"Holy shit."

In the folder I held, it had a paragraph on the left, explaining what the situation was and stuff along those lines, but what really caught my attention and caused my dumbfounded reaction was the picture.

Carol with a big, hungry smile on his face held a clearly underage girl in a... position. They were both naked and the girl seemed to fear for her life, judging by her face being contorted in a shriek, her anguish forever frozen in motion on the page. As if that wasn't enough she was bleeding, profusely. I didn't need to read the fine print to understand what I was seeing. Not only was the mayor preying on an underage girl without consent, it seemed those were the last moments she was allowed to live. Him cleaning up any loose ends I could only assume.

"Exactly." Grayson commented, no doubt reading the disgust on my face. "He's been doing this for who knows how long, we barely managed to luck across some of these photos in a.." He paused, leaning in closer as if he was telling a secret, "not so legal expedition."

I was still digesting what I had seen and was half listening. I could understand murderers, they might feel threatened or might feel the need to showcase dominance in some way. I could understand robbers, they needed to make a living, even if they were already high status and wealthy, greed doesn't discriminate. But, a man with such a high status, who could easily get female attention based on who he is, preying and killing underage women. Absolutely mind boggling.

I handed him back the folder. "That does make thing's a bit clearer."

He give an understanding nod. "You understand now why he's trying so hard to silence me. Such evil doesn't deserve to continue living. We must avenge these helpless girls." He said in a passionate tone.

A woman dressed in full maid attire suddenly walked in. She carried a tray with Whiskey and three glasses, which she set down on Grayson's table and retraced her steps after a quick bow.

I grunted my agreement while taking the now full glass Grayson offered me. Not my usual cup of tea but it'd do.

"Now.." Grayson started after taking a large gulp of the substance, "I figure Carol is gonna offer you some significant wealth, so I won't assume you'll take on this risk for free." He pulled out a notepad and flipped to a blank page. "Put a 7 figure price here and I'll see what I can do."

So, the Chief was indeed that desperate. I wasn't interested in being paid off like some above average hitmen, however. "I'll pass."

"Pardon me?" Grayson had an incredulous look on his face that would've looked perfect in an advertisement. 'Money doesn't fix all problems' with that shocked face representing the majority of the population discovering this. Elite stuff. "You're going to help us out of... goodwill?"

The way he spat out the last word showed exactly what everyone thought of me. Vito doesn't do things that he doesn't benefit from in some way. Even Grayson in our first meeting seemed to be up to speed with this belief. Now, was that true? Hell yes. Didn't mean I had to like it though.

I smiled. "No. I am merely not interested in monetary gain."

Grayson seemed to be replaying the words in his head, what else would I want? "Power." He said, finally, something seeming to have clicked.

"Indeed. I wish to be involved in your campaign and your party should you win in the elections." I responded, swirling the glass with a wide smile.

Grayson sat straight up suddenly. "Ho-"

"How do I know you're planning to run for mayor?" I interrupted, swirling the whisky around the glass before I finished it off. "It was an educated guess until now. I did some research the same night the Mayor surprise visited me, you see." I briefly thought back to the long, sleepless night. Not a fond memory but it was proving it's worth. "You have the backing of a lot of individuals who stick to the shadows, waiting to suck up to whoever fills the role. Should a certain someone disappear, of course. Then, you just admitted you got that information by illegal action. You didn't happen to find that laying around, no. You were digging for dirt and found a whole shit pile."

I decided to change my wording from a pot of gold. That pot of gold involved some deaths that even I hesitated to mention, much less hint at some benefit.

Grayson had been quiet throughout my speech of sorts and now just shook his head. He motioned at Jonah as if to say 'Get a load of this guy'. Jonah, more accustomed to my extensive planning was more passively impressed but humored his boss with a shrug.

Grayson turned back to me, chuckling a bit. "Well, I would not want to be on the other end of someone such as you. My mother always said an overthinker is an overachiever."

"I take it that means you accept the terms?"

"I do." He extended his hand and I took it. Sealed with the firm handshake.

I woke up to the comfort of a familiar roof. That's right, I had actually gotten some sleep. Four hours after the appropriate planning for all scenarios, but some sleep nonetheless. After I had gotten home from the meeting with Grayson, Michael and Reyna wasted no time in demanding an update. I summarized the discussion as quickly as I could, which really ended up being two hours with the frequent interruptions (mostly from Reyna).

Reyna, as expected, was especially disturbed by the mayor's mischief and all of a sudden, she was fully on board with fighting a powerful opponent. Problem solved, right? Nope. Just opened the door to even more planning as I planned to fool the mayor at the meeting today, making it seem as if I was on his side. Which meant I had to be very, very convincing. Owens wasn't far from my mind either, another problem that might need a bit of multitasking so, as you can see there was still a lot of work to be done.

After going through the morning's motions I opted for a walk. I would never admit it but I was getting a bit overwhelmed. I waved off the usual muscle and Michael who I normally wouldn't be seen walking around in public without. Peace and quiet was what I was after right now, not a lion prowling through his territory.

I headed to a nearby park, figuring I was less likely to be the target of an attempted assassination from my lengthy list of enemies, some I probably didn't even know about.

I was so deep in thought, mind wandering to Owens again that I didn't see a small figure until we had collided, the impact sending the figure to the concrete sidewalk with a loud thump.

I jumped out of my daze, awkwardly bending over to offer the person my hand. It had been my fault after all, no need to put on the I'm Vito Colt charm. The figure wore a hoodie and a cap obscuring their face, jeans led to some expensive looking sneakers. I was starting to deduce this might actually be a girl from the curves I happened to observe when suddenly, my hand was pulled down. The figure used my downward momentum to drive my body into the pavement right beside her.

