The boys and I have been out all day, talking with families, calming their emotions all the while trying to find the Russo brothers before they find us. It has been a long fucking day, which went from bad to worse after Angelina called me again this morning. That makes twice now in a matter of days, demanding things that she has no business demanding of me, and I have barely had time to take a breath. As our car pulls up to another one of the shithole strip clubs in Queens, I crack my knuckles in anticipation. We may not find the Russo brothers, but I sure feel it in the air that we are close.

Carter and I step out of the car and our team follows closely behind, nodding at the two security guys out the front as we step into the dark seedy venue. Our eyes laser focus on everyone and everything around us, trying to assess if we’re walking into another shitshow. The music is loud and sultry, and the bar looks busy. It’s obviously one of Russo's more lucrative businesses, and I wonder if our money has been poured into this place instead of Allure.

To be honest, I don’t really care what business they put it into, we just want our money back. That was the deal.

We get the usual stares from people as we walk in. All of us together is a menacing sight and the patrons that frequent these places enough already know who we are. I don’t miss a few men as they skirt around us and out the door, sensing the trouble brewing and wanting no part in it.

I don’t blame them because I can feel it too.

I stand at the end of the bar with Carter, and together we canvass the room as our backup team also now enters and positions themselves around the perimeter, waiting for our command.

“Do you think they are here?” Carter asks me as our eyes track the movements of every asshole in this place.

“No,” I answer, my tone short, because while the Russo brothers are stupid, they are also sneaky and slip their way out of everything. They want our blood, but I know they are not yet ready to take it. After killing five of their most senior soldiers, they need time to reconnect, to plan and strategize their next move because they want it to be deadly.

That’s why we need to find them. We need to get them before they are prepared. We need to take them by surprise. It has already been a few days, and the longer it takes, the harder they will be to find and the more ammunition they will have against us.