Me and Michael stepped out of our dodge challenger, taking in the fresh early morning air. It was a beautiful morning in St. Louis. Nothing like a blindingly bright sun to get the juices flowing. I had spent almost the entire night putting things in place and this was the result. Us standing in front of a nondescript, small house isolated behind some trees. It was a way's off from other civilization, smack in the middle of a forest-like area, complete with large trees and unkept underbrush. The house seemed almost as out of place as our car, a makeshift path led up to it, smack in the middle of nature's mercy.

I idly wondered if Michael would have to be shooting bears instead of humans today, the thought bringing out a chuckle that I masked into a cough. Michael looked at me quizzically sideways. Unlike me, he had gone to sleep right after the meeting last night (or well early morning). He seemed as ready as always, attired in the usual white polo with black jeans this time around, on full alert.

I shook my head, indicating it was nothing. We started down the path to the house, doing a brief look-around to make sure there wasn't a sniper pointed at us out of view. Yea, this was the type of guy you had to actually check for these types of things.

I sighed, preparing to knock on the door. We had gotten to the door without any confrontation, not a good sign. Just as I was about to make contact with the door, it swung open and I found myself staring down the barrel of a gun. I had looked death in the eyes so much, I barely even flinched.

"Jonah. It's me, Vito." I offered, not exactly raising my hands in surrender but taking on a reasoning tone.

Jonah scoffed. "That makes me want to pull the trigger more, fucker." He said, cocking the gun.

"Stop with the shit, Jonah!" Michael commanded, pulling out his own firearm and angling it at him.

I sighed heavily. "Jonah, we come in peace. We want to discuss something very important."

"Funny, because last time I saw you I told you if you enter my sights again I'll kill you." Jonah said slowly, pausing to motion at the gun with a chuckle before adding, "and you're very much in my sights right now."

"Are you really still holding a grudge? It was just a girl Jonah, you pass forty more on a walk downtown." I replied, genuinely concerned with this guy's priorities.

Jonah had been a childhood friend of ours, coming up through the same school as us we had gotten pretty close. We especially meshed well because he came from a mercenary family, making us relate a bit to each other. That had all amounted to shit however, when a girl he was talking to in the 11th grade, decided Vito Colt was a better "fit" than him. I mean, who could blame her? And I was a hormonal teen, of course I wasn't going to reject her advances. Now, even as the chief adminstrative officer's personal mercenary/bodyguard it seemed to still linger on his mind to this day.

"Just a girl? She was a once in a lifetime beauty, Vito. And you stole her, worked some magic on her even though you had so many other choices." He ranted on, waving his gun as he did. I half expected it to go off with all of the movement.

"What do you want me to say, Jonah? Sorry a girl years ago wanted me and not you?" 

He growled, clearly not liking the wording. He pressed the cold metal into my skull. Michael was starting to get real antsy to our left, likely ready to blow his head off. Shit was getting hectic.

"Jonah. I come with information on a threat to your boss. Put your personal feelings to the side and listen to what I have to say."

This gave him pause. If there was one thing that outweighed even his clearly messed up priorities, it was loyalty. The man was loyal to a fault. The type of loyal person you can send on a suicide mission with no real purpose and he'd go, tail wagging.

"Why should I believe that?" Jonah asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

"Do you think we would walk right up to your front door if we wanted to kill you, dude?" Michael interjected, still pointing the gun at him.

"He has a point." I offered.

Jonah gave one last hard press into my skull then turned, heading back inside of the house with the door hanging open. We followed, Michael muttering under his breath. Probably about sickos who lived in the woods I assumed. As we walked in I noticed this particular sicko was loaded.

Hanging on the walls as we moved toward some lounging chairs in the middle of the house were guns. Not guns, guns. So many, the wall just looked like a tree covered with hornet's nests, and not just pistols. No, I even spotted some assault rifles and a goddamn sniper. I guess he was trying to out-do John Wick.

"Holy shit." Michael exclaimed, looking around at the collection. "Bro, you oughta let me take that Barrett M82 for a spin!

Jonah laughed. Signs of the old fun loving Jonah. Maybe all wasn't lost. "You would be more of a threat to yourself than anyone with that baby." He remarked.

Michael huffed. "I doubt that."

We reached the set of chairs in a circle and Jonah sat on the biggest one, leaning back comfortably. Even next to the goddamn chair he had 2 guns propped up on either side, probably an intimidation tactic although we had to walk through walls of them to even get here. 

