I dial a number and press the cell to my ear. “Reggie,” I say coldly. “The docks are open and ready. What am I expecting?”
“Two containers. Unload them into the waiting lorries. Once it’s done, Ziggy will be returned to you.”
“And Michelle?” I ask.
“Ouch. Not Anna?” he asks, and I realize he probably has me on loudspeaker with Anna nearby.
“You’ve made it clear that’s not going to happen, so . . . ”
“You’re giving up?” he says. “What if I told you there is a way?”
“I’m listening.” I sigh.
“Leave London. If you and your gang leave London, you can have Anna.”
“That can’t happen,” I say firmly. “My club’s been here for too long and we worked hard to get our part of London. You want me to give everything, the docks, the businesses? I won’t give it up to the mob.”
“Oh well, I’ll just have to keep her, although I’m not sure how much more she can take. She doesn’t have as much stamina these days. Did you find that?” He’s goading me.
“Not really, Reggie. Maybe she just doesn’t perform for you. With me, she couldn’t get enough.” I hate talking about her like this, like she’s a whore.
The call disconnects and Cree sighs. “Why can’t we just put a fucking bullet in him? Blow him up or something?”
“You were the one telling me we can’t cause that sort of unrest over a woman and now you want me to blow him up?” I smirk and he laughs. “We’ll bide our time. He can’t keep her in there forever. Eventually, he has to trust her. Before, when she was in a relationship with him, she said she had a lot of freedom. He never expected her to leave him, so she could come and go as she pleased.”
“Yeah, but then she left him. He won’t ever trust her again. You wanna sit out here for years waiting?”
I shake my head slowly. The thought of not having Anna for years kills me inside. I have to get her back. The front door opens, and I sit up in my seat, holding my breath. I release it with disappointment when a blond steps out, Reggie following behind her. She stops at the top step and turns to him. “She look beat up to you?” asks Cree, squinting.
“I can’t see shit from this far back, but she’s definitely got black eyes.” I reach for the binoculars off the back seat and take a closer look. “Yeah, brother, she’s a mess.”
Reggie strokes a hand down her face gently and then his fingers grip her neck. He moves his face closer to hers and speaks with venom, spittle hitting her. She winces and I see fear there. A hand reaches from inside the doorway. There’s no mistaking that it’s Anna’s. I notice her wedding band is back in place. She places her hand gently on his shoulder as if to calm him. He releases the blond and I see her shoulders sag in relief. Anna steps out of the house and he wraps his arms around her and kisses her. I pass the binoculars to Cree. I can’t watch that shit because it makes me question how real it is. Cree groans. “Fuck, man, he’s practically fucking her on the step,” he mutters.
“Thanks for that.” I sigh. “I don’t need the image painting.”
“Relax, you know it’s fake. She’s in survival mode, and by the looks of things, he’s beating up on blondie, which means Anna is stepping up the good wife routine.”
I ball my fists. “Yeah, it’s what all that entails that bothers me.” My cell rings. “Chains, what we got brother?” I answer.
“Two containers. All filled with kids’ dolls. You want me to take the head off one and see exactly what we got?” he asks.
“Yeah. I need to know what’s gonna flood our streets.”
There’s some rustling. “Coke, Pres. If all these dolls are full, then he’s looking at a million easily. Maybe more”
“Right. I’ll let the mayor know. Get it loaded into the lorries before they get suspicious. Tail them. I want to know where it ends up.”
I disconnect and then dial the mayor. “Finn,” he whispers. “I’m in a meeting. Is it urgent?”
“Very. We need to meet now.”
“Shit.” He sighs. “That’s not good if you wanna meet in person. I’ll come to you. The Windsor?”
“Yeah. See you in thirty minutes.”
When we arrive at The Windsor, Pinky nods her head towards the back room. We find the mayor looking angsty and uncomfortable surrounded by bodyguards. We step into the room and they move back to the corners. “Mayor,” I say, shaking his hand.
“Make it quick, Finn. I’ve got a busy day.”
“We’re a few hours away from two containers full of cocaine hitting the streets of London. I don’t know anything about it, if it’s good or bad, where it’s come from.”
He glares at me and the blood vessel in his forehead threatens to burst. “Continue,” he mutters carefully.
“Reggie Miller is behind it. I’ve lost control over the docks and he’s using my men to unload it.” The words feel bitter on my tongue. “He wants to bring in more in a matter of days.”
The mayor slams his hands on the table and stands. “Are you fucking kidding me? How am I only hearing about this now?”
“I was trying to get it under control.”
“Well, you clearly fucked that up. How the hell did he get control of the docks?” He begins to pace.
“He took my son and my ex. They were at the park and he took them.”
“So you gave him the docks?” he yells.
“What the fuck was I supposed to do? It’s a temporary arrangement until I can come up with something better.”
The mayor leans forward across the table until he’s inches away from me. “You were supposed to let him have the kid and the ex and keep control of my FUCKING DOCKS!” he yells.
I stand up and my chair scrapes the hard floor. The bodyguards move closer, sensing my
