Rogue Chapter 7

Rogue

Chapter 7

Bella

I ease the rental car out into airport traffic heading south towards El Segundo. I toss my phone in Masen’s lap, ordering him to shoot a text for me. “Send a text to Gustavo, just hit the message button, type in G and his name should pop up.” He glances over at me narrowing his eyes. “What?” I ask.

“Do you think I don’t know how to send a text?”

“You are right, my bad sorry.” I roll my eyes and turn to focus on the road.

I can see him shaking his head in my peripheral vision. He begins to mumble, going on a rant, “How little you know about my computer skills! For fuck sakes, I can hack into just about any Goddamn program out there, and if I can’t, I know people who can fucking show me. I can certainly send a fucking text message without being told how to use a damn cell phone! Oh, surprise, I can shoot someone at point blank range also, just a little FYI there, I may not be able to pull off a one-inch punch like you spider monkey, but at least I can fucking beat someones ass by pistol whipping the shit out of them, or better yet just shoot the motherfucker without even breaking a fucking sweat! My skills excel in computers and weapons! I can assure you that I can also send a Goddamn text!”

I giggle. “Yeah clearly.” I nod down towards his hands as he types.

“Those hands of yours are too pretty to mess up.”

“Oh you think that is funny do you?” He gives me the side eye.

“A little. You probably get them manicured.” I tease.

His arm comes up to slide behind my seat and he leans over, his lips close to my ear as he whispers in a deep dark tone,”Only after a long night of brutal torture. I find it hard getting the blood out from underneath my nails when it gets embedded up under them so deep.”

I smile just to fuck with him even more, “Not surprised, you are awfully pretty.”

His expression falls, then a slow smile curls his lip up on one side, “You think I am pretty?”

I laugh.

“You want me.”

“Get over yourself.” I shake my head. “Look, just say, we are on our way to pick up the truck. Meet me at the warehouse. That should do it.” I tell him trying to change the subject. I make a right turn and look over to see public enemy number one in the car running alongside of us. It isn’t a surprise to me that we are already crossing paths with some. These guys are everywhere on the streets.

“What the fuck?” Masen glances over to see them as they play their stupid games. He yells across me. “Stop the fucking car! Yeah you motherfucker!”

“No Masen, we just got here, Jesus, calm down. We don’t need to draw attention. I would like to live to see this mission through if you don’t mind.”

“Fuck that shit, who the fuck threatens strangers using their damn fingers like a gun? Pull the fuck over so I can show him a real one up close and personal like! Right in his goddamn mouth!”

“Wow, just wow, I didn’t pick up anywhere what a loose cannon you can be in my extensive files on you! What the hell is with you?” I look over at him.

He glares at me and sits back, “Extensive files...you are going to burn that shit when we get to your headquarters or wherever in the hell you keep those fucking files. I don’t fucking know I am on the edge of my seat in this town. It makes me nervous. I don’t like it. Too many cameras, too many people, too many cops, and oddly being here with you, makes me really fucking nervous. I don’t know why, I can’t pinpoint it.” He pinches the bridge of his nose.

I turn left and pull up to a gate which opens as soon as I hit the line. I park next to the Penske truck and get out.

Gustavo greets me walking out of the warehouse, meeting me at the moving truck. “Your chariot awaits my lady.”

I laugh as he winks opening the door to hold it for me. I stop, turn to look at Masen who is eyeing up Gustavo like he is about to put a hole in him also.

“Gustavo this is Masen, Masen this is Gustavo, he is one of my best Capos, and a dear friend. I assure you he is good people.”  

“The infamous Edward Masen, genius extraordinaire. Nice to finally meet the guy who hacked all three beasts.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.” He narrows his eyes at him.

“Oh come on, you hacked, Trans World and Jesus the other two. You got the credit scores of hundreds of thousands of people. You are one smart motherfucker. You go after the ones you know have money, not even bothering to waste your time on those that have nothing.”

“Gustavo, could you keep your voice down.” I warn.

“Sorry man, I am just in awe of you.” He spreads his arms out in appreciation.

Masen shakes his head again, “Still, don’t know what you are talking about.” He runs his hands through his hair, looking around taking in the surroundings. “Why are there always cameras in this city on every damn street corner?”  

“They are our camera’s Masen relax.” I try to ease his fears.

“We are heading out to the desert G, will let you know when I arrive.”

“I already got you boss, there is a car out there waiting for you. Once you deliver the truck, deliver the goods, approve all the supplies, Sienna expects you to head up to the hills to stay at her place.”

“Take the car with our luggage up to Sienna’s will you? Oh, and by the way, just a heads up, there is a bomb in Masen’s suitcase in the back of that rental. Don’t get into an accident or we will be cleaning you up in tiny little pieces off Mulholland Drive. I really don’t want to have to do that, let alone explain it. Capiche?”

“What the fuck you Italian all of a sudden?” Masen gives me an incredulous look.

“Gustavo is, but I can assure you, he is a good guy.” I snap back climbing into the truck.

He is so testy all of a sudden. He is pissing me off. He needs to chill the hell out.