Michael sighed contentedly as we sat down. "Just like old times, eh? The trio back together."

Jonah smiled faintly, eyes glazed over as he seemed to be remembering old times, better times. "Seems so."

I coughed, reminiscing on the past was all well and good but right now, I had goals to put in motion. "Let's get down to business."

"Ruining the moment as always." Jonah said, shaking his head. "Go on, what was so important you risked becoming apart of my head collection?"

I briefly imagined my head hung up on his wall, surrounded by some rare firearms. Not that bad of a resting place, if I do say so myself. "Your boss' safety is being threatened by a... dangerous source."

Jonah stared at me blankly, as if waiting for more. "That's it? Vito, I don't think you understand how many threats Chief gets, he probably gets more than the mayor himself."

I smiled. "This one is gonna be a bit of a problem. Trust me. I need a meeting with him by the end of the day."

Jonah scoffed. "Listen, dude. Chief is a busy man, he's not gonna meet up with anyone, especially someone of your reputation --with such little warning."

I sighed. I didn't plan to let the cat out of the bag this early but It seemed I had no choice. "Well, why don't you tell him it's the fucking mayor that wants his head? See if he feels the need to meet up with someone of my reputation then."

Jonah paused, eyes searching my face. "Are you shitting me?"

"He's not." Michael chimed in, having been studying the guns until now.

Jonah shook his head, getting up and heading into his very small kitchen area. The kitchen consisted of a counter and some overhead cabinets (which I half expected to be stocked with more guns), a stove and oven in one and the smallest sink I've ever seen. Jonah reached into one of the cabinets and I mentally prepared myself for him to pull out a dart gun. Instead, he withdrew some sort of canned beer, still shaking his head in disbelief.

He took a big gulp of the beverage before turning back to us and leaning over the counter. "Fuck. He found out about the info Chief has on him?"

"I'm not allowed to disclose that information." I answered in a monotone tone.

Jonah briefly scanned the cabinets. Something told me it wasn't a beer he would be getting this time. "You mean to tell me you're not on our side? Yet you're asking for a meeting with Chief and while in my house?"

"That's the very reason I'm asking for the meeting. I'm intending to see what is the right side of this squabble."

"And the right side for you is the most beneficial and not the side of good I'm assuming?" He shot back, downing the rest of the beer.

I shook my head, tapping my finger on the side of the chair armrest. "The side of good, Jonah?" I got up, walking toward him slowly and stopping a bit in front of the counter he leaned on. Michael didn't stand but he leaned forward, ready to jump into action if need be. "You had a gun to my face because of a girl from years ago. You kill people on orders that might not even be the true reasons. You have a fucking wall of guns and they aren't just for show. The side of good, Jonah? That does not exist in this aspect. Your boss is planning on blackmailing his boss and you speak to me about the side of good?"

Jonah stood up straight. "You don't even know what the blackmail is about. That Carol deserves worse than what's coming to him." He replied defensively.

I nodded. "Which is the reason for the meeting and the importance of it. I want to find out what it is that's making the mayor act so drastically."

"So be it. I'll inform him and give you his response when it comes." Jonah responded. "However, you of all people should understand --it takes bad to rid the world of bad. It's just how the cookie crumbles." 

I didn't reply, instead motioning to Michael it was time to get out of this shithole. He wasn't wrong of course, but what if the bad didn't always want to be bad? 

"You know where to find us." Michael said as he followed me through the door.

The ball was now in the chief administrative officer's court. 

It didn't take long for word to get back to us. I was in the middle of a poker game on the casino floor, when an employee came with word of someone matching Jonah's description waiting in the lobby. Hair done up in a man bun with a goatee and a "distasteful" (employee's words not mine) bright green button up shirt with short jeans? Yea, that's the guy. 

I had him sent up to my office ahead of me, opting to finish the game first. It wasn't just my competitive nature that kept me at the table. I recognized the mayor's cunning, he was a smart man. Him having people in the casino at all times keeping an eye on me wasn't farfetched at all.

After winning the round I excused myself and headed up the elevators. Time to see how this was gonna go.

I walked down the hallway to see Jonah outside my office doors, the guy was clearly growing impatient judging by his folded arms and glare at my approach. 

"How kind of you to bless me with your presence, your majesty." He mockingly said, even adding in a slight bow.

"You're welcome." I replied as I opened the doors and led him inside.

"Look at you, huh. Big 'ol office now. I bet this is where you take the women you steal." He commented, looking around.

