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L O N Z O M A T T I A
Despite everything going on at home with Alexia, I had to keep focused for my meeting today with Landon. Gabriel managed to get together the money that he wants for his stupid interest, but I'm intrigued into what else he's going to say.
Losing Landon as a business partner could be extremely dangerous for our own income, he helps us bring in a lot for my empire and I know we do the same for him but currently, he doesn't trust us. Not one bit. A part of me knows he wants to let loose for what we did—or what someone in my empire did—and shed some blood.
Landon is deadly. Has always been known for being deadly.
I've heard countless stories regarding his love life, the women that he's killed, the men that he's tortured, the things that he's done to innocent people because they seem to inconvenience him.
Which is why I feel like I tread on eggshells when I'm around him. I had to keep my mind clear for this meeting, razor sharp focus, and think about what I'm saying before I say it.
I'm not scared of Landon but I'm terrified of what he could do to my empire that I have spent years building up, growing connections with other businesses. Everything could go to shit with the click of his fingers and it is the last thing I need right now.
I hate myself for even being distracted but with Alexia in the house, it's fucking inevitable at this point. When she stumbled home with Jace late a few nights ago, I lost my shit. Completely.
But when I checked the security footage the next day—I didn't purposely mean to go so far back in time—I stumbled across Alexia's little play time with herself.
I knew I shouldn't be watching but I couldn't help myself.
And what makes it all the better is that it was straight after I bent her over the kitchen island and spanked her ass raw, her thighs slick and wet. Now I know she enjoyed what I did to her, despite her mouthy reaction.
She went back to her room and played with herself directly in front of the camera.
Oh boy, what a fucking sight it was. And as soon as my eyes fell upon the video, I knew right then that I had leverage over her. Including how fucking horny she was when she was drunk, almost begging me to fuck her.
Part of me wishes I could have a quick look inside her mind, I'd love to know what goes on in her brain when she looks at me, when I roughly grab her hair. She mouths off but inside, she wants it. Oh, she wants it so fucking badly.
If only Gabriel knew her dirty intentions—and mine.
I shake my head because I find myself thinking of her far too often and right now I need to keep my composure, I need to focus. I need to think about how I am going to address Landon without his need to draw his gun and threaten me into something I don't want to do.
Landon might have as much power as I do but he's a man that I want to keep happy.
He is irrational. I have to be smart before my brain is splattered across the wall.
When I get into my car, make sure that I have the money in the front seat. I drive to one of the locations of our joint warehouse. We both promised not to bring any of our men but I guess I'll see how far that goes for him.
Both Jace and Gabriel know where I am but I told them I'd check in with them later after the meeting. If anything goes sour before then, at least they have my location. But Landon is smarter than killing me, he needs me—as much as he hates to admit it.
I get out of my car and make sure my gun is loaded and tucked away in the back of my trousers, my blazer hiding it. The bag of money in one hand. I adjust the sleeves and stroll towards the warehouse, a place that Landon likes to specifically use to get information out of people but I won't let that information deter me from getting this done.
My hand presses to the rusty door of the building, I step inside and take one look around at the boxes piled up to the ceiling, chains hanging down and plastic sheets everywhere.
"Ah, Lonzo," Landon's deep voice echoes across the warehouse from behind me. "You made it."
I stop walking and stare ahead, keeping my composure. Slowly, I turn around to face him. Landon's hands are shoved into his trouser pockets, he's smiling at me like some smug bastard but I don't react to his presence.
He is in fact alone and has no weapons insight. But I don't always believe everything I see. He's definitely got a gun in the back of his pants like I do. You always have to come prepared, even with your business partners.
This industry is unpredictable. Even at the best of times.
"I have your money," is all I say in response.
Landon's head tilts and his dark eyes float down to the bag in my hand. "Glad to see that you're good at taking orders." He's trying to belittle me but I keep my expression as hard as granite.
I walk forward a couple of steps and hand him the bag. Landon drags his eyes back to mine and studies me for a few seconds. I try my hardest not to look at those scars that cover his face but it's harder than I expected.