Masen makes his way around getting in, while Gustavo steps up on the side step, leans in the open window. “She is loaded, gassed up, your music mix is in the player, I got you your favorite tasty beverage, and you are set.”

“Thanks G man! You are the best!”

“No problem Boss, I am impressed with this new shipment, you always manage to supply us with the best of the best.”

“Love you man.” I bump fists with him, start up the yellow box moving van, and pull out the gate merging into traffic.

“The freeway’s clear, GPS says green all the way, so no side streets.” I merge onto the 405.

“Thank God. I hate traffic.”

“You live in Chicago there is traffic there too.” I laugh.

“It’s different. We actually move more than an inch in an hour.”

“Good point.” I hit the button on the stereo and turn it up.

“Nsync? Are you kidding me?” He looks mortified.

“No, I love Nsync! Do not diss my choice of music, especially my favorite boy band!”

“Jesus Bella really?” He does not look the least bit happy.

“Really! What is wrong with Justin?”

“It isn’t Justin though! I mean, yeah Justin is part of the band, I have no issues with Timberlake, I like Timberlake when he is solo, I do, but this isn’t him, it's his fucking boy band, don’t get me wrong I love music, all kinds of music. I draw the line at boy bands!” He looks pissed, shaking his head and looking out the window.

He is such a whiney ass bitch. Who knew?

“Hey, hey….. Bye, bye, bye, I swear I would be dancing if I wasn’t driving.” I start singing as I am rocking in my seat. “It is a long way to Palmdale Masen, you really need to try and relax!”

He watches me, shaking his head as I let myself go and rock out to the beat moving in my seat. I don’t care, I am a Nsync nut, what can I say?

Then, when Dirty Pop comes on, to my surprise, I look over to find him singing it with me. No. He is not only singing, he is doing the arm moves and everything.

“Amazing how you don’t like boy bands, but you somehow know the words though don’t you!” I yell over the loud music teasing him. He just smirks as I watch his lips move,

“It doesn’t matter...bout the car I drive or the ice around my neck, all that matters is that you recognize that it’s just about respect.” He is pointing at me popping his arms while he is singing to the lyrics perfectly while his green eyes feel like they are searing into me.

I can’t help but smile that he has chilled out a little. I almost want to laugh and let the rest of the world see this hard ass mafia boss rocking out to my boyband music next to me, but I am pretty sure he wouldn’t do this with anyone else for some reason.

“Okay here is my guilty pleasure.” He pulls out his cell phone and plugs it into the auxiliary.

When the music fills the speakers, I almost lose it. “Hit me baby one more time! Oh Baby baby...”

“NO WAY!? Britney Spears? Really?” I laugh. He is busting out the lyrics over on the other side of the cab, pouring his heart and soul into it and before all is said and done, I am right there with him singing along to his jam.

We continue to drive and he finally starts to chill the hell out. I guess that old saying is true, music does calm the savage beast.

The last of the sun dips down under the horizon as we near our location. “Enough already...we are almost there.” I hit the button turning down the music as I pull off the freeway, heading out into nomans land known as the California desert.

“Fuck, I can’t see shit out here this time of night.” I squint against the darkness.

“You are right on target with your GPS. You sure this is the right address? I don’t see much out here, then again I don’t really see shit.”

“No this is it, there is the gate.” I pull off the dirt road and stop in front of a chained draped across, blocking a road from traffic. I toss him the key to the lock, “Just unlock it, you can leave it unlocked also, we will lock it when we come back out tonight, just drop the chain for me.”

I watch him in the headlights and catch something moving out of the corner of my eye while he is working the key into the lock. Apparently, Masen caught it also. Before I could react, his gun comes out so fucking fast, I barely blink before shots ring out in the dead of night. Three bright flashes fire in front of me, causing me to jump, my heart racing in my chest. When the dust settles he is standing there in the headlights still, next to a dead coyote.

He comes back and climbs in. “The fucking thing was going to make a meal out of my ass,” I can tell he is hyped on adrenaline also, trying to catch his breath. He looks over at me and smirks, “I didn’t expect the wolves to descend!”

I let out a huge sigh of relief then start laughing. “It’s a coyote, not a wolf! And I don’t have to worry about you reaction time, fuck you are fast with a gun! I am impressed Masen.”

I can see his smirk in the glow of the dashboard grow bigger. He pulls back the slide on his gun, drops the clip, reaches into a pocket and reloads it, replacing the rounds he just shot off. “Wolf, coyote, same fucking thing.”

I shake my head laughing because no they aren’t but whatever! We pull onto the dirt road and drive about two miles into nowhere when lights come on lighting the path once we are in range.

“You sure this is the right place?”

“Yes, I am sure, it’s our headquarters, I have just never been out here at night before.” As we drive down the road, I like they way the lights keep turning on guiding us along right up to the side of a mountain. I pull up and put it in park and grab the flashlight off the seat next to me.

“Wait, I am going with you!” Masen reaches over grabbing my arm to stop me from getting out.

“I am a big girl, I can take care of myself, I just need to unlock the door.”

“What door? It’s a fucking mountain.” He points straight ahead.

“Just stay put.” I demand and jump out walking over to the rock that is actually a keypad. I punch in the code and walk back to the truck while the door starts to lift.

