C o l e

"Load them up" Eros ordered, pointing to Terrence and Robert who were tied and blindfolded.

We were to meet up at the warehouse I had been taken to sometime ago with Adler and Francis along with some of Adler's men to discuss the problem at hand. Knowing Eros, he probably wouldn't accept anything less than having Francis in his custody, which is likely why he had us capture Francis' friend and cousin.

"Boss is on edge so please don't do anything stupid. We technically don't need either of you, so keep in mind that your lives hold no value here" Jamie said monotonously as he shoved the two in to the van.

"Harvey, you and the others are to stay hidden during the meeting. If anything goes down, you know the signal" Eros said and Harvey nodded before hopping on his bike.

"Wanna ride with me?" Harvey asked me in a teasing voice, wiggling his eyebrows as he held up a helmet to me.

"Kiss my ass" I grumbled before following after Eros to his car. Mikhail, Eros, and I were in one car while Jamie drove the van with Terrence and Robert, along with two other men.

"I have no doubt in my mind that this is going to go south, y'know?" Mikhail said as we pulled out of the driveway.

He was right, I also had a feeling that things were going to get bad.

"Be that as it may, I made sure to at least have the meeting on our grounds in order to give us a little home field advantage" Eros said, his eyes trained on the road.

"What's the advantage?" I asked.

"I ordered that all weapons be left in our vehicles to show that we don't have any hostility towards one another and that this is just a peaceful, talk it out, kind of deal" Eros explained and Mikhail scoffed.

"I doubt those shady bastards know the meaning of talking things out" He grumbled.

"I'm still not seeing the advantage..." I muttered and Mikhail turned to me from his seat.

"We've got weapons stashed in the warehouse but only in places we know. Such as the boxes in the main area, if you open them, you'd only see styrofoam and fake drugs in them but under all of it there's guns" He explained.

"Fake drugs?" I said, raising my eyebrow.

"It's just baby powder. Think of it like stage props" Eros said with a chuckle.

"I see" I muttered.

I tried to relax myself a bit, I wasn't nervous but you could say I could feel the adrenaline in my body prepping itself to be used just in case.

We arrived at the warehouse after a while and just a few minutes after, Adler's men had also arrived.

"Eric Adler, thank you so much for coming" Eros said as he walked over to the man clad in white. His suit was as sharp and the sunlight glinted off the many rings on his fingers. Adler dropped the cigarette in his mouth before putting it out with his foot. He held his hand out to Eros and the two shook hands.

Francis stood behind him, staring at Eros with a smirk on his face. Eros did nothing but smile back which caused Francis' grin to falter.

"My friends Mikhail and Cole here will go around collecting all of your weapons. As you can see, ours are already in the box" Eros stated as he pointed to the box full of weapons on the ground.

Having our orders, Mikhail and I began to take the men's weapons. I could feel their glares each and every time a weapon was confiscated from them, it didn't take a genius to see they were attached to their guns.

After taking the guns, Jamie and the other men led Terrence and Robert out of the van.

After everyone was accounted for, we all entered the warehouse and inside was a table prepped perfect with enough seats to accommodate everyone who has come to the meeting. We all got seated with me being on one side of Eros and Mikhail on the other.

On Adler's side, he had Francis to his right who seemed to be confident about this whole thing as he sat there unbothered by the fact that his life was staked on the outcome of this meeting.

Clearing his throat, Eros sat up in his seat and met eyes with Adler.

"Well, let's just start this with me saying that the only deal I'll take is one where Francis ends up dead" Eros said and Francis' body went rigid as he heard the words.

"Now, now, no need to be so hasty" Adler said and he seemed to be ready to speak some more but Eros quickly cut him off.

"Hasty? I've been everything but that. Not only did your subordinate organize an attempt on my life but he also put three of my own in jeopardy. On top of the fact that he used a child to do his dirty work who, if I was a different kind of man, would have been killed for that" Eros' words were heavy and I could feel his hatred for Francis seeping through his voice.

I was amazed at how calm he was but then again, Eros' trademark was being cool, calm, and collected.

"Wait...he tried to kill you?" Adler shifted in his seat and looked at Eros intently, probably trying to sniff out a lie from him.

"Yes" Eros bluntly said. Adler glanced at Francis who was struggling to stay calm and then looked back to Eros.

"This is the first I'm hearing of this. What I was told was that your men were being less than reasonable during a dispute and attacked his men first" Adler said.

"I'd normally laugh at something as absurd as that but frankly I have no humor left for that piece of shit" Eros' tone was flat as the words left him.

"I typically don't believe in "he said, she said", is there some kind of proof of this?" Adler asked.

"Jamie" Eros called and Jamie took out a tablet. He placed it so that everyone at the table could see and to my surprise, it was the camera footage from the restaurant. I guess when Jamie and Mikhail went to retrieve Robert, they managed to nab it.

Francis' face drained of color more and more as the events from a few weeks ago played out in fine quality in front of everyone. After the video finished, Jamie took the tablet and sat back in his seat.

"So here's what's going to happen. Francis is coming with me where he'll be promptly killed for his actions. I will release his friend and family member and most importantly, you Mr. Adler, get to walk away without a war on your hands" Eros said.

Adler sighed and sat back in his seat.

"Why?" Adler said as he looked to Francis who now became frantic.

"Boss please! You have to understand, I was doing it for you!" Francis cried.

"For me? The only thing you've done for me is pissed off another head and now you have to pay for your actions. I hope you'll understand the weight of your decisions in your last moments" Adler said before standing up.

"Boss! Please!" Francis' pleas fell upon deaf ears as one of our men grabbed him. He struggled fiercely but he was weaker than them. Which he knew so when I saw him bite the man's arm harshly, my eyes widened a bit. Francis took the opportunity to break free and run to the door.

I was ready to dash after him but Eros grabbed my bicep.

"Like a wild dog" Mikhail sighed.

"We're not going after him?" Jamie asked and Eros shook his head.

"Harvey and the others are scattered all over the area. He won't make it more than a few feet from here" Eros said.

"I believe an apology is in order on behalf of that twit. I'm sorry for his actions, had I known his plans, I would have put a stop to them" Adler said. Eros smiled before patting him on the shoulder.

"It's alright, I'm more thankful that we all made it out unharmed" Eros said.

After that, we all headed outside and while Adler and his men left, we had to stay and wait for Harvey and the others.

"I'm surprised that went well" Mikhail said.

"Yes, it's such a relief. We won't have to go to sleep with sore bodies" Jamie said, clasping is hands together in thanks.

The others seemed relieved but I still had yet to let my guard down. That feeling in my gut was nagging at me, that something about all of this wasn't right.

Looking to my left, I saw Eros leaning against the van with his eyes closed but despite that, I could tell he was deep in thought about something.

"What are you thinking of?" I asked, taking a place next to him.

"That went too well..." he muttered and I was glad that I wasn't the only one suspicious of that.

"I know" I said.

Eros folded his arms and nodded but before he could say anything, the sound of gunshots rung in our ears and that feeling of dread had taken us all.