The Enemy Beside Me

Chapter Three

Scar

"Shut the f**k up," I said as I smashed the gun into the side of this guy's head. "You're finished."

Being from a strong family, I've had to live up to that name. Many people didn't cross me once they knew who I was. So, for this guy to have gotten mixed up with me was the worst thing he could have done.

I pointed the gun at his head, and without so much as blinking, I fired the shot into his skull. His body fell backward as he hit the cement floor with a thud.

Once I was through making my point, my guy's hurled his body off while I went and got cleaned up. Killing wasn't something that bothered me. This is what I did for a living, and if anyone crossed me, I did what I had to do to make sure it didn't happen again. If I let one piece of s**t get away with it, all my enemies would see that as a weakness and use it against me. I wasn't going to let that happen.

As I exited the shower, I heard my phone ringing in my bedroom. I knew who it was before answering and considered not taking the call, but I wouldn't be who I was if I ignored it.

"What?"

"Oh, someone is in a bad mood," Lance laughed. "Ease up, would you? Meet me in an hour. One hour, Scar, no more. I know how you like to take your time, but we got business to take care of tonight. I assume that you took care of our other little problem."

Lance was someone that I partnered with once I got into this kind of business. We were practically cut from the same cloth, and he had what it took to make sure s**t got done right. If there was anyone to get in business with, it was him. While we argued more than we got along, I wouldn't have chosen anyone other than him. Lance made jobs hard sometimes, but he was loyal as they came.

"You know that I did. Where do you want to meet? The bar?"

"Yeah. That will work. I'll grab us a table in the VIP section so we can have a little privacy. See ya then, brother."

I got dressed in an all-black outfit, choosing my attire carefully. People may not know my face, but they damn sure knew my name. You would never catch me going anywhere without dressing the best. Intimidation was a hell of a tool when you worked in this line of business. If you didn't have the respect of the people around you, intimation was the second-best thing.

Milan had some of the best damn bars I've ever seen, but the bar we were going to tonight was chosen for a reason. Beautiful women were everywhere in Milan, but it was like they gravitated to this bar on the weekends. I didn't kill people for a living, but it came with the territory. So, whenever I had a job that involved taking someone out, all I wanted to do afterward was to bury my d**k between the legs of a beautiful woman.

It didn't take long to get to the bar, but I was a little late on purpose. Lance stood outside by his car when I pulled in alongside him. From the look on his face, I could tell that he wasn't happy about it.

"Are you ever on time for anything?"

He was the only one that could speak to me the way he did without retaliation. I let it slip because our loyalty to one another was far too important in our line of work to start s**t between us by making smartass comments.

"I'm here. That's what matters. Let's go in and get our table."

I desperately needed a stiff drink and a woman to sit on my lap to help my night get a little better.

The second that I got through the door, I scanned the room. Friday nights seemed to be one of their busiest nights, full of college students looking to relax and have fun.

As I scanned the room, my eyes locked onto one woman, in particular, sitting at the bar and conversing with the bartender. Even from this distance, I could tell how striking she was. Her hair was golden brown, which went well with her olive skin tone. Her dress did show off a lot of skin, but she made being sexy look effortless. Those long legs were one of the most attractive things about her. I had to adjust my pants, feeling my d**k begin to get excited. Whoever this woman was, she would make for good entertainment in my bedroom tonight.

Instead of approaching her right away, I let the thought linger in her mind if I would ever entertain a conversation with her. I talked to a group of guys for a little while before approaching her. When I did sneak in beside her, I could instantly tell that she was just as affected by me as I was by her.

The conversation she had about men was enough to make me want to talk to her. If I didn't do it now, I might never do it. As sexy as she was, I knew, either way, I wouldn't leave without a woman on my arm tonight. But knowing that she was looking for someone to occupy her bed tonight, just like myself, I couldn't pass up the opportunity.

Our conversation wasn't long, but it left enough behind that I knew she would crawl to me before the night was over. First, there was business to take care of, and business always came before a woman.

Lance and I walked into the VIP section. Once we sat down, my eyes averted to the woman at the bar. I was surprised to see that she wasn't looking at me but instead talking to another man. That made me want her more, but I'm sure she knew that.