I look over to watch Masen’s expression as I pull into the facility. I can already see the gears turning in his head. He looks over at me suspiciously. I knew his mind would go there. I have to shut him down before he freaks the hell out on me and kills me, not giving me a chance to explain.

“It’s an old military bunker, trust me, my father made sure that this place had been abandoned for years before he took it over. He knows these kinds of things, things that just ordinary soldiers don’t Masen. He was Special Forces remember? He still has ties.”

I drive down the long underground tunnel until I hit the main room.

“You know for a fact that it isn’t being monitored at all?” he eyes me skeptically.

“Yes, we have swept it, the place was cannibalized when we got here, there was nothing left behind. There are places like this all over that have been abandoned due to lack of funding to keep them running, like the military bases you know?”

Just then, Garrett comes strolling out of nowhere, “Baby Swan!” he smiles really big holding his arms out waiting for me to greet him.

I climb out of the truck so excited to see him, I run over and launch into his arms hugging him. “Garrett! You are back! No one told me you were back!”

“Just got back this morning.” He kisses my cheek, holding me up off the ground.

“I am so glad to see you, please tell me your tour is over?” he sets me down and I step back.

“Yep, my last tour. No more fatigues for me for a while anyway.” He nods down at his military uniform.

“Masen this is Garrett, he is my right hand, when he is here that is. Garrett this is Edward Masen from Chicago.”

He holds out his hand and Masen takes it reluctantly. Their grip looks tight as Masen eyes him up suspiciously.

“Come on Masen, you are going to have to ease up, you will be meeting a lot of new people, just keep in mind we play on the same team.” I explain.

Garrett interrupts me, “So, I take it, we are in the green?”

“Yep,” I smile up at him, “We got them to join forces.” I nod over at Masen.

“Awesome, glad to have you on board, I hope you don’t get squeamish at the sight of blood.” He teases Masen.

“Shall I shoot you and we can find out?” He asks in a deadly serious tone.

“Fuck Masen! I like you!” Garrett laughs, “But a heads up dude, combat, and pretty boys, don’t really go well together. You sure you got the stomach for this shit?”  

Masens eyes narrow, then he looks down at his feet. My eyes follow in the same direction and his legs and shoes are spattered with blood.

“I don’t know GI Joe, you tell me.” He looks back up at Garrett, whose eyes are now trained in the same direction as mine just were.

Garrett laughs, “You get a head start without us?” He looks at Masen curiously.

Masen’s eyes move over to me and he tilts his head, “Bella wouldn’t let me take out a car load of wanna-be gang bangers on the way up here, but I did manage to take down a wolf.”

Garrett’s eyes shot over to me and I shook my head ever so slightly, telling him don’t even go there. I don’t think it would be a good idea to tell Masen at this point that there are no wolves in the desert. Thankfully Garrett let it go and said, “Well, all right then, time to unload this bad boy, I am curious to see what you got Swan!” He walks past us heading for the truck with a couple of his guys behind him.

I lead Masen over to the stairs and head up into the glass encased room we set up as our control. “You can look out over the facility and we have a 360 degree view all the way around. This is where we set up stations for the computers. It holds the database with all the intel I have gathered over the course of my surveillances. We also have live feeds from all different locations, both LA and in Mexico.”

“Impressive.” He nods.

“This is where we will base ourselves out of. As you can see it is centrally located so that we can reach most of the major targets within less than an hour and a half, outside the ones down south of course. There is a command station down there as well, not quite as big as this one, but it will monitor Mexico from a much closer range.  All communications will go in and out through here, and over here,” I walk over and bring up the live feeds, “we have feeds coming from our own camera’s we have placed around the city’s hot spots for gang activity.”

“There are enough camera’s around this damn city, I could tap into most all of them and get you a live feed giving you more coverage if you want.”  

“Hell yes!” I smile. This is one of the few reasons we need him.

The sounds of a fork lift starting up in the background fill the room as they start to unload the truck.

“This is your station. I have supplied you with one of the best computers money can buy. Whatever else you need, all you need to do is ask. You are connected to our network and all the programs we use are downloaded for you as well, you have full permission to access any of our servers. I will show you the basic stuff we will be using out in the field.”

He takes a seat and hits the power button as the system comes to life, I watch him glance around the room.

“More camera’s.”

“They are ours Masen.”

“I just don’t like being recorded while I work. You need to get me access to those.”

“Okay,.”

“Because trust me whether you give them to me willingly or I tap into them, once I am connected, I am shutting them off.”

“But...”

He turns to look at me, his expression stone cold flat, “But what Swan? Any reason why you want me working while being recorded? I can only think of one.” He glares at me.

“Fine whatever.” I wave him off, he is so paranoid.

“I can understand having them for security, I get that, but once I start working here, there is no reason to have one on me, sorry it is a hard limit.”

I can feel the frown on my face, “Hard limit? What in the hell does that even mean? Is that some sort of mafia code or something?”

He smirks at me and shakes his head, “Nevermind, little girl.”

“Whatever.” I groan hating being left out of the loop, but I am in no mood to argue with him.  

