Ed and Zayn walked into the club over a carpet of broken glass. The dead security guy was still laying near the entrance, but the rest of the staff was done tending their wounds and had started tidying up the club. It still looked like a natural disaster happened, but at least Zayn didn't have to deal with hysterical employees.

"Wow." Ed whistled impressed, "These guys really did a number on us. All the expensive booze is gone."

Zayn raised his eyebrow, "Why is that the first thing you notice?" The ginger shrugged as a response and Zayn sighed, "Doesn't matter. Can you check the basement? We didn't use it to stock too much, but Harry would snap if some of our goods disappeared. I'll go over to the others and try to get as much information as we can."

Ed nodded and went off. He had to go to one of the smaller mirrors in the staff's bathroom. Behind the mirror was a button that, when pressed, would open the hidden trapdoor in the floor. Thankfully, the goons that attacked the club weren't informed nor smart enough to find it. Ed went down the stairs to the hidden cellar. The boxes stocked into the room were still untouched and the carefully wrapped packages inside were safe and sound.

While Ed was downstairs, Zayn walked over to the employees. At first, he didn't spare them a glance; his attention went straight to the bar. Some of the expensive alcohol was gone and the glasses were all but broken except for one. It would cost them some money to get the place back up and running, but they were more than capable enough. They'd be back on their feet in no time.

"Did any of you see the face of who attacked this place?"

The employees looked at each other. They knew who their boss was, so they also knew that keeping information from Zayn, who was one of the higher ranks, was the same as signing their own death sentence.

"Sir, the man wore masks, but I can give you a description of anything else; their height, build, and estimated weight. They came in running, but with everything they took with them, I'm sure you can see them getting into a car on the camera footage."

"Alright." Zayn nodded his head. He was quite impressed that the employee, who looked like the oldest of them all, dared to speak up. Additional to that, if what the old man claimed to be able to describe was true, Zayn would see to it that the man was promoted, "Let someone bring me the footage. You will come with Ed and me to one of the lads that can sketch up a portrait. The rest of you are dismissed till further notice."

The employees replied with a short 'yes, sir' before they gathered their stuff and left. Zayn and the older man had to wait three more minutes for Ed to surface again.

"Are you done?"

"Yes." The ginger yawned, "Boring-ass robbers didn't even find the place. That's no fun."

Zayn rolled his eyes, "It's better like that. I hate troublesome things."

The three of them made their way out of the club and into the black Range Rover that Zayn had parked further down the street. They didn't have to be careful because 28 was in their territory. The only problem would be the Feds, but even those couldn't touch them at the moment. If a cop did stop them, they would reply that they had to talk with one of their employees about the security of their club. 28 was a legal club after all.

[###]

James and Niall were both in the kitchen. A plate full of food was placed before them, and they had been busy eating and talking about the skills of the chef when Liam and Harry had entered the room.

"I'm telling you Harry, you need to get your shit together. I don't care if you're the only one going down, but if they figure the whole thing out, it's not only your ass on the line."

Harry rolled his eyes, "I went to visit Colette, that's hardly called being careless."

"They don't know who leads this organisation yet, but if you keep going out, they'll see you're not an average business man. We've been whitewashing as much money as we can to seem legit, but if the Feds' noisy asses get hold of some loose end, we'll hang. It doesn't matter how long we'll try to hide or run from them, no drug lord ever has been able to get away while maintaining their business. They all went to jail or got killed, H."

"Easy," Harry sat down in one of the sofa's. He leaned back against the leather, crossed his legs, and took a drag from his cigarette, "We'll just have to make sure there are no loose ends."

The two at the dining table looked at each other and grinned.

"Me!" Niall shouted, nearly giving Liam, who hadn't noticed the others, a heart attack, "Choose me! I wanna tie up the loose ends! I got some new toys I want to test out."

"Do you really want to give a task like that to a leprechaun? Come on, Harold, you know me, I can deal with those rats as easy as Niall stuffing a second pizza down his throat."

Harry looked up, the corners of his lips curled up in a smirk, "How will I ever choose between the two of you? James, you look like a father going golfing every day, and Niall, you would run off and empty a man's fridge right after you run a bullet through his head."

"How is looking like a dad a bad thing?"

"Are you serious." The mafia boss looked baffled, "If you plan to go out in... that, please let me find you a change of clothes."

