my car. By the time he was standing next to my window, I’d caught sight of the telltale bulge in the side of his jacket that could only be a weapon. When he pulled back his suit jacket and reached for his gun, I tapped the nose of my 9mm against the window in a subtle warning for him to stop. He might have caught me unawares by jumping in front of my vehicle, but I just did the same to him. His hand froze and his nostrils flared in anger.Finally, he let go of his jacket and brought two fingers up to his eyes and then pointed them at me before stalking away. I watched him fast-walk down the sidewalk. When he didn’t break pace or stop walking, I pulled away. Their old man was an old-school gangster who would probably put a bullet through my window and just walk away. He was the most worrisome thing I’d seen since arriving in LA. Clearly my stakeout skills weren’t worth shit, if old man Russo had caught me. I wondered if I should trade in the SUV for another SUV or just try and keep out of Mr. Russo Senior’s way.If the brothers’ normal routine held true, they’d head for the office. I put my phone in the cradle on the dash when I stopped at a red light and activated the app I used to track their movements. I’d stuck a tracking device under their rear bumper the very first day, so I would always know where they were. It was a good thing, because they weren’t going in the direction of their office. They were headed out toward the docks. I caught up with them as they entered a block of older warehouses.When they stopped their SUV and went inside, I circled around and parked up a few buildings over. Slipping around unnoticed wasn’t all that hard since the place was a virtual ghost town. I watched from a nearby rooftop as they met up with some members from a famous inner-city Latino gang. They traded a briefcase for something that looked like a brick of cocaine. I was conflicted. On the one hand, I didn’t want them selling drugs to vulnerable people, but on the other hand, I didn’t want them snorting it either. Getting zonked out of their minds when someone was trying to kill them was seriously stupid behavior.When they left, I wasn’t far behind. They went to their office and began meeting up with other gangsters. It sounded like they were ironing out alliances. It was a bunch of tedious bullshit that didn’t interest me in the least. Still, I paid attention to who came and went, who seemed upset, who had hate in their eyes when they interacted with the brothers. These brothers were not well liked, that much was for sure. At the end of the day, they went out to eat at the same Italian restaurant they always did and headed to the Trip Easy bar.***I had to admit that although this wasn’t my kind of place, the dark, smoky atmosphere of the bar was growing on me. The live music was easy on my ears. The servers were fast and polite. And Storm was billing the brothers for all my drinks. As far as jobs went, this was one of the better ones I’d had in my life. Over the last few days, I had claimed a barstool all the way back against the wall. It was out of the way and gave me a view of everything going on around me. I slid into place and ordered a glass of expensive whiskey. After leaving this assignment I’d have a hard time affording my own taste in alcohol.This was one of the few bars that still allowed people to smoke, and the scent of expensive cigars drifted to my nostrils. Everything about this place was luxurious and decadent, all paid for with money that had been taken from someone else by these mobsters. It rubbed me the wrong way to realize how many addicts had to buy drugs, how many small businesses had to pay protection money, or how many sex workers had ply their trade to fill my glass with liquor tonight. I felt sick to my stomach and I shoved the alcohol away. It didn’t matter if it wasn’t costing me, drinking on the Russo brothers’ dime was costing me my self-respect.The music started and I turned to watch the singer perform her number. She was probably one of the only people connected to this bar who was earning her money honestly.I enjoyed watching the pretty songbird because Isabella enjoyed watching me. I could tell because although she might spit fire at me in passing, she always seemed to be looking for me to arrive. And as crazy as it sounded, it felt like all her songs were just for me. The way she gazed at me warmed my soul. Her expression was intense, almost admiring. I got hit on a lot, both at the clubhouse and in public. Women slipped me their phone numbers all the time. It was cool when I was young and eager for any kind of attention I could get. Now, it made me feel like all they were interested in was the shell.I thought that maybe it was more with Isabella. She stopped by to talk to me several times a night, always teasing and testing me. As I was now a regular in this club I had to be seen socializing or else I’d draw the patrons’ attention, and it wasn’t too hard to want to talk to a woman such as Isabella. She listened to my responses and remembered my words. This was the first time I’d been as fascinated by a woman as she was with me.I turned my stool all the way around and leaned back against the bar as I enjoyed the show. I liked the way the overhead lights shined down on her long golden blonde hair and how she painted her lips a deep dark red to match her nails. She was a breathtakingly beautiful woman. Someone who was clearly going places in life. The kind of woman that could never truly be interested in a serious relationship with a drifter turned biker like me. Unfortunately, I’d left the one-night stand lifestyle behind long ago. Now, I was only interested in something real and lasting.But having her eyes on me made me feel things I’d never felt before. She probably thought I was a rich mobster, I reminded myself. That was the only reasonable explanation for why she looked at me so much. For me, that tarnished the fantasy. As her song ended, I spun my chair back around and stared down into the glass of expensive whiskey paid for with blood money. I picked it up and forced myself to drink it in one go. I had ordered it, and wasting it would not be in line with my waste not, want not philosophy of life. But I swore to myself that from now on, I’d only order drinks I could afford to pay for with my own money.Before I could flag down the bartender for another drink, Isabella slid onto the stool beside me. I would have offered to buy her a drink, but she already had one in her hand. “How sad, your glass is empty.”