I walk over to the main computer and log in, I check the outside cameras to make sure no one is snooping around outside. It looks quiet and I walk back to stand behind him.

His fingers move fast as he uses keyboard commands versus a mouse, I envy his ability to shuffle through it with such ease. I watch him bypass the windows program and venture into DOS. I know what it is, because Garrett uses it, but I don’t know how to utilize it.

“What are you doing?”

“Changing the startup files, I want control over what runs and what doesn’t.”

“Oh.”

“Just a heads up, I will shut down anything that doesn’t need to be open and I will remove files that are useless to me. A lean running system provides a faster response time. I have zero patience for waiting, I will probably add more ram. I want it to respond immediately.”

“Okay.”

He is typing so fast, text scrolls up too fast for me to read any of it. All I see is a blur of letters, back slashes and his fingers flying as he keys in commands.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Depends.”

“They don’t teach you hacking at Dartmouth do they?”

He laughs, “No Isabella, they don’t. But I can assure you that if they had offered a course of Hacking 101, I would have signed up for that shit.”

“So, how do you learn how to do something like hacking if that is what you are doing now?”

“I am not hacking now, I am setting it up with my preferences so when I do go to use it, it does what I want, not what Windows wants to allow me to do.”

“So how do you learn how to hack?”

He shrugs, “Computers just make sense to me, I started hacking because it presented a challenge, then it became a valuable tool. I got in, got what I wanted and got out before they discovered they had been hacked and by the time they found out, I was already long gone. Had I have been in when they caught on, I probably would have had a harder time covering my tracks, but the faster you are, the less vulnerable you are. It is really easy to make it look like someone is accessing a restricted database from the other side of the world. IP addresses identify where people access from. If you can rework the IP address location, you can go undetected.”

“I want to ask you something else.” I lean against the desk and look at him as he sits back in his chair.

“Once we clean up the streets here and down south, we still have those that are incarcerated. We figured we would cross that bridge when we got to it, but we are going to need to know who is imprisoned where. There are several top dogs in the system.”

“They will have no power if they don’t have their connections outside of the prisons they are in. that will be easy. We take em out as they get released, and I can get all that data for you.”

“True.” I nod.

I hear Garrett whistle to let me know the truck is unloaded and I smile, “Time to go check in all the new toys.”

We enter the warehouse part as a few of the workers unravel the plastic around the pallets. Garrett goes right for the good stuff causing me to laugh.

“How the fuck do you manage to get a pallet of these? They can’t be legal.” Masen looks at me skeptically.

“Of course they aren’t legal. These were hijacked from a shipment going out to several gun dealers.”

“Holy shit.” Garrett opens another box and looks over at me with a big grin.

“Me likey these.”

I laugh.

“Wow, impressive.” Masen smirks.

“I know right?” Garrett agrees as they admire the German hand grenades.

                      

We continue to sort through the various different boxes opening them up, making sure they are what I ordered, cataloging, and counting the quantities. We match them to the invoices for the stuff that I ordered legally.

Garrett opens the box of handcuffs.

“What is up with the handcuffs?” Masen asks.

“There are a couple we need alive. They have information that we need to get out of them. We have a special team that is going after those guys.”

“Can’t believe I get to work with Charlie again.” Garrett grins.

“Your father is going to be out in the field?” Masen looks surprised.

“Only for the live capture. Then, he will be focusing on extracting information from those he manages to bring back alive.” I assure him.

I pull off the box with the company name that I recognize, cut it open with a cutter and pour out a bunch of little black ring boxes onto a table.  

“What in the hell?” Garrett looks at me puzzled walking over towards me. “You investing in jewelry now?” He asks taking one of the boxes and popping it open.

“No, just making sure no one gets locked away.” I pull one of the rings out of the boxes and proceed to demonstrate how it works.

“If anyone gets detained by the cops for any reason, it won’t be for long.”

I walk around the table and reach over and grab the handcuffs. I hold them out to Garrett. “Put these on me.” I slip the ring on my finger and pull my hands behind my back and turn away from him waiting for him to cuff me.

Garrett steps up behind me closer than he needs to taking my wrist and locking down one cuff, then he leans in bringing his lips right next to my ear and in a sexy as hell low tone says, “Huh, does your Daddy know you like it kinky like this little girl?”as he tightens the second bracelet around my wrist. I shiver and shake my head laughing at his antics.

I look over at Masen who is glaring at Garrett and I can’t help but chuckle to myself. “No but I know damn well you wouldn’t have the balls to be the one to tell him that, now pay attention motherfuckers.” I turn around so they can watch as I slide the ring off and release the hidden key under the inside of the band. I use it to unlock the cuffs within seconds, with little to no movement of my hands or arms.  

“Holy shit that is fucking brilliant.” Garrett takes the ring from me checking it out.

“We can’t let anyone get caught. Everyone going out there gets a ring.” I demand.

“Yes ma’am.” he grins slipping it over his finger. “This one is mine, but next time sweetheart, you better be on bended knee.” He teases.

Masen doesn’t seem the least bit amused as he watches Garrett. I swear he looks like he wants to punch him. I am getting the impression he doesn’t like him all that much, but then again, he seems like that with everyone he has met so far. I consider the idea that if the situation were reversed how would I respond and I come to the conclusion, I would be just as on edge if not more so than he is.