He takes the bag from my hand and unzips it without looking at what he's doing, eyes still on me. Cold. Lifeless.
Then eventually he glances down at all of the money in the bag and he nods curly. "I hope it's all here, Lonzo. Because I don't want to have to tell you the repercussions if it's not."
"It's there," I snap, my voice echoing off the walls.
Landon's mouth curves evilly and I hate that look on his face. I've seen him do it to plenty of people before. Sick fucking prick. "Ahhh, how long have we been friends, Lonzo?"
I angle my head at him and scowl. "Friends?"
He tilts his head back and laughs, the sound snapping through my ears. "We've known each other for almost eight years, safe to say that we know each other pretty well. Don't we?"
"We're business partners. Nothing more."
"Nothing more?" He fakes shock.
I watch him carefully. I hate him when he's like this. Sometimes I just want to put my gun to his head and end it all. He might be a good partner to bring in money but he is a flight risk, or we'll end up with our hands being chopped off and sent to our families.
"We've worked together for a long fucking time," he comments and straightens his spine. "We've been through a lot together. It's a shame you feel like you can't call us friends."
I try to keep my expression neutral. It's proving difficult when I just want to get the fuck out of here. Keeping Landon happy has been my priority these last couple weeks and if I don't need to be in his presence, then I won't.
Landon huffs out a sigh when I don't respond. "I know your father would have wanted us to be friends."
My jaw tenses. "Don't you dare bring up my father."
Amusement sparks in Landon's eye and it sets something off in me, but I keep myself composed. I don't want him to get a reaction out of me, I know he loves to wind people up because he's twisted.
"Why not?" Landon now begins to pace. "He was a great man."
When I don't say anything Landon stops walking and turns to look at me, studying my expression. He fakes a pout. "Oh, did I hit a nerve?"
"We didn't come here to talk about my father," I grumble. "You have your money. Everything should be sorted between us now. It won't happen again."
"You're right it won't," his voice drops down a notch or two. "Because if it does, there will be absolutely nothing left of you and your empire."
His eyes level with mine as he stares me down. "It. Won't. Happen. Again."
Landon raises his nose and nods. "Time will tell, Lonzo. Time will tell."
"We're done here," I comment before taking a few steps back. "We can talk about the next job lot when we can."
I don't wait for Landon's response, I turn as quickly as I can and head towards the same door I walked through. When I reach my car, I don't look back or glance around as I shoot out of the derelict car park and head straight home.
Thoughts of my father are still on my mind. My fingers grip onto the steering wheel with frustration. He knows how much talking about my father irks me, he does shit like that on purpose because he likes to see people squirm. He finds their weaknesses and he plays with them.
When I get home, I call Jace and Gabriel to my office straight away, no matter what they're doing. I half expect Alexia to be parading around the kitchen half naked or with her books spread across the counter but she's nowhere to be seen.
I haven't seen her since she ripped the camera from her bedroom wall and smashed it to the ground. I already hired someone to come fix it but Alexia hasn't been hanging around as much as she usually does.
A part of me feels like the house suddenly feels a lot colder without her presence and I hate myself for even thinking that way. It's dull, silent and gives me too much time to think about my own problems.
God, I need a fucking gallon of whiskey to get me through this day and these crazy thoughts.
"How did it go?" Gabriel doesn't bother to knock on my office door as he swings into the room.
I glance up at him from my laptop and suppress a grunt. "As you expect Landon to be. He took the money, more threats but I think we can keep him at bay for now. We're still no closer to finding out who's been ratting us out, have you heard from Jace?"
Gabriel waltzes to the chairs in front of my desk and hums. "He's on his way over now." I watch as he tucks his shirt up to his elbows, flashing off his inked skin.
"Good," I grumble before looking back to the screen in front of me.
The room is quiet until Jace makes his appearance, but at least he has manners and knocks. Gabriel thinks he owns this place because he lives here, yet this is my space that I need for my own privacy.
"What's been going down?" Is the first thing he says.
