Lomzo's POV

"Boss, boss, please," Liam heaves as blood drips from his forehead and over his lips. "It-it was a mistake."

I smirk at his whimpering nonsense, pacing up and down in front of him as he kneels against the floor. Hands tied to his back and his face painted black and blue.

"There is one thing I ask when you join my empire," I say deeply, the soles of my shoes echoing off the wooden floor. "And that is for loyalty."

"I-I didn't know what to do!" He yells in despair but I don't feel sorry for him.

Anyone who purposely crosses me or stabs me in the back is not worth my time. Not now, not ever. "Не threatened me, he threatened my family, I couldn't just do nothing."

My fist collides with his face again and his blood splatters across the floor, saliva dribbling out of the corner of his mouth. He almost rolls over but I grab him by the collar and keep him on his knees.

I lower down and level my lips next to his ear. "You're a liar," I snarl harshly. "They didn't threaten you. You gave away the information voluntarily in hope for a cash reward. Isn't that right?"

Liam flinches from my voice and he shakes, hands trembling behind his back.

"Boss, I'm sorry. Please, please. Let me fix this. Let me do something to fix this."

My foot lifts up and I boot him in the chest, he falls back onto his ass, crushing his hands. He whimpers at the pain and breathes heavily into the dirty floor.

"Why would I give you another chance when you were so prepared to fuck me over?"

"I didn't know what to fucking do, I was scared. He sent me pictures of my family, saying that if I didn-"

A laugh passes my lips. "Scared? You're such a fucking liar. I don't like liars." Liam rolls onto his side. "Get on your fucking knees, now!"

He struggles to move into his original position but after a few moments he gets there, blood covering every inch of his face.

I grip the back of his head and force him to look me directly in the eye. "For one, no one who works for me should admit fear or terror. You're a coward and a pathetic excuse for a man." I spit in his face. "You are fucking worthless to me, to this gang. I should have gotten rid of you at the start."

Pure horror crosses his expression, he already knows his fate but he doesn't want to accept it.

"Lonzo please," he pants.

I tut at his words, shaking my head. "What gives you the right to speak my name?"

"Boss, boss," he chants as I stand from the floor and reach into the waistband of my trousers, pulling out my handgun.

Liam's eyes go wide as soon as he sees it hanging by my side. "No, no, no," he tries to wriggle away but I raise the gun and aim it directly between his eyebrows.

"Boss, please. Don't do this!"

My eyes roll at his pleas and I can't bear a single second more of this, I have things to do and he's taking up too much of my precious time.

I pull on the trigger and the bullet shoots straight through his forehead and into his brain A couple droplets of blood fall from the wound and into his eyes. Liam's gaze turns to one of numbness as his body collapses down onto the wood.

For a moment I stare at his lifeless body before disarming my gun and placing it back into my waistband. "Merda," I curse under my breath before I glance up at the guards who are standing with their backs to the walls, hands

tucked behind them, not Open in app

looking in my direction.

(Merda: shit)

"Clean this up," I gesture to his body. "I've got things to take care of."

"Yes boss," they both nod and get to work.

I exit the warehouse and signal to my driver as I exit, pushing up the sleeves on my shirt as soon as the heat hits my skin. When I climb

into the back I push my fingers into my eyes and release a deep sigh, one that's been riding on my back since I found out that he stabbed me in the back.

Loyalty means everything to me. Proving your worth to me and to this gang. But I hate liars, I hate people who try to cover up what they've done wrong. How can we work together if there is absolutely no fucking trust?

My patience is wearing thin today and I could do with packing in the day and heading to a bar, picking up a woman who can satisfy my needs. But I know I have important things to do and they cannot be put off any longer.

Especially after all the mess Liam has caused.

I'm dropped home twenty minutes later, my house is the only place on this Earth where I can take a breath and relax. But not today,

today is not the time to be relaxing and slacking off.I head straight to my office and get on the phone to my suppliers across the country. There is a lot of explaining I have to do and if they even let me off lightly, I'm still in deep fucking shit because of Liam's mistakes.

A dead man's mistakes I am now paying for. Fucking traitor.There is a knock at my office door and I can only assume it's Gabriel, my underboss.

He's lived with me here for the last couple years, the house is big enough that we have our own space and we don't have to run into each other every second of the day.

It helps to have him here because we can work late or into the early hours. Gabriel is the sort of person who I trust with my life, we've known each other for over a decade and he is one of the smartest and intuitive people I've ever met.

He's got us out of some shitty situations but that's because he's level headed. Some people say that he's the one who keeps me sane, sane enough to not destroy this empire I have built.

"What?" I call out and flick through my laptop.