Niall laughed at James' shocked face, stealing some food of the latter's plate while he was at it. The blond then quickly stood up with his refilled plate and went over to sit on a couch opposite of Harry, "Boss-man, I'm done with the task you gave me earlier. How about you pay me with a new plaything, like one of the loose ends you were talking about?"

James and Liam glared at the two, "A task?" Liam closed in, "Care to elaborate?"

"Not really." Harry flashed a smile, "Ni, come with me, we'll discuss this in my office. Liam, James, I expect you two to clear up the cellar while Niall reports to me. Under no circumstances are you to ask him of our conversation later, understood?"

[###]

Harry settled down in one of the armchairs while Niall dived face-first into a sofa. The older of the two looked at his friend and boss as if he had finally gone nuts, but Harry chose not to comment on it.

"Spill it, Horan. Who is the boy?"

Niall let himself fall face-first on the cause but rolled over quickly so he could look at the Harry directly, "Louis William Tomlinson, birth name: Louis Troy Austin. He turned eighteen on Christmas Eve. He was born in Doncaster to Johannah Poulston and Troy Austin, who split up when he was young. Johannah remarried to Mark Tomlinson. They throw Louis out when he was fourteen because he asked if it was possible for someone to like the same gender. Mark is abusive and has a history of not only hitting his wife, but also Louis. Johannah didn't try to stop her husband when he, quite literally, kicked Louis out without so much as a penny or a change of clothes."

"Hold up." Harry got up to grab a pen and a piece of paper. He quickly scribbled something down and motioned Niall to continue.

"He was homeless for three years. Colette and Alfred did donate food, blankets and clothes to him when they could, but Alfred was against taking him in because he didn't know where Louis came from. After Alfred died and things settled down, Colette looked for him and- well, he started living with her as you know. Do you want some extra information or not?"

"I want to know everything, Niall," Harry replied, a sly smirk on his lips, "I want to know what he ate and when he ate it. I need to know how many times he fell, how many sleepless nights he has had." The man crept closer to his friend, "Did he fall in love? Who were his friends? What are the names of those people? Who are their parents? Their family? Did they try to help him? When did the boy realise his feelings towards love?" Harry was standing a tad too close now. The smirk was still in place, but his green eyes screamed 'murder', "When was the first time that man hit him? How many bruises did he get and how many followed? What was the other abuse he had to sit through? I need everything."

[###]

Liam glared at everyone he passed while James, who walked behind him, smiled and walked as if he was appearing on the red carpet. It wasn't the first time they had clean-up duty together, neither was it the first time Harry dismissed them like that. But, it did put Liam in a sour mood.

"Good evening, sirs, do you want to enter?" One of the security guards asked when he saw the two approaches.

"Yes. Give me his status first, I don't want to waste time on someone who's on the verge of dying."

"Certainly." The man nodded his head, "He was already interrogated by Sheeran, he ratted everyone out when we threatened him with his daughter. Mister Sheeran was in a good mood, so the man only lost his left hand. We treated it, so he wouldn't die of blood loss in case one of you or the boss still needed him. He's been in isolation for seventy-two hours."

James clapped his hands, "Sounds fun! Can I handle this, Liam?"

"Go ahead, he's all yours."

The two went inside, Liam leaning against the wall while James hurried to remove the blindfold from the man who was bound to a chair.

"Good evening!" James greeted, "Thank you for your cooperation till now." The man's eyes were wide with fear, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. Little, desperate noises came from behind the cloth that covered his mouth, "Yes, yes, I know you're happy to see me too. Now, I'm a bit angry, you see. Someone got one step ahead of me and now I may not be able to work off my aggression on the other members of your organisation."

Liam rolled his eyes, "Get on with it, James. Your needless chatter is wasting my time."

"Right," James laughed, "You heard him."

The hours that followed were filled with screams from the poor man that had been tied up and annoying dad jokes from James. In the end, the man had fulfilled his use, so they didn't need him any longer. Harry was clear on that; once someone's role was fulfilled, they needed to go. And his captains were happy to help.

After James enjoyed himself, they cut up the body of the man, distributed the pieces over a few barrels, and then filled those with concrete. Later, they would be dumped into the sea and sink to the bottom were no one could find the remains.

----
A/n: double update! :)
Thank you guys for the long wait. I can't hold myself to a regular schedule but I'll try to do it asch as I can (although double updates won't be a normality)
🖤