Chapter 6

Sotza went to ground while Vee spent the next few weeks desperately plotting ways to keep her city safe from him. She sensed him orchestrating her downfall, manoeuvering each player, each hub, playing a chess game with a foregone conclusion. He planned and executed like the ruler of an oppressed kingdom, as though born and bred to destabilize an entire regime without the worry of tarnish to his crown. Which was exactly what he was; born to be king.

Vee knew it was him stamping his presence all over her city, even if no one else actually saw The Butcher and lived to tell. Other gangs, cartel guys and wannabe kingpins working within Miami toppled as his men moved, cleaning house. They rarely touched Vee's holdings, except for the dockyard. It was whispered throughout the city, among Vee's rivals, that she and Sotza had set up a partnership. She knew better. The ruthless cartel boss was just saving her for last. Everyone else was the fucking main course. She was to be his dessert.

"We have to take the dockyard back; it's a key gateway between Miami and most foreign markets," Danny explained, a map of the dockyard spread between him and Vee. "The water isn't near as regulated as air and land."

Vee nodded in agreement. She knew all that. "Won't he expect retaliation? He'll know I'm coming for it."

"Maybe," he shrugged. "It's been a few weeks and security seems to have gotten lax. He probably thinks you're giving it up for now and focusing effort on tightening security on your other investments, yeah? Plus, he's concentrating on the Cubans at the moment. I'm telling you, boss, now is the time to strike. Tonight."

She nodded thoughtfully a slight frown creasing her brows. Sotza didn't seem like the type to let security go lax around a key point. He was not a stupid man by any stretch. So, what was he playing at? But, Danny was also correct. They needed to strike while Sotza was looking the opposite way. If they could somehow bring the Venezuelans to their knees she would stand a fighting chance.

"Okay," Vee agreed, nodding sharply. "We go in tonight. But we go in quiet, as little noise as possible. Take them out one at a time if we can, just in case this is some kind of trick to draw us in."

"Vee…" he started to say.

"I'm going," she snapped, cutting him off. "Non-negotiable. I'll meet you in a few hours. Have an entry plan ready for us and several exit plans in case anything happens. Bring as many guys as you think we'll need, but make sure they know how I want this going down. No mistakes, no casualties, you hear me?"

He nodded, his face set in grim lines as he turned away. She sighed and left him to let himself out, going to her room to see what she had for stealthy dockyard takeover wear. Though he balked, Danny understood that she needed to be present for business meetings and such. But he absolutely despised when she insisted on joining the men for combat situations. Too fucking bad, she was the boss. She refused to send her people into places and situations she wouldn't enter into herself. She may not be as combat ready as most of the men on her payroll, but she was fast, and she had a few tricks up her sleeve.