"Scar, we have more important things to do right now than for you to be scouting for your next hookup. Business first, man."

He was right, but I couldn't stop thinking about that woman. I had to force my eyes away from her and focus on Lance. The sooner I got this conversation over, the sooner I could entertain this woman. "I hear you. What do we need to discuss?"

"Distribution," Lance stated flatly. "We've made progress, but the demand is high right now. We need to seriously think about hiring some help around the factory. I know that we have Hiram, but he's one guy. I think it's pretty obvious that we need someone else to help with the construction of the guns' layout."

My nostrils flared. I had easily more money than I knew what to do with. Hiring help wasn't the issue. The issue is finding someone trustworthy enough to be discreet. My business wasn't legal. Even though the cops in Milan looked the other way when it came to my business due to their fear of me, there were always bigger threats out there. If someone we hired tipped off the wrong competition, I would have a war on my hands. As much as that didn't scare me, it put my team in the line of fire, which is something that I would simply not do if I could avoid it.

I shook my head and downed another glass of whiskey. "Not going to happen. Hiram is more than capable of meeting demands all on his own. Do you have someone in mind that you trust enough to come in and not jeopardize our whole operation?"

"No, not off the top of my head, but we can find someone. I'm telling you, Scar, if we don't do something, our customers are going to go to another competitor, maybe even Diego, and his crew."

Instantly, my jaw tightened when I heard his name. "Bring up his name again, and I'm going to break your f*****g nose. He can go to hell for all I care. We have beat him at his own game for years, and we will continue to do it. If it makes you feel better, scout for people, but I want to speak with them before allowing them into our operation. Understood?"

Lance nodded. "Yeah. That works for me. Distribution was the only thing of concern at this time. Numbers are increasing, so I feel like we are in a good position to be the number one dealer by far."

I stood up and nodded. Lance knew that was my way of ending the conversation. My attention was needed elsewhere.

The woman that was at the bar was now on the dance floor, grinding against some boy who didn't compliment her one bit. I threw one look his way, and he backed off like the coward I knew he was. I quickly placed my arms on her hips, letting her sway her ass right against my groin.

"Oh, you're back. Interested now, huh?" She said with a cocky smile.

I liked this woman a lot. She may have found me intimidating but didn't let that get in the way of telling me how it was. Not many women have the backbone to do that in a city like Milan.

Carefully, I glided my hand along her flat stomach to her ass. Her ass was one of her greatest assets, and it popped in this dress. I squeezed just enough to rile her up, which seemed to work. "I don't think I ever said that I wasn't interested. I had some business to take care of first. Now you have my full attention."

She gulped but didn't show me that she had any submissive bone in her body. Usually, I would go for the easiest prey in a bar like this. The more submissive a woman was, the better the s*x was for me. It would probably prove to be a dumb move on my part to bring her back to my place, but I wanted to see what else this woman had.

She turned around, rested her hands on my chest, and stared into my eyes. Her eyes were brown but not flat at all. They have a life of their own and were utterly mesmerizing. "What makes you think that I'm even interested in you? Don't get me wrong, your hot, but you have an ego that isn't impressive. I've met men like you that think they have what it takes to please me but always fall short. I didn't come here tonight to find another man who left me alone in my bed, pleasing myself."

When she talked about pleasing herself, I got excited. From the look on her face, I could tell she could feel how hard I was and was impressed even though she wouldn't admit it. A woman like this didn't admit defeat so easily. She was a challenge, and I loved a good challenge.

I grabbed her hand and forced her deeper into the bar with me until we got to the bathrooms. We went into the men's bathroom, and I locked the door, ensuring no one else was inside.

"What do you think you're doing?"

I walked up to her, placing my chest against her beautiful pair of t**s. "I'm going to give you a test drive before you buy the product. Baby, I have a big ego because I know what the f**k I'm doing. I wouldn't normally do this, but since you have had a bad strain of men lately, I'll give you a taste of what I can do first before I take you back to my place."

In my line of work, I was used to testing out the product. My body and hers were no different from the guns I make for a living. As much as I wanted to skip this bullshit, I don't think I could wait to have her until I got her back to my place. There was no harm in a little taste before showing her what I was capable of.