I put the phone back in my pocket. She’s quick to answer and agreed to meet me tonight, just like I knew my sweetheart would. She’s giving me a clingy vibe--usually that turns me off, but on her, I like it.

I blow out a long exhale and face the docks. If only the rest of my day could be this easy.

“Boss, we got another problem.” Tommy walks up behind me. I turn to look at him and see his chin is bruised up nice. Seeing it almost makes me feel like a prick. Almost. I know he was doing what he thought was best for the family, but fuck that. I’d do it again if I had to.

“It’s all fucked today.” I shove my hands in my pockets and stare at the water, listening to the waves beat against the dock. Three orders came in, but all three were only partially filled. “What’s wrong with this one?”

“Supposed to be 50 pounds.” I nod my head. I know how much we should be getting from the Marzano Cartel. It's the same we’ve been getting for nearly 7 months now. “We’ve only got 42 here.”

“Someone is skimming. Who is it that counted? I want all the names, Tommy.”

“I was there for this one, boss. I saw it opened.”

“And the container?” It’s possible someone fucked with them on the ship. In which case we have all their names and addresses. Someone would have a real rough night if it came down to that.

“Locked and untouched.” He’s confident, and that tells me everything I need to know.

“So it’s their end that’s fucking with us.” That’s not good. It’s never good ending business relations in the line of work we do. But I’m not putting up with this shit. “Did they think we wouldn’t notice 8 pounds were missing?” Not to mention the guns. They were light, too.

“Could be someone in packing on their end.” Tommy’s got a point.

“I’ll send a message to Javier. We need this shit dealt with immediately.” I have to walk back to the docks to get the phone we use for that shit. Tommy walks with me.

“How’s the other situation going?” he asks. My hands flex and I crack my neck trying to keep my temper at bay. I know he’s concerned, but I don’t like him asking about her.

“It worked. She doesn’t remember shit.”

He nods his head and grins. “That’s fucking fantastic.” He doesn’t sound as thrilled as he’d like me to believe he is. “You sure about that?”

“Positive.” He shuts his mouth and nods his head, walking silently beside me. I’m the underboss, he knows not to question me. I can see his worry though, so I decide to put him out of his misery. “She’s easy to read, and she’s gonna come over tonight for a quick second to grab a book I took from her.” I open the heavy door and grin at him. “You can see for yourself, Tommy.”

“So what’d she think? You two just had a wild night together?”

I give him a smug look that lets him know that’s exactly what she thought and that I got some this morning too.

“Are you fucking for real? You tapped that ass?” He’s grinning from ear to ear, but shaking his head in disbelief.

“Damn right.” I hesitate to say more, but I figure why the hell not let him in on it. “I want her again, too.”

He cocks an eyebrow at me. “Going back for seconds isn’t your thing.”

“Wasn’t. But this girl is real sweet.” I don’t usually brag, but this broad is different. I want everyone to know I had her. More than that, I want them to know she’s mine.

“Good girls like bad boys. I want me one of those.” He says.

“A good girl?” I ask.

“Yeah.”

“Then go get one.” I park my ass at my desk and unlock the desk drawer. I reach in and grab the right cell phone and flip through the info on my notepad. I appreciate Tommy’s distraction, 'cause this shit fucking sucks.

“They aren’t all that easy to find, not with how often you’ve got me working.” He sits at one of the opposite seats and stretches his legs out in front of him. He nervously runs his hand on the back of his neck and opens and shuts his mouth a few times.

“What’s going on?” I just want him to say whatever the fuck is on his mind.

He spits it out without the need for further prodding. “I’m real fucking sorry, Vince.” His eyes turn sad. “You know I didn’t want to. I was just doing things according to protocol.”

I look him directly in the eye. “Witnesses don’t live to be witnesses.” That’s still protocol. It was stupid of me to risk this shit. Everyone knows it. I worry a bit that they think women make me soft. Specifically, this woman. After all, I’m going to be the one taking over. I can’t have them thinking that. “This was a one-off, Tommy. You did what you should’ve.”

“Alright boss.” He taps his hands on the armrests and looks like he’s getting ready to take off.

“Everything else good for going out tonight?” I ask him, while I have his attention.

“Everything is set. Unless you want to add anything in the shipment going to the cartel.”

I smirk at him. “Not yet, let’s make sure we play this smart.” Sending a message like what he’s thinking would be bad for everyone. I gotta make this call and let our business partners know what’s up. Eight pounds missing is over 200 grand of our money gone, but it's over a million in gross after it’s cut and sold. Whoever took it wanted a reaction from us. They’re going to get one. I just have to figure out exactly who it was that tried to fuck us over and what they thought they’d get from pulling this shit. Stealing some product to profit on the side is one thing. Skimming off the top--I’ve seen that, too.

But fucking with a shipment to start a war is also a possibility. The thought gives me an uneasy feeling. War is something we’ve dealt with not too long ago, with my brother Dom. And his woman got caught up in that shit. An uneasy feeling settles in my gut. I’m not gonna let that shit happen again.