I flick my eyes up at him and he perches down beside Gabriel. "Landon is literally on his final straw with us." I state. "Have you found out anything else, Jace?"
His light eyes fixate on mine. "Still looking, boss. But things have died down for now. It might have been only Liam and Aaron."
"But there is still someone out there blackmailing my men," I lean forward in my chair, glancing between them both. "And we need to get to the bottom of it before even more people start stabbing me in the fucking back. I maintained Aaron's passcode for his phone, did you find anything on there?"
Jace nods. "I found the texts and I ran the numbers but whoever did it is smart because it's untraceable, no number, no name, no IP address. Nothing."
I curse something under my breath. "Did you hand it over to Ray?"
Ray is our tech expert and he's never failed me before.
Jace falters for a moment. "No," his throat clenches and I frown at him. "I haven't."
"Well could you do that this afternoon?"
He keeps his eyes on me for a moment too long and something doesn't feel right. "Of course, boss." He shakes his head. "Sorry, I should have done it before."
"Right, well I've got work to do," I mumble. "Gabriel, you're due at the warehouse in thirty minutes."
Gabriel nods his head. "Yeah, I just wanted to speak to you about something first."
Jace stands up from the chair and nods at us both. "We'll go over and see Ray. Anything else you need me to do?"
I stare up at him for a few moments as he lingers by the door. Something like worry or concern flashes by his eyes but I shake it away. "Maybe see if Liam's phone could also be obtained. It's probably down with the archives."
"Right away, boss," he says before heading out of my office.
My brows are still bunching up as he walks away. "Do you think he's acting weird?"
"Probably because you still didn't give him a lashing for going out with Alexia, think he's waiting for it."
I snort to myself then remember I didn't. I've been far too fucking busy to care about him right about now. As long as he does his work, reports back to me, that's all I want from him. Minus taking out Alexia and almost causing a security breach.
Gabriel watches Jace leave before he turns to me. "What is it?" I glance back to the paperwork and laptop in front of me. "I've got shit to do."
"Well it's Alexia's birthday on Tuesday," he says and I fling my eyes to his. "And after everything she said about being kept here, not going out, even with our parents. I've decided to take her out on her birthday, with security and everything so you don't blow your head off."
I move my head slowly backwards. "Taking her out for her birthday, huh?"
"She deserves to go out and celebrate as much as the next person."
"I don't celebrate my birthday."
"Yeah, well you're weird." Gabriel leans forward to press his elbows to his knees in the chair.
I clear my throat. "Where are you going to go?"
Gabriel shrugs. "Not sure. Somewhere local. Somewhere we trust but anything will be good enough for her. Is that all good? Because I don't want you trying to blast me in the forehead when we stumble home in the morning."
When I glance at Gabriel, I find myself readjusting in my chair. "If you wish, is it just you two going?"
"Jace probably too," he says.
"I'll come."
Gabriel's expression twists from shock to horrified. "You will?"
I shrug simply. "It's been a while since I've been out. I need a break of my own."
The room turns silent for a few moments until Gabriel huffs out a laugh and stands from the chair. "Alright," he nods his head. "Sure. I wasn't expecting it but sure. As long as you don't use your backhanded insults on her. It's her fucking birthday and I don't want to see her upset."
Upset? I laugh to myself. Alexia never gets upset.
She might not be smart with that mouth but mentally, she's strong and I am yet to crack her. She's almost indescribable at this point.
"I promise I won't upset her on her birthday," my voice dips with sarcasm and Gabriel shoots me a look of warning. "I'm coming for the drinks, change of scenery. Nothing more."
Gabriel nods and walks towards the door. "Alright. I'm going to the warehouse. See you later."
"Let me know about any updates."
"Will do."
And then he's done and I'm left alone wondering what the fuck I'm thinking going to Alexia's birthday when I'm supposed to not give a single shit about her. I press a hand to my forehead and curse myself.
"Idiota."
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Author's Note
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Landon is one nasty business partner, do you think he's going to stir some shit?🫣
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