She rolled on top of me, digging into her bag quickly and pulling out some object that escaped my view. Her movement was so fluid I barely had time to react, much less turn the tables. Ah, fuck. Is this where it all ends? Assassinated by some random woman who lucked into me? I almost welcomed the end, closing my eyes and waiting for the sound of a gunshot. The gunshot that I had initiated and been on the winning side of so much throughout my life, would now be the thing to cut that same life short. You live by the gun, you die by it as they say.

Ten awkward seconds passed and I pried my eyes open, expecting to be staring death in the face. Instead, I was staring pepper spray in the face. The sheer madness of it all dawned on me. So many times I didn't flinch when a gun was pulled on me but now, here I lay, bested by a female armed with pepper spray.

The woman put it closer to my face, threateningly. "Back off, creep. I'm armed."

I tried saying I couldn't exactly back off with her on top of me but I just couldn't help it. I laughed. And that seemed to open the floodgates because I simply couldn't stop. I imagined the scene for the spectators looking on. Their mighty neighborhood mafia boss, with a female on top ready to execute him with pepper spray. Needless to say, this only made me laugh harder.

The female clearly didn't seem to appreciate what she assumed was underestimation because the fucker give my already watery eyes an irritated spray. I went from uncontrollably laughing to almost crying in pain. No, my eyes watering after being pepper sprayed doesn't count as crying people.

That's how my brother found me. Some of the citizens were loyal to us since I (but mostly Reyna) sometimes helped out some communities. I figured that's one of the people who tipped off my brother and he came speeding as it wasn't far off from the casino. The sight waiting for him was something I'm sure he would've never dreamt of.

I lay, thrashing on the ground trying to snuff out the inflammation in my watering eyes while the female now stood above me, looking triumphant. Some of the onlookers even clapped, celebrating the rare humiliation of a Colt. The thought of a mass massacre in front of the park crossed my mind --wouldn't be laughing then eh? Instead, I continued to writhe in excruciating pain until it finally clicked for my staring brother to help me. I felt myself being lifted in the backseat of a car and a confrontation between my brother and the woman, then all turned black.

For the second time again today, I woke up to the familiar roof, but unlike before when I welcomed the sight, it now brought panic. I shot up into a seated position. My clothes had been changed (you guessed it, another full suit attire!) and my eyes felt like they had been underwater for too long. Nonetheless, most of the pain had diminished and I could see pretty clearly again. I immediately looked down at my watch with a silent curse to the creator of pepper spray. 4PM it read, meaning I had exactly one hour until my meeting with the mayor.

I sighed in relief, giving myself a once over in the mirror to make sure my hazel eyes were still --well hazel and not demon red. No such luck on the red-eyes front.

I walked down the hallway to the meeting room, half expecting to see the woman tied up and awaiting me to return the pepper spray favor.

No, it isn't hitting women technically.

My expectations seemed too high, however. Instead, I was greeted with the sight of my brother at the end of the table, seeming to have drunk a lot of vodka by his slumped posture, if the large empty bottle wasn't enough of an indication which also indicated it was MY vodka. Further up the table, my sister was playing some sort of card game with the female while they both smiled and giggled. 

I shit you not.

"Where was my invitation to the party?" I asked as I stepped in, jumping Michael out of his stupor.

The females both looked at me like I was an unwelcome creature, ruining their fun.

"I thought you were gonna sleep all day." Reyna said, looking back at her stack of cards.

"Well, that would've been your friend over here's fault. Whom I don't recall apologizing now that I think about it." I replied, looking at the woman expectantly.

"I don't remember you apologizing for bumping into me first, either." She shot back, a defiant glint in her eyes.

I decided not to bring up the fact that I was actually mid apology when I was pepper sprayed. The time for my apology had passed. "I don't remember you getting assaulted with pepper spray, either."

"Man up."

I think I felt my eyes twitch. I looked at Michael, expecting to see him ready to shoot her but instead, my brother was looking at me with a sly smirk and I noticed my sister was mirroring his expression. These fuckers think being pepper sprayed and arguing about it after is flirting. Did I mention my family was a bit weird?

"How do you know this woman?" I asked my sister, ignoring her look.

"She's a regular at the casino." Reyna answered, still eyeing me. "In fact, she's the daughter of our vodka supplier."

The woman seemed to blush at this, looking a bit embarrassed to be introduced as the daughter of a successful father. I could certainly relate to that. It suddenly clicked for me that her cap and hood from the hoodie was off. The woman could certainly be called pretty. Her light blue eyes reminded me of the ocean and her blonde hair had black streaks through it in an alluring design. She reminded me of the singer Billie Eillish, someone whose looks I was fond of.

"I see." I glanced down at my watch, then turned my attention back to the woman. "Seems we got off on the wrong foot. What's your name?"

"Selena." She replied evenly.

"Vito." I said with a nod. I motioned to Michael who seemed to be sobering up, "Well if you'll excuse us ladies, we have some business to attend to."

After a few grunts of acknowledgement from the ladies --who seemed eager to get back to their game, Michael and I headed out and made our way to the elevators down the hall.

"So.. you got your eyes on that chick?" Michael asked as we entered the elevator.

"If by that chick, you mean the mayor --then yes. All of my focus is on catching that chick." I responded, quickly clicking the garage floor button and hoping it would be faster than usual.

"You know that's not what I meant."

"I think you're drunk."

Michael shrugged, the smirk still plastered on his face but he dropped it, opting to make sure his pistol was still tucked under his shirt.

"Look at us hunting child predators, if only mom could see us now." Michael remarked with a whistle as we walked across the garage.

I stopped in front of our McLaren. "I bet she's smiling down on us." I replied softly.

We got into the car without another word, each surfing through our own thoughts. With a sigh I started up the car, glancing at the now lit up dashboard.

Time to get our heads in the game.