He is really braver than I ever imagine anyone being. Considering who he is, and the fact that he came on this trip with me alone, knowing about the things I have done, not knowing what he was getting into. I really have to give him credit for it.

I remember the night in the club and how no one walked ahead of him. He took the lead showing no fear. I have watched other mob bosses, hide behind their soldiers. Then, it hit me what stands out about Edward Masen.

He doesn’t show any signs of fear. He reminds me of Daddy and I smile to myself.

“Okay we are out of here, make sure this all gets logged in and locked up. I will be back later on this week. You promised me a work out so don’t forget, we have a date for me to kick your ass. Oh, and call me as soon as the Namibia’s shipments arrive,” I say as I make my way over to parking area where Gustavo said he left a car for me. I stop and turn around and glare at Garrett, “Is he fucking kidding me with this?”

Garrett bursts out laughing.

“I am kicking his ass when I see him, I swear. Let’s go Masen.” He follows me and stops to stare at the car. “I know, I know, but it is all there is, just shut up and get in.”

“But it’s a fucking shit green Volkswagen Bug!” He looks about as mortified as I feel right now.  

“Really Gustavo, I am so kicking your ass!” I growl under my breath.

Masen shakes his head and climbs in not much happier than I am. I start the car and hit the button as the door lifts and back out, turn around and take off down the dirt road.

“It’s a fucking Bug!” He is shaking his head.

“Thanks Captain Obvious.” I glare over at him.

When we reach the paved road, Masen gets out and fastens the chain locking it behind us and we take off heading for Hidden Hills.

“We will switch it out with the rental up at the house, but you are planting that bomb in this before we return it to him.”

“Deal.” he sits back in his seat laying his head back as drive heading west to Sienna’s place.

RobsHandMonkey

Chapter End Notes:

Yes...I know I am totally picking on Masen with the wolf thing... I think it is funny....him...not so much...glances over at him...giggles...him...not at all amused.

*and no he is not a Dominant...he is being a smart ass towards me...I think he is making fun of my sexual deviance..whatever...he needs to remember who wields the keyboard...glares over at him....

Rogue Chapter 6

Rogue

Chapter 6

Edward Masen Sr

“He is your son.” my father points out the obvious.

“He is your grandson, and your point is?”

“This is the right thing to ask.”

“I disagree, times have changed father, I get that you don’t want things to change, but they do. I don’t like this idea. This isn’t 1920 anymore. We are in the year 2016 and people don’t arrange marriages any more!”

“Bullshit.” He shoots back waving his hand at me, “you don’t think, so what about in the old countries?”

“Those old countries are lost in time, this is America. It doesn’t happen here in America.”

“It happened in England and that is not far from America, and it wasn’t that long ago.”

“No, it didn’t.” I look at him shaking my head.

“Yes it did that cute little girl with the dimples...what’s her face...and not long ago...she is dead now...you know? Lady something or other.”

“Princess Diana?” I chuckle.

“Yeah that's it her...she didn’t love that son of a bitch, yet she married him because she had to. That was an arranged marriage. They didn’t even know each other!”

“How do you know she didn’t love him?”

“You seen the guys puss. He is not the most attractive looking man out there, but he was a prince which means...she married him because she had to, and now...her son. He married that girl he married, because he had to.”

“Prince William dated her. They fell in love, got married had babies and are living happily ever after. Not the same thing. Edward doesn’t have to marry anyone he doesn’t choose to marry, and I for one do not agree to this.”

“Not until we arrange it he doesn’t. Son, I expect you to convince all of them. Do not go against me on this.” I glare at him.  

“How can I convince him when I don’t believe it myself, besides, this Swan girl, is an implant. We are Irish, she is not. She hasn’t been raised in this life. She entered into it because of her father which I still can’t quite figure out why he chose the path he has taken. The Swan family makes no sense. Where did they come from?.”

“But you and I both know they seem to be good people. We feel it in our bones. I do. You must. We have avoided some of the harsher realities of this life son. We focused on businesses where people didn’t get hurt. Gambling, Loan sharking, arms dealings, prohibition back in the day. We never ventured into the territories the Italians had like slaves, human trafficking of innocent children. We didn’t dabble with drugs until recently, that of which I am not proud of. Then, along comes Edward our miracle child out of nowhere and he is talented beyond words to the age of this old finagled machines people use...what do you call them...you know the little ones and the ones that are bigger, with keyboards, and those micey things.”

“Computers father.” I chuckle.  

“Yes, yes those. He does things with those and he seems to generate money that for the life of me I don’t understand how that little machine makes us money, but he brings in more money than any of our self made men.”

“I know, you don’t have to tell me. He is good at cybertheft, he targets businesses, he invests with crooked investors who are stealing from hard working people. Something I am not too sure is a victimless crime.”

“The smartest thing you have done son, was send that boy to college. Don’t feel bad about it. Better than him running the streets with the Italian scum. I never liked those people. The Swan family did us a favor. We could never trust them.”

“He was already smart. It has nothing to do with me.”