“Why do you care?” I asked.“Because part of my job is getting rich guys like you to buy our top shelf liquor.”I was taken aback by her response. “I didn’t realize that was officially part of your job.”“It’s better than getting pimped out or something like that. You know how these guys are.”This is the first time she’d acknowledged knowing these men were gangsters.“What makes you think I’m any different?”She gazed at me for a few minutes before she answered. “You don’t seem like that type. You’re way too intense.”I glance over at the Russo brothers. They were alone and talking quietly among themselves. I motioned for the bartender. “Southern Comfort, double, on the rocks, please.” Then I turned to Isabella and asked, “Where were we?”“I was just saying you don’t strike me as a typical gangster. You dress like one. You just don’t act like one.”When the bartender dropped my drink down in front of me, I murmured, “Grazie.”“See, it’s things like this. You don’t say thank you with an Italian accent.”“I’ll save you a lot of unnecessary brain power. I’m a businessman.”She rolled her eyes. “No, you’re not.” Tapping a fingernail against her teeth, she thought it over. “I think you’re the Russo family security detail.”I froze with my glass halfway to my mouth. “What the fuck gave you that idea?”She grinned at me, as though she’d just figured out my secret. “Because you stare at them almost as much as you stare at me.” She paused for a moment and then her expression turned alarmed. “Unless you’re a hitman. That might be a possibility, because I heard someone tried to kill them already.”Before I could respond, she leaned closer and said, “Please don’t kill them. For mobsters they’re really nice guys.”I sighed, annoyed with her little discovery.She darted a quick glance over her shoulder before whispering, “Though if you really have to kill one, let it be Diego.”I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing. It seemed like there wasn’t a living soul who liked that man. “I’m not a fucking hitman.” I respond in a low voice. “So you don’t need to worry about which of your friends to sacrifice, not tonight anyway.”The next thing I knew, a middle-aged man stopped in front of us. “Time to get back to work, Bella. Got to keep the hustle going, ya know.”She nodded, all smiles. “Yes, sir. I’ll continue making my rounds.”“Good girl,” he practically purred.When she wandered off, he turned to me. “How’s your evening going, sir?”“Wonderful. This is a nice place you’ve got here. The servers are quick, and your live music is a nice way to relax after a long, hard day.”“Glad our bar is working for you. I’ve noticed that you’re getting to be a regular. If there is anything you ever need, just let me know.”I dipped my head in a gesture of agreement. “Will do. So far, everything’s been just fine.”“I probably should mention before I go that if you want to visit with Ms. Martinez or any of the other staff, you’re welcome to do that after hours.”“I understand. I don’t want to get in the way of a pretty lady earning a living.”“That’s great.” He waved at the bartender and pointed down at me. “His next drink is on the house.”“Thank you, sir.”He responded, “No. Thank you for your patronage.”Having said what he came to say, the man turned and walked away. Something about the conversation unsettled me, though truth be told most of the clientele in this place unsettled me. I went back to watching the Russo brothers, careful to make it look like I just enjoyed people watching. The last thing I needed was to be obvious about keeping my eye on the brothers.The more I watched, the more I started to notice that I wasn’t the only one watching them. The two older men in tuxes kept their eyes on the three young mobsters as well. One had a more relaxed countenance and the other had a sterner one. I wanted to know what it was they were talking about when they were staring at the Russo brothers.When the older men left at the end of the night and the table had been cleaned, I walked by as though I were heading to the restroom. When I was near, someone passed by and bumped into me. It was the perfect excuse to stumble into the table and grab it with both hands to steady myself. I stuck a small square listening device with an adhesive back underneath the tabletop and turned away as quickly as possible. Tomorrow, I’d be able to hear everything they talked about through my earbud, well hopefully, if their cleaning staff weren’t thorough.When the Russo brothers headed home, I decided that after what happened this morning with their father, it would be ill advised to spend the night watching their house. So once the car was in the garage, I headed back to my hotel room. It felt good to get a nice hot shower and climb into a comfortable bed after sleeping in my car for the last few days.Unfortunately, lying there in the bed, my mind would not switch off. Amongst all the information from today about the brothers, Isabella’s beautiful face rose in my mind. It hadn’t taken her long to figure me out, that’s for damn sure.Liking a woman I could never have seemed like a really bad idea, but I still stroked my cock to thoughts of her. I was a dirty fucker that way. But truth be told, she was about too much for any man to resist. I liked the way her breasts threatened to spill out of just about every lovely gown she owned. How her voice sounded as she tried to figure me out. She was that unique mixture of snippy and curious, that really drew me in. I couldn’t help but wonder what her lips would taste like and how long it would take me to lick an orgasm out of her. Just the thought of having my mouth on her made me come.