“These pictures say differently,” Emmet objected, tossing the pictures at him. They slapped against him before falling to the ground around him. They were pictures of kids; some had him in them, others were the kids dressed and posed in ways no kid should be.
“Those aren’t mine!” he blurted out with a bewildered look on his face.
Ezra snorted behind me. “Can we just kill him already?. Wilma wants some action.” He stepped closer to me with his custom steel mallet he had personalized in hand.
Marvin’s, the guy tied to the chair, eyes widened.
“You thought you hid your kiddie porn, and to an amateur you did, but unfortunately for you, my brother isn’t an amateur,” Ezra boasted, causing Emmet to grunt.
Marvin’s eyes slowly lifted from the pictures on the ground and he swallowed heavily. “Look, I beat those charges. They didn’t have enough evidence on me. Those pictures are photoshopped.”
Glancing over my shoulder at Ezra, I nodded, giving him the go ahead. He grinned and light filled his eyes. He swaggered over to Marvin, whose eyes bulged larger.
“Wait, wait-ah!” he cried when Ezra sent Wilma slamming into his kneecap. The crack of his bones filled my ears faintly, his screams drowning it out. Ezra hit him in the other kneecap, making sure to put extra force in it.
“Please,” Marvin sputtered, with tears and snot running down his face. “I won’t look at another kid, please.”
Disgust filled me. “Your promises mean nothing to the kids you’ve already hurt,” River said, sending his fist across Marvin’s face. He and Ezra got off on this type of thing. For the next twenty minutes I let them work Marvin over as they pleased. River and Ezra took turns, throwing punches his way.
Marvin coughed out blood and his head sagged more. I went into the small of my back for my gun. While I got a thrill out of killing, torture wasn’t really my thing. I preferred to get the job over with and move on. People like Marvin, however, didn’t deserve easy deaths though. People like him were special cases that got handled accordingly.
Marvin, and many others who the justice system failed, were the reasons me and my family did what we did. While we got hired for some jobs, the ones like tonight I preferred. Taking out trash like Marvin would always be my guilty pleasure.
____
A smile formed on my face as I stared out of the two-way mirror, looking down into the strip club floor. The rush of last night’s kill still had me on a high. Business was booming, which wasn’t shocking. Since I’d opened The District it’d been a cash cow that only continued growing in revenue. It was two clubs in one. The bottom level was a nightclub always maxed to capacity and the top half was a strip club, Euphoria, that employed only the baddest fantasies a man could want. Anyone who came to The District knew it was a high-class establishment that was strict when it came to dress code and conduct. People couldn’t walk through the doors wearing everyday street clothes. My girls were all vetted and knew to keep their hair, nails, and clothes up to par always or they wouldn’t step foot on the floor. Same with my waitstaff. People waited in line for hours to get into The District for a reason, it was a high class experience.
I brought the glass of liquor to my mouth and watched as Majesty worked the pole. All the girls who worked for me made good money, but Majesty was one who made more than others each night. She dropped down into a split and made her ass cheeks clap. Bills flew on the stage.
Taking my eyes off the glass, I shifted them to the screens on the wall. They gave a visual of the bottom half of the club and different angles of the strip club.
The District was my first big investment. It was a way to show my dad I was able to make money and be in control of my own shit without him. While he wanted me to have a profession that benefitted the family, more like my brothers, I chose a different path. Being in charge was something I was built for, but I wasn’t meant to be in the courtroom or behind a desk all day. The District was my way to rebel against the plan he had for me and show him I determined my own future.
Happy with what I saw, I turned and faced the men on the other side of my desk. My brothers and River were all seated around me. River smoked a blunt, nodding at whatever Ezra was saying to him.
“Did Monty give you any trouble?” I asked as I walked to my desk, sitting down and setting my glass down. My eyes settled on River. I had sent him after Monty, a low-level criminal, after he ran up a large tab at the club then dipped out on us without paying. He thought he would get away with crossing me, but he should have known no one crossed a Tavarez and got away with it. When it came to certain jobs, River had no problem getting his hands dirty.
“I did.” He smirked, stretching out on the couch.
“And?” I raised a brow.
“And we handled it,” Ezra jumped in. “Let’s just say, Monty’s hand gon’ be in a cast for a few weeks and your money is handled.” He nodded toward the briefcase River brought in with him.
Lucas snorted and shook his head. We all knew that meant Ezra had used Wilma on Monty’s hand. Whenever he needed to teach someone a lesson, Wilma came into play.
“Crazy fucker,” River mumbled. “The situation is handled. And we got the money he skipped out on, plus interest.”
Ezra smirked while Emmet laughed quietly not looking up from his Rubik Cube. Most people thought they were twins, but they were eleven months apart. The two had some screws loose too, that often came in handy. “As long as it’s taken care of.” I waved them off.
I focused on River. “How’s your end looking?”
River would be my head enforcer when I took over. He would make sure security surrounding me and my family was tight. With my dad being who he was, he couldn’t have built his name in the justice system without having enemies too. While we all hated having the extra people, we knew it was necessary in our line of work. We never knew when our enemies would attack. We listened as River went over the last couple of guys he had hired. He also handled security at my club so I never had to worry about major issues going on when I wasn’t around.
The meeting wrapped up and everyone left except River.
“I heard your dad’s on your ass about a wife again.” He smirked and relit his blunt, blowing smoke out and leaning forward.
Sighing, I loosened the tie around my neck and leaned back. “It’s a pain in the ass, but he isn’t budging on it.”