He goes on and on trying to convince me. “And that girl of Swans, she is smart too, imagine the empire those two could build? I won’t be here to see it, but I know it will be something else.”

“I can’t argue with you there.”

“So, we nudge them, we talk to her father and see if he is willing to agree. This sets the other business in stone.”

“You seem to forget something.” I eye him.

“What? I forget lots of things. I am surprised most days I remember your name, so tell me what else have I forgotten?”

“People are going to die. Many people in Los Angeles are going to die. I can’t even calculate the number of people Swan is planning to eliminate to clean up those streets. It truly doesn’t seem humanly possible. I am still not sure I believe it can be done.”

“These people you speak of, they are rotten to the core, the same people that have committed horrendous crimes against humanity. They kill innocent bystanders, sell drugs to children, and fathers who should be home taking care of their children, mothers too. I feel no sympathy for any of them.”

“They are still people.”

“And you care suddenly? Why son?”

I stand up and begin to pace.

“It is a lot of people father, and our son, my flesh and blood is going to be in on this. Worse, he could get hurt.”

“I doubt that highly, you see the way that girl looks at him? Well, I do, she is already hooked on my grandson, I know. She will protect him with her own life if she had to. It is there already, I seen it in her eyes. His good looks come from me. How could she not be attracted to our Edward?”

“Wow, you really are senile. She looks at him like she wants to kill him. Did you see the way she considered it when she held that butter knife in her hand.”

He waves me off, “Naw, that is just foreplay for those two.”

I laugh when the doorbell rings, shaking my head at the fact that my father even knows what foreplay is. I make my way over to the door and unlock it, letting in Swan.

“Good afternoon, Masen.” he shakes my hand. He has a good solid shake. He is strong, he may be aging like myself, but he is a strong man. He is fit, stays in shape. Still, a soldier fighting a war no one knows is coming.

They aren’t going to know what hit them. But how many are we talking here? Five thousand? I have no clue. No idea on where to start.

“Lunch is about to be served, have a seat Swan.” My father waves for him to take a seat.

“I am not going to beat around the bush here, I am one hundred and three years old. I will be lucky to make it to one hundred and three years old and another day, so here it is...I want to ask for your permission for my grandson to marry that sweet girl of yours.”

I watch his reaction and his eyes dart from me to my father’s.

“As flattered as I am for the offer, this isn’t my call Mr. Masen.”

“Anthony, call me Anthony and no, it is your call. Is she your daughter? Yes she is, so you are the one that has the power to say yes.”

“No, I really don’t.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh heavily.

“Does Edward agree to this?” He asks looking between the two of us.

“It is not his choice, it is ours.” my father argues as Maria brings out three plates of lasagna.

Swan laughs. A loud boisterous laugh. “Can I be in the room when you tell him this?” he teases, at least I think he is.

My father looks at him puzzled then nods, waving his hands, “Sure, sure, so you accept?”

“No, but i still want to be there when you tell him you are arranging a marriage for him. This I have to see.” he continues to laugh.

I join him because he is right. There is no way in any life time, my son is going to marry anyone that he doesn’t love.

“My father’s idea, I assure you, this had nothing to do with me.” I wave at my father.

Swan’s phone rings and he pulls it out, frowns, and points and excuses himself standing up to step away from the table.

“Bella? What is wrong?”

I can’t help but stiffen. I can hear her voice almost screaming into the phone.

Charlie is nodding, pacing, and telling her to calm down. He apologizes. “Bella, please, I know.” he continues to pace and rubs his face in frustration.

His eyes widen, and he yells into the phone, “BECAUSE I LOVE YOU THAT IS WHY! DAMN IT BABY GIRL DON’T LET MASEN EXECUTE HIM!”

I stand up now concerned.

“Look, calm down. We will talk about it later when you return. Please Bella, I am only trying to protect you. We are out now. We have to be more careful. We are so close but with each day that passes, we are also public enemy number one and YOU are my priority! Call Masen’s bloodhounds off him. Let him go. He can take it up with me.”

He turns and whispers, “I love you, I will see you when you get back.”

He returns to the table as I stand here staring at him. “Mind telling me what that was about?”

“Your son is about to execute one of my top men, could you do me a favor and give him a ring and ask him to stand down before we lose someone   important.”

“Why. I want to know why my son wants to kill him first.”

“He has been trailing Bella for me, and I guess your son, clued her in.”

“And let me guess,” My father interrupts, “Masen wants to kill him because he cares for her.” He chuckles.

Swan frowns while I pull out my phone and shoot my son a text ordering him and his soldiers to free the man they have kidnapped.

“Shit that could have ended so much worse.” Swan picked up his glass and threw back the wine in one swallow.

“I apologize, this was between my daughter and me, I should have told her. I would have never been able to explain to you why my man killed your son’s soldiers. Trust me, he gave himself up because he knew that killing these men would surely have started a war between us. I am so sorry.” he apologizes again.

My phone dings and its Edward.

Why is Swan with you?

Uh….yeah...I am so not answering that one. I smile at Swan and say, “No worries, no harm will come to them.”