"Judging by your house and the lack of female interest, I'd say you more fit the description of a kidnapper." I fired back, satisfied with the defeated grunt he emitted. I took my place behind the desk, retrieving vodka with two glasses from a secret department that I will not be disclosing the location of. Safety measures and all.

I looked at Jonah expectantly as I filled the glasses. "Well?"

Jonah cleared his throat, trying to play off the staring he had been doing at the vodka just moments earlier. Not exactly the canned beers he seemed to be accustomed to after all. "Chief has agreed to meet with you at 3PM sharp." He began. I didn't need to check a watch to know that was roughly two hours from now. I always checked the time as I entered a room, making mental notes over the day, pretty helpful stuff if your dream job might be a mafia leader. "He hopes you guys can co-operate and bring down this great evil."

I nodded, letting out a mental sigh of relief. Both good and bad news. Good because I could see how beneficial playing for the self proclaimed good guys would be, and the bad? I had feinted the urgency for the meeting. Sure, I had the proper meeting with the mayor tomorrow but I would've been totally ok with doing both meetings the same day. I called for it to be done on such short notice in order to see just how desperate the Chief was and it seemed, getting me on his side and perhaps getting rid of the mayor --was high on his priorities. Him being desperate was not a good sign for many reasons.

"Well." Jonah said as I passed him the glass of expensive liquor. "Looks like we got two hours to catch up." 

I was a bit surprised at the change since earlier today, but then again that's just how Jonah was. I downed my glass and stood. "Name your favorite card game and that'll be the game you lose money in."

Jonah smirked, downing his own glass. "You're on!"

After an unhealthy hour plus of losing, Jonah sat brooding next to me in the backseat of a Rolls-Royce Phantom. I know, not exactly discreet when you don't want too many eyes watching you, having even taken a back exit but Jonah had insisted on riding the luxury car and I figured cheering him up a bit couldn't hurt. Maybe the fact I was also four figures richer -- thanks to him, helped the decision but whose keeping count?

We finally arrived at what could only be described as a mansion. Being a mayor puppet seemed to pay well. The house stretched for about 4 stories, surrounded by a wall that ended at a gate that swung open for us, inviting us in. The chief had seemed sure that the mayor would not be able to spy on the mansion and I didn't have much choice but to take his word for it.

The driver, a long time veteran of the gang and my father's former right hand man, William parked the car next to a fountain in the driveway, perfect position for a quick escape if needed. Michael had wanted to tag along but I instructed him to stay put. Michael lingering around the casino could throw any mayor-appointed spies off my trail after all.

I exited the vehicle, nodding respectfully at William. I quite liked the guy, his loyalty could never be questioned and he was brave enough to challenge my opinion if he thought it was the wrong way to go about something. I suspected he was fond of me in his own way too.

"Be careful!" William called out as Jonah and I were led into the building by a basic looking guard.

We were led up some massive stairs, passing so many rooms I would've run out of fingers had I tried to count each on them. Finally we stopped at the end of a hallway in front of some big double doors. The muscular man motioned for us to head inside and left. A man who didn't bring his security into a meeting was a man I could respect. The presence of Jonah probably eased his mind, him being on his payroll and all but I still gave him props for the gesture.

We entered the huge room, much like my own office --it was spacious but unlike mine, hosted a lot of windows and paintings on the walls. A man stood behind a desk, he had a hard face and wore a simple suit with his dark brown eyes complementing his rich, dark skin. He extended his hand and I shook it. A firm grip, always a good sign.

"Welcome to my humble abode, I'm glad you made it here safely." The man said, gesturing to a seat that Jonah pulled up a bit behind me.

The house was anything but humble but I thanked him with a respectful nod nonetheless. "I thank you for meeting on such short notice, I understand that could not have been easy, Mr.-"

"Please, call me Grayson. We're all friends here after all." He said, making a wide sweeping gesture to include Jonah sitting further back at a window. "And taking down Carol is of high priority to me, personally. I assume you want something out of all of this."

I held up a finger. "I'd like to be updated on the information you have on the mayor, first."

Grayson nodded. "I almost forgot you hadn't seen it yet." He went into a compartment under his desk, combing through what sounded like a large amount of papers. He finally reached what he was searching for and shook his head in disgust as he opened a folder. 

I mentally prepared myself as he handed the folder to me. I had seen brains on the floor, watched men get tortured and even saw my parents' bodies after being riddled with bullets. This couldn't be that bad right? I opened the folder.

Boy was I wrong.