As expected Gabriel strolls through the door.

"Hey," he says as he walks straight towards my desk and takes a seat in one of the chairs.

Gabriel has a certain look about him, hands and arms covered in tattoos, titanium hoop through his right nostril, dark black hair that is slightly out of control but it definitely scores him points with the ladies.

"What do you want? I'm busy."

"Jheeez," he breathes out harshly and rests his arms on the rests. "What the fuck is up with you?"

I look up at him through hooded eyes. "I'm working, can't you see that?"

Gabriel rolls his dark eyes and I resist the urge to shout at him. "Yes, I can see that. Thank you for pointing out the obvious. Why are you so damn grumpy today?"

"If you've come here to bother me, kindly fuck off"

He cracks a smile which showcases his white teeth but he looks down at his lap and then back at me. "No, I've come here to tell you something."

A groan escapes me and I lean back into my chair black leather chair. "Go on then," I exhale drastically. "Please quickly enlighten me because I have things to do, unlike some people."

Gabriel doesn't even pause, he comes straight out with it. "My sister is coming to stay with us."

I blink once, then twice, definitely a third time.

"What did you say?"

"She's not safe with my parents, they can't guarantee her safety anymore. She's got nowhere to go and if she's here then I can keep an eye on her. We can protect her."

"We?" My eyebrow shoots up in surprise. "You want me to look after your fucking sister?"

"Look," Gabriel uncrosses his legs and presses his elbows onto his knees. "It will only be for a little while, my parents got into a bit of shit. They need me to keep her safe, so I told her it's okay for her to come here."

My eyes narrow towards him, Gabriel loves to make decisions and fill me in at the last minute. I hate him for it, he thinks he can get away with everything and that he can keep me sweet but there will be a day where I break.

"I don't like strangers."

"She's my sister."

My hand runs down my face and I shake my head. This is the last fucking thing I needed today,all I wanted was to come home and be alone, drink some whiskey in peace. But no, I cannot get a single day to myself where I don't have to think about someone else.

"And I don't know who she is." My voice grows louder than his.

Gabriel tuts at my tone. "She needs our safety. My parents wouldn't send her here unless they thought something would happen,

she's my bloou, one's my family." He hits his chest with his hand.

I hold his stare for a couple of moments and my lungs rumble out a distressed sigh. This on top of all the other shit I need to sort out?

I swear things are never easy anymore.

"Lonzo, you won't even know she's here. You're barely here for starters and she's going to be doing whatever she's doing at the moment," Gabriel tries to explain but this conversation is only making me more frustrated. "She'll stay out of our business."

My finger grazes down my stubble and I clutch my jaw.

"You can't say no, she's my family. You don't turn your back on your family."

"It's my house."

"Our house."

I scoff at his words and he shoots me a warning look.

"Really?"

"My name is on the leese, don't act like you're a fucking idiot." He grumbles under his breath and settles back into the chair.

"Fake name," I correct.

He ignores my comment.

"You know this is a joint house."

My eyes roll into the back of my head and I lean onto the desk with my elbows.

"Whatever, fine." I want this conversation to be over now. "But don't let this change anything, she does not have any say in anything, she is here to sleep and that is it. I don't give a fuck what you say."

Gabriel holds up his hand.

"Never said it was anything more than a bed."

"This won't be a permanent thing."

Trust me, I don't want that either." Gabriel pushes up from the chair and walks two steps backwards towards the door. He clutches the handle and pulls it back, he pauses and then turns to me suddenly.

"I swear if you even go near her, if you even touch her or look at her the wrong way. I will fucking kill you. Don't even think about it and you better tell everyone else the same. If you or anyone touches her, everything will be over. I promise you."

His words are deathly and I

don't doubt he would kill someone for touching his baby sister, Gabriel is a protective guy but I can't help but laugh. "The fact you think I'd go for your sister is comical, that would be a disgusting line to cross.

I'd see your damn face every fucking time. It would haunt me in my dreams.

Charming you think so though."

"Good," he puffs out his chest. "I hope you do see my face when you meet her so you stay the fuck away."

I clear my throat and look back to my laptop. "I keep business and pleasure apart, she's your blood. That shit would be weird, this whole conversation is weird. Let this be over. You can go now."

"She's landing here tomorrow evening."

"I said this conversation is over, Gabriel."

Gabriel slams my office door on the way out and I find myself not being able to read a single thing on my laptop screen. I exhale a sharp and loud breath and extend my head up to the ceiling, resting my hands on my forehead.

How has my day gone from bad to worse in a matter of seconds?

I've gone from having to source a couple million pounds to playing babysitter with my best friend's sister.

This Whole day has gone to fucking shit.