We all breathe a sigh of relief while my father goes on to explain the marriages of princes and princesses and other shit he rambles on about while I eat my lasagna and try to figure out how to explain to Edward why Swan was here.

Masen

“You can’t be serious Daddy! I am not a little girl any more!”

I watch her simply fascinated by the beauty of this woman’s anger. If she wasn’t stunning before, Jesus. Swan is in a shitload of trouble and I chuckle to myself. I am pretty sure that he has her followed simply because he doesn’t  trust me. This is something new he is doing. Making sure his little girl is safe.  

“How long Daddy? How long has he been following me? You are damn right we will discuss this when I get back and call off what ever guard dogs you have in Los Angeles also, or I swear I will let Masen execute every one of them!”

Fucking beautiful.

She hangs up and stares straight ahead trying to catch her breath. I watch her chest heave up and down, her jaw is set tight.

I try to erase the smile off my face. I don’t want to piss her off further because well if she had a weapon within reach, I certainly don’t want to be on the receiving end of it.

My cellphone alerts me to a message. It is from my father. He is asking me to have Emmett back down from hurting Swan’s spy and the first thing that pops into my head is that my father is with Swan now. Now, I want to know why they are together. He never mentioned meeting with them.

Maybe it is to let him know he is in charge of the family again since I have been named the new Boss. He doesn’t reply and it pisses me off but I will get to the bottom of that later.

I text Emmett and tell him to let the guy go.

“Your stalker has been released. Apparently our parents are together at the moment, I have no idea why, my father isn’t responding.”

“Sounds like they are up to something.” She seems to have calmed down some.

“I agree.”

“Anyway, I wanted to show you something pretty important.” she flips her laptop around and pulls up a program. I recognize it right away.  

“That is a lot of dots Bella. Why am I not surprised you are tracking them? What I really want to know is how did you get into their circle to track them at all?”

“We have two guys on the inside. They have been in the gang for well over a year now.”

I stare at her in disbelief. “Are you sure you aren’t the feds?”

“Yes Masen! I am sure. Those fuckers don’t know how the fuck to do anything right, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing what I am doing.”

“And what are you doing exactly?”

She looks at me with the most casual expression, “Cleaning up the streets and making the world a safer place.”

I quirk a brow up at her. “Why am I still here? Why didn’t you have the rest of us taken out? I don’t get it. I really don’t. You seem to be doing pretty damn fucking good on your own.”

“We need you, and your family and your ties. You are not like the rest of them. You have proven that.”

I lean over leaving her little space between us, “How do you know for sure I am not like the rest of them?”

“You know the answer to that question.”

I narrow my eyes at her, “Tell me Isabella, because I swear to God, I will shoot you right here right now if you don’t tell me who the fucker is you planted within one of the families.”

“He is dead.” she frowns.

“Why? Did you kill him?” I wait.

“He had a heart attack.”

“Aro?”

“Yes.”

“That son of a bitch.” I hiss, “He is lucky I don’t bring him back and kill him again!” I stand up pacing for a minute trying to calm the fuck down.

I stop in front of her, pointing my finger, “Look, you are making me look like a motherfucking idiot and I am about ten seconds away from ordering a hit on your father! I want your fucking word Bella! This shit with you ends NOW! No more sneaking around and fucking doing shit, undermining me! You want my help, you better damn well start learning to trust me.”

“Fine. I had to do what I had to do. Don’t hate me for it. I got what I needed and I am where I wanted to be. No more. I promise on my father’s life. I have watched you for a while I truly want to trust you and I will try I really will.”

I sit back down and nod towards her laptop, “Alright, so I need to ask you the most important question of all, how fucking many are we looking to target?”

“I am still working on that final number but I am estimating 150,000.”

My expression falls. I sit here staring at her and shake my head. “There is no fucking way. No fucking way!”

“There is a way.”

“And how do you propose we kill that many people! I don’t have that kind of man power!”

“Between what we have and you, and the ones that will be grouped together, and the rest of my planning, we can do this.”

“Bella, this is crazy. Who came up with this idea any way? You or your father?”

“We both did.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose feeling a headache coming on. “What are your plans for the LAPD when the killing begins?”

“By the time we have wiped out more than half of them, they won’t know where in the hell to start at by the number of crime scenes. They won’t have time to worry about the remaining members left that we will take out.”

“And what about South of the Border? How do you intend on getting rid of them also?”

“They are getting hit at the same time that we hit Los Angeles. We have men inside every compound. The explosives are already in place, well hidden. We had them planted last week. The cartel’s are the least of our worries because they stay pretty much holed up in their fortresses. They think their secret passages are going to save them if the time ever comes, I promise they won’t. The few that aren’t out, are being tracked around the clock.”

She hits a few more icons on her laptop bringing up maps of underground tunnels. They run from Mexico all the way up to the US borders in all states that neighbor it. “These red dot’s here,” she points, “this is the beacon locator that are attached to the bombs. They are at every exit, already buried into the tunnels. They will detonate when I give the order, We will blow them all up to block off all entries into the country.”

I reach over and take her laptop and flip back to the numbers and stats she has again. I read along scrolling down the page reading all this data.

