Step Bride: A Bad Boy Mob Roman(37)

“Here we go,” I muttered. “How are we on time?”

“Six minutes,” he said.

“Shit.”

I quickly moved forward, slipping a pry bar from my coat. I slipped it under the back of the truck’s door and began to work it.

The damn thing was stuck.

“Give me a hand,” I said. Vince slipped out his own bar and began to work it with me.

The thing didn’t want to budge. “Fuck. We have to hurry,” I said.

“Come on,” Vince grunted. “Open, you mother fucker.”

Finally, with a lurch, the door suddenly broke free of the lock and slid up. It opened with a loud, echoing bang.

We froze.

“Shit,” I said.

But Vince was staring into the truck, wide-eyed.

“Boss, look.”

I followed his gaze.

The truck was completely empty.

“What the fuck?” I said.

Vince climbed in and walked toward the back. I followed him inside.

“Nothing,” he said.

“Think they moved it inside?”

“Maybe.” He frowned. “We’ll ask Sanders.”

“Check the cab.”

Vince hopped out and I heard him break open the front door.

I did a quick search of the back and didn’t turn up a thing.

“Nothing,” Vince said. “And we better move.”

I nodded, hopping out of the truck. I pulled the door shut, and we began to jog back toward the other entrance.

Ahead, we saw the doors open. I jumped over a car, landing in a full-on sprint, Vince on my tail. We had to scramble over the hoods of cars, and we made one hell of a racket, but we made it, slipping under the door just in time.

Sanders stared at us. “You made a lot of fucking noise,” he grumbled.

“Sorry,” I said, catching my breath.

He began to walk back the way we had come. Vince and I followed.

“Hey, listen,” I said. “Did you look up that truck for us?”

“Yeah, like you asked. Got the papers here.” He held out a small packet.

Vince took it and began to look through the stuff. We kept walking and ducked back into the original room, weaving our way through shelves.

We stopped in front of a fire exit.

“The stuff in the truck,” Vince said, “it’s not kept in storage inside?”

Sanders shrugged. “Fuck if I know. What’s it say in there?”

“Doesn’t say. Just says a truck plus cargo was stored outside.”

“Then the stuff should still be in there.” He frowned. “Why? Was it empty?”

“Thanks, Sanders,” I said, moving out into the alley. Vince followed me.

I heard the guy mutter something about damn mobsters, but we were gone, already heading back to the car.

We didn’t say a word to each other as we walked back in front of the building again. The guy at the front desk looked as asleep as he had earlier, which was good. We probably woke up half the damn block running over those cars.

Once around the block, we stopped and leaned up against a stoop.

“Well?” Vince asked.

“Truck was empty,” I said.

“Yeah, it was.”

“I think that’s what we were supposed to see.”

“You think someone took the stuff?”

“Yeah, I do.”

We were silent for a minute.

“Whole thing was a setup,” Vince said finally.

“Yeah, it was.” I shook my head. “But by who?”

“The Russians?”

“Makes no sense. They wouldn’t risk a war with us, especially not over that deal.”

“Maybe they didn’t think it was as good as you did.”

“Maybe,” I said, shaking my head. “Or maybe their organization has a few leaks in it, too.”

We climbed back into the car and Vince fired up the engine.

The drive back was full of silent plotting. My head was spinning through the possibilities, trying to figure out the players.

Everything felt like it was resting on a foundation of sand. Between the rat, the stolen shipment, and Natalie, I was torn in a hundred different directions.

And it made me feel so fucking alive.

I loved the stress. I thrived on it. I hadn’t gotten to my position, my level of power, without being able to perform under pressure. That was what separated me from other men. I could do what was necessary even when the stakes were high as hell.

We got back to the compound around four, and I climbed out of the car. I waved to Vince as I headed back inside, and he went to put the car in the garage.

I stumbled up the steps, exhausted, ready to finally get some fucking sleep. But sitting outside my room was a small box wrapped in a bow, much like the one I had left outside Natalie’s room.

A smile spread across my face. I grabbed the box and carried it into my room.