Chapter 11
ASH
"The Asian drug syndicate?"
I cock my head as I look up from the list in my hand.
"The Chinese drug syndicate, precisely," Lobos says.
He has a list in his hand, one that's similar to the one in mine as well as the rest of the other five.
"Ash, I think we've already crossed off the rest. You burnt the bridge with the Mexican drug lord some years ago." Night eyes say with a grimace.
"Yeah!" Koldis echoes. "And we all know the Camorra - the Italian drug syndicate- is a no-go, especially after leaving Don Cleto's daughter at the alter."
I grimace, remembering the past. I was a rebellious kid, well into my twenties. They were the most rebellious times of my life. I force myself to focus on what Moro is saying.
"Oh, yeah, and let's not also forget Europe, Argentina, Australia. . . man, Argentina, you painted that town white, and then slashed it red." Moro shakes his head as a faraway look enters his eyes.
I open my eyes once more and they land on six of my most, actually, the only trusted men of mine. Some of them have stood by me ever since I was seventeen.
"So what if I didn't appear at the church? I didn't want to become the world's youngest groom at sixteen. Heck, Rita was just fifteen herself." I stand and walk to the bar where I mix a gin and tonic and swell it around before taking a large gulp.
"Yes, about that." Night eyes start. "It's just. . .Miss Rita. . ." He shakes his head. "She isn't a miss anymore."
I turn round and zone in on him with a lift of my brow. "What are you trying to tell me?"
"Well, Miss Rita was a Mrs., but she's no longer one."
My brows furrow. I don't understand a word of what Night eyes are going on about.
"It's that she's now a widow." Koldis intercepts immediately.
A cold chill sweeps through me. I know where they're going with this, but it would never work. I shake my head and take a second gulp of the contents of my glass as I walk back to my seat. We're all seated around in my sitting room, debating on which of the lesser evils to go with. I need a new supplier of drugs. The last one was - let's just say he's not available anymore. "Not gonna happen, guys. Not gonna marry Rita for no damn reason. I'd rather pluck out my eyes and eat them instead."
They all groan on hearing my words. Rita was only fifteen when last I saw her, but I always make sure I get the latest information. I hear she goes by the new name Dominatrix and is now the new Capo and the biggest bitch, one who rules the Camorra with an iron-clad fist. I'm so not going to become her king and rule by her side. Nuh, uh!
"Alright, how about Hungaria?" Night eyes ask.
I smirk on hearing his question, opening my mouth ready to talk when Koldis beats me to it. "You know as well as we all do that it's also a no-go area. Ash has made his mark in the whole of Europe."
I relax into the seat and close my eyes as I go down memory lane once again. I was sixteen when my father forced me to step into his shoes - shoes that were too big for a young boy like me. Father was what you'd call an underboss, the second in command to the capo and technically the heir to the throne as a drug lord.
You see, father was a high achiever. He was getting on in years and wanted me to step into his shoes, but not as an underboss. Father wanted me to become the boss, the Capo, first, and the most powerful mafia drug lord in Italy. He was ambitious like that. To do that, he pledged to me, at an early age, to marry Rita, the daughter of the most powerful man in Italy. She was the only child and his heir. In the Mafian Italian world, females can not rule.
He wanted to secure my future by securing ties with them. Of course, I didn't want that. I begged and pleaded but he was adamant. Once I turned fifteen, I was forcefully engaged to marry Rita. On the night before the wedding, I cleared out all my meagre savings and travelled to Argentina where I proceeded to join an underground fighting squad.
I was young but tough. I got beaten up many times but later learnt it wasn't about brawn, but rather brains. That's when I learnt how to stay smart. I learnt to field punches and analyzed where they went before I got hit. It wasn't long after I began to rise. Won all the fights I was enlisted into. I come back to the present as I open my eyes to see them all staring at me.
That was when I met Lobos and Moro.
"We used to beat your ass, hands down in the ring," Lobos says with a smirk.
"Oh, man, I used to give you broken ribs," Moro adds with a wistful smile on his face.
I wince, remembering how it went from a hundred to zero fast with these two. "Until you both taught me other tricks."
They laugh now, but it wasn't funny then.
"And we became unbeatable - the three of us." Lobos continues. "We formed a three-man gang." He states, for the benefit of the other four.
"And, man . . . we were formidable." Moro finishes, chuckling.
"Until I got bored and decided to move on to better things," I interject. That's when I met Night's eyes. He was working as an enforcer for El Capone at that time.
"Greater things." Night eyes say as if reading my thoughts. His eyes shine brightly as he looks at me. I know he too is going down memory lane.
"You caught the eyes of the El Capone and began working for him as a consigliere."
I nod as I nurse the empty glass in my hand. I go for another refill because this going back in the time of a thing needs something stiff in my system.
"You caught me dealing in two sides, selling coke to the Consiglieri in the East as well as the Camorras in the North," Night eyes continue. I thought I was going to see my maker that day." A glint of fear appears in his eyes but it's gone instantly. "Until you said I should shift some deals to you and we'd both run the package that way." His eyes begin to shine brightly once more as he stares at me. "You saved my fucked up life and made me who I am today." His eyes slide to Lobos and Moro. "Not to mention you introduced me to these two."
"But I wasn't content with pittance, I wasn't content remaining on the sidelines. No!" I shake my head as I begin pacing, wearing the carpet thin. "I wanted it all."
"And you got it," Koldis says. "You killed my ex-boss, Capotino, thereby earning yourself the title of head of the East mafia group in Los Angeles.
Bah! I hate titles.
I'm a fucking lone shark. The only lone shark that's still standing. Unfortunately, people always want to try me, thinking I'm weak because I don't surround myself with titles.
Koldis doesn't know earning the present title of his former boss wasn't as simple as just killing him. I killed a lot of people. It was either kill or be killed. Float or sink. Only Rip and I know what truly went down that day, and I promised I would take it to my grave. He says nothing as he stares hard at the ground.
"So, tell me - how did you meet Ash?" Koldis, who is sitting close to Rip, nudges him.
"I.. I." Rip stammers. I've gotta help out this dude somehow.
"I fucked his woman and he caught us." I shrug.