Crips Mostly African American

Membership (est.) 30,000 to 35,000

Criminal activities Drug trafficking, robbery, murder, extortion, burglary, prostitution, theft

Gangs are called sets, and to date, there are an estimated 800 sets.

“800 Sets of gangs? How many is in a set?” I ask.

“Here is the thing Edward, I already explained to you that these types go after their own. It is a common misconception that Bloods only go after crips. That is, the furthest thing from the truth. They go after their own. These sets you are talking about, fight among themselves. They have no loyalty to the Crips as a whole. Think about that for a minute.”

I stare at her and start to piece together what she is saying. “You are starting a civil war in between all of them aren’t you? Turning them against each other, or at the very least, making sure there is no alliance and zero trust between them?”

“With my figures, the ones we don’t get, will be so skittish, they will finish each other off, but we are not going to depend on that. It is only an aid for our cause. They have been killing each other for years. We are just going to ramp it up a little. They will have no idea that they are aiding in their own extinction..”

“So, how do you plan to coordinate all this? I mean, my family has no clue as to how you work.”

“We aren’t doing this tomorrow morning, it is going to take time. I will be making many trips back and forth from LA to Chicago. My father and I are moving to LA, but we will be working with you so I will be going back and forth. We have a warehouse out in the desert that is our homebase where everything will be coordinated, I will need you to bring your men to LA in groups for training.”

“Where do you live now?”

“We have a home up in the Pacific Northwest, it is just a small town, my father grew up in. We spend time there every year. It is a nice little house that really is the only constant in my life ever since I was little, but for now we are staying in hotels.”

“Being in the military meant you moved around a lot?” I ask.

“Yes.”

I watch her for a minute and I can see her remembering something.

She finally turns to look at me, “What?”

“It’s nothing.” I shake my head and return to the laptop as I continue scrolling.

“When we land in Los Angeles, I have a few stops to make. I have orders to pick up, it is just equipment to take to headquarters.”

“Do we have a vehicle to transport these orders?”

“Ever driven a Penske before?” she quirks a brow up at me.

I laugh shaking my head, “No.”

“Well I have, I will teach you.”

I shake my head again, why am I not surprised. Is there anything she doesn’t do? “What in the hell are we picking up?”

“Here, let me show you my shopping list.” She steals the laptop back away from me and proceeds to pull up a file and opens it with a list of items that is more than a few pages.

“Everything has been paid, for and I have more than enough to supply every man we send out into the field. We need to have fully armed with working proper equipment. I don’t want anyone out there without having the best of the best. We can’t have guns that jam, bombs that don’t detonate. Everything we have obtained is the best. I don’t skimp on anything.”

The list is for everything from bottles of water, to bullets, to scopes, gps systems, night vision goggles, black dusters that are custom made to hold weapons under them. I shake my head and look over at her, “What are we Keanu Reeves now?” I turn the laptop towards her and show her the long black coat.

“They are excellent at concealing weapons.”

“Isabella, if we plan to do this in the middle of June, I can pretty much guarantee, you are going to have a problem with men in jackets like these. They will stick out like a sore thumb.”

She smiles, “No worries, our war starts on December 24 of this year.”

I frown and turn to look out the window of the plane. That is a little more than six months away. No one will see this coming. I begin to piece it together and it's starting to click.

“I wonder what they will call it.” I mumble.

“Call what?” she tilts her head looking at me puzzled.

“My family was involved in the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. I wonder what they will call this day?”

“It won’t be in one day Masen. For this many people, it is going to take us longer than a week at the very least.”

I watch her scroll over the gang list.

“Stop.” I order.

“What?” she looks over at me as I stare at the screen wide eyed.

“Those are girls!”

“Yes and?”

“We are going to include girl gangs?”

“Just because they have a vagina Masen, doesn’t mean they will not take you out for killing their men. They are going to be worse than the men. Women are ruthless and these girls are not really right in the head, they really won’t be when we annihilate them. Their need for revenge will be a major threat, so yes, they go too..”

I sigh laying my head back against the headrest. The sun is going down and I look out the window as we make our approach to Los Angeles.

“Fasten your seatbelt, we are about to land.”

Just then the lights come on overhead and the flight attendant walks in to check on us, taking our glasses away.

Bella shuts down her laptop and we prepare to land.

I groan at the traffic that is flowing on the freeways below.

“I hope we don’t have to hit freeways to reach our destination.”

“I don’t do freeways/parking lots, so no worries. I know my way around pretty damn well without ever hitting a freeway.”

“By the way, I hope you booked us a room.” I mutter.

“I can assure you, I have lined us up a place to crash at while we are in town.”

I adjust my seat and take a deep breath. I am not a fan of Los Angeles. Don’t get me wrong the weather is beautiful. It is the fucking people that I don’t like.

“Masen?”

“Yes?” I turn to look at her.

“Please tell me you were joking when you made your threat about what is in your suitcase.”

I quirk a brow up at her and shake my head. “No. I wasn’t kidding.” I pull out a key fob out of my pocket.

A small smile forms on her lips leaving me a little unnerved. I swear I think weapons are a big turn on for her. 

“You aren’t the only one that knows how to make something blow up.” I return it to my pocket and look back out the window. 

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