"Episode 3 - Working for the Billionaire."

I had ten million in my bank account.

FUCK.

It had been two weeks since I was recruited to be his head of security. Mason Capone didn't want to hire anymore, he needed his trusted men around him. Trust could be earned by money and I was just about to hire my fiftieth one.

"Your job is to protect the Capone family, himself, his mother and his daughter. If need be, his extended family. Pay is twice as what you'd get for usual security jobs and you can gather why." The twenty-eight-year-old man sat across from my desk, smiled with an evil glint in his eyes. 

I flipped through the beige paper folder, pretending to read something over. I'd already memorised hundreds of them, picked out the ones perfect for the jobs.

Crooked ex-cops or military personnel were my number one choice. Second choices were thugs with the hunger for money and would do anything for it. No one honourable would protect a mafia with their life.

I knew deep down if it came down to him and me, I'd shoot him myself.

Jamie Vergas from the second category. He just got out of prison and moved to Miami for a fresh start but with his rap sheet, everyone turned him down and hence, he was here.

"You'd have to undergo training." Jamie was convicted for attempted murder and he was only eighteen when he went into the slammer and did ten years for that. He might be rusty with his skills.

"You know I can't carry a gun right."

I lifted one side of my lips. "Capone has judges in his pockets, don't worry about the paper works." If Jamie agreed to the job, I'd be speaking one of them myself to get permits for a couple of them.

"So, when do I start boss?"

I stretched and yawned, grateful that the hiring aspect of the job was over. There were fifty-five folders stacked right in front of me and I knew I had to repeat everything to Capone. A new company was on base at the Capone mansion, just outside the city. They weren't being relieved until I presented the perfect security team for him.

Hence, the I was graced with a killer view of Manhattan from the Upper East side. Leaning back in my chair I watched the sun slowly set in the far West behind the tall buildings. 

The high rise of the hotel and thick glass wall blocked out the rush hour traffic from down below. I used to be one of those pedestrians, walking quickly on the sidewalks. Wondering who the fuck lived up here.

I do now.

Capone appointed this suite for me in one of his over priced hotel. Why? He knew I would kill without question and he needed someone like me on his team considering everyone around him was trying to kill him.

With his brother dead, he was quickly losing power in Chicago so he left and settled in New York. Another city with strong business ties. I stood, pocketed both of my hands in my Armani suit. 

When I became a SEAL, I wanted to belong and didn't care about the money. I just wanted to get off the streets and Navy was the best choice for me.

It gave me a roof over my head, brothers for life and PTSD. I scoffed.

It also took something away from me too. My humanity. We pulled the trigger when we were told and after a while the open eyed dead bodies stayed with you.

Sighing, I turned around and loosened my blue tie. The suite had an open planning and I rearranged the décor so the mahogany table from the study was brought out here in the main room and the brown leather sofas were pushed up in front of the TV. 

The elegant crystal chandelier clashed with the grungy content of my taste but I didn't care.

My phone vibrated in my pocket and Joel's name lit up my screen. Swiping to the right, I answered while I made my way to the grey granite and marble covered kitchen, just behind the blurred glass from my desk.

"Joel." I greeted him curtly.

"Can't believe you're running his security." Joel was a good man and laughter from two kids floated through the phone.

"Good money." I poured myself some coffee and took a swig. "How's the kids?" I inquired.

"Devilish as ever." The laughter seemed far away and I heard a click of the door. "Family good here in Miami. Rachel was over ecstatic to hear you finally landed a stable job. I didn't tell her it's for a mob boss though." His dry laugh spoke volumes.

"I know but I don't care anymore." I put pressure on my bad knee and felt the difference from the left.

"It's different back home isn't it." It really was. I sighed and wondered why he called. I knew he wasn't pissed that I took this job, after all, his paid more.

"Just be careful with them. They are made of old money and they have a lot of enemies." I knew that already. Read the file of how his brother was killed and Leo Zanetti literally drove the Capones out of the city.

"We've fought worst monsters for the greater good for my country and I want that debt repaid." The bitter taste in my mouth still remained from the rehab days.

 I met so many homeless soldiers who just needed some help and soldiers who took their lives because they were just pawns in a bigger game, that I lost faith in my country.

"I know. When you get time, come by to visit the family brother. The girls would love to see you." I respected his wife Rachel and the kids were adorable little blondies, just like their mother. She stuck by Joel's tantrums and the covert missions. Not every wife was like her.

"I'd love to." I lied.

"Take care bother. Watch your six." I smirk and cut the call.

I didn't need the reminder of my lack of family and I was finally comfortable with where I was.

"Why isn't there any other pictures of you huh?" I was talking to the personnel folder in front of me. I'd surfed the internet and the dark web but there was no other picture of Elena Capone other than the one in my hand.

The perk of living in a hotel was room service but I didn't want any of their small portioned bland over priced food. I wanted some damn cartoned sweet and sour chicken with friend rice and braised pork with noodles.

And that's exactly what I ordered the room service boy when he came up. He got his tip of the month and I got my food. The dark brown silk sheets on my bed felt foreign to a soldier who was used to sleeping on grounds with a rock for a pillow. I turned the page and read her report with chopsticks in one hand and carton in the other.

The sweet tangy taste exploded in my mouth when my eyes caught something. When I first read it, I looked over the detail but it stuck out like a sore thumb.

There was no visual evidence of her existence before her ninth birthday. Putting the carton on the coffee table I pulled closer to the bed, I spread out all three images on the bed.

A beautiful brunette stared at me with sad chocolate brown eyes. She was too tanned to look like Capones daughter but the women on the middle picture reassured my doubt. 

Capone was sat on an over sized chair, a woman with similar tanned skin and chestnut brown hair stood behind him with a long blue dress.

Little Elena stood in front of her, eyes so terrified that it made me wonder about what she was so afraid of. She was too short and skinny to be a nine year old but that's what it said in my folder. My eyes finally landed on the first picture. 

It was an image of her smiling while holding onto Daniella. It made sense somehow. Capone didn't need images of his family to get out because it could make them a target.

I used the tips of my fingers to rub my face with exhaustion. I'd memorised the blueprint of the Capone mansion and everything else I needed to start my job. 

We all started out jobs next week and until then everyone was going to get trained on hand to hand combat and target practice. Twenty of the bodyguard would remain on the premise and then we'd start rotating for night shifts.

The fucker -my boss- had decided to throw a part in two weeks. He invited everyone from the failed meeting apart from the Russian. Maybe it was his way to seek out the traitor before welcoming new business partners but I knew one thing for sure.

I shouldn't underestimate him. 

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