Shattered Chaos (Steel Roses Book 1)

by Samantha Bee

  I know Brittany is single right now and I think we could get into some trouble with Mikey and Ronan. Hmm, that sounds like a good time.

  I must have gotten a glint in my eye thinking about it because she is grinning salaciously back at me, “You can count me in. Let’s say 9?”

  I agree as another customer walks in and stands back to look at the menu.

  “Did you need any other drinks?” she asks, glancing at the other customer and smiles a greeting.

  “Umm no,” I wave my coffee at her, “Why would I?”

  She balks at me, “Bitch, you have three drop dead gorgeous men at your place, and you ran away like you had the devil himself on your heels. To come and get coffee. For yourself. Just yourself?”

  “Oh,” I say, seeing her point, “that does make me a bit of a dick, doesn’t it?”

  She nods, barely managing to hold her laughter in.

  “Oh well,” I shrug as I wave as I let her get back to work.

  Why should I get those assholes coffee? They’re the ones spending the night and showing up all unannounced and shit. They should know better, as far as I’m concerned. No coffee for them.

  Hmm, well at least I know Saturday will be a good time. Something to look forward to if I can make it through this dreadful confrontation with Luca and the other two.

  Did he say something about a job tonight? I was in such a rush to put some distance between us that I wasn’t really paying attention. I wonder what kind of job. I’m not due back at the club until tomorrow, but he always could have just called me in.

  A job that demands a person to person conversation and one so urgent it led to him showing up unexpectedly at my place can only mean a few things. There’s a new pep in my step as I start to walk faster back to my place. These types of jobs just might be my favorite types.

  I love computers. I really do. There is something about losing yourself in code and finding the right sequence to sneak your way in and out of people’s private affairs that makes my blood rush. The fact that I know I am one of the best? Icing on the cake. I love being the best. Knowing few can match my skills. Makes my competitive little heart sing. So, trust me, I really do love my hacking and cyber jobs.

  There is just something… more… with in person jobs. The adrenaline rush of being caught, having to be smarter than my mark, be agile and quick, stealthy. Leave no trace of my presence and get what I need. Dispatching anyone who gets in the way of my goals. I have to use a much wider variety of skills that I’ve learned over the years. Determined to never be prey again, I relish in knowing I’ve become the predator. And a damn successful one, at that.

  I have no shame in admitting that I have gotten my hands dirty to get where I am now. I have even less shame admitting that a part of me thrives on the violence. Of the blood I’ve gotten on my hands. Of the havoc I’ve brought to these motherfuckers’ doorsteps.

  I pick up my pace as I hurry up the steps that lead to my condo, no longer dreading this conversation but looking forward to finding out what this job entails.

  I burst into my apartment to find the three guys I left lounging across my living. Britt was right when she said all three were drop dead gorgeous. Fuck, they make a pretty picture. Noah and a still shirtless Kade are both on the couch. Are those Kade’s feet in Noah’s lap? They’ve gotten comfortable with each other. Luca is on the love seat closer to Kade as they look at each other and I hear Kade tell him he likes “him”, and they should keep “him.”

  Are they talking about Noah?

  What the fuck?

  “I’m sorry, what?” I stammer out.

  Three heads swing in my direction as I close the door behind me. Kade jumps up and starts walking towards me, “You’re back,” he smiles widely at me.

  “Yeah, asshole,” I scoff at him, “Are you trying to poach off my roster?”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it, sweetheart,” he answers as he pulls me along with him before sitting and situating me in his lap before wrapping his arms around me and snuggling into my neck, whispering, “But I wouldn't be opposed to sharing you again, a little more intimately next time.”

  A shiver runs down my spine at the thought and his breath against my neck. I lean farther back and relax into his warm body feeling my core heat up again. Fuck. How am I almost ready to go again? Since when am I this insatiable? Especially with the same guy.

  I just hum in response as he continues to nuzzle into my neck, forgetting about him trying to steal Noah from me and my excitement over hearing the new job details.

  Luca coughing breaks me from the lustful haze, and I jerk upright and look around the room to remind myself of my company. Settling back against Kade, I sling my arm over his shoulder as I look back to Luca. I’m surprised by the amused glint in his eyes when I meet them.

  “So, you have a job for me?” I ask, getting us back on track. Now that I’m thinking about it, I can't quite hold in my eagerness to hear the details. I lean closer to Luca waiting for him to fill me in. I’m practically vibrating with my excitement; I have a feeling this is going to be a big one. I don’t realize I’m bouncing up and down in my seat, which just so happens to be Kade’s lap, until he places his hands on my hips to hold me in place.

  “You’re killing me, Ladybug,” he growls.

  Luca and Noah just chuckle. I don’t miss the subtle look Luca gives Noah before looking back at me and raising a brow. I roll my eyes and gesticulate for him to get on with it already.

  I know that we should be careful when discussing these kinds of things, we should really wait for Noah to leave, but I just don’t have the patience. Sue me. I want to know as much as I can with him here and I know damn well Luca is capable of giving me the gist of what the job is in front of Noah without him being able to figure out what we are talking about.

  This is why we have codes. Obviously. So, I don’t have to wait.

  Kade starts nuzzling into my neck again, biting my ear before whispering, “So damn blood thirsty.”

  I just grin and wait for Luca to get to it.

  He sighs, “It’s a big job coming in. I need you to observe some new dancers, see what type of training they’ve had.”

  Oh fuck, yes. This is my favorite thing to do. Dancers means we are dealing with victims of sex trafficking. A big job coming in means that it’s a big player in the trafficking world but new to this area. So, they haven’t had a lot of time to set up their local operation yet. Being a big player should mean they have experience but anytime you’re setting up a new location, it takes you a bit to run through all the kinks. Reliable staff. Knowing your space and building. Knowing the local players.

  I start rubbing my hands together, they have no idea what they’ve gotten themselves into coming here. The fact that Luca said observe and training means that he wants me to do recon first. Get to know their operations so we can do more than just rescue the girls but also dismantle their operations.

  I wonder if we can get our hands on the top boss. We’ve dismantled plenty of local operations and some sex rings, but we haven’t managed to get all the way up there, yet. Cutting them off at the knees gives me some satisfaction but I need to start lopping off some heads of this beast.

  “Do you know how many girls I should prepare for?” I ask him casually, still playing off that this conversation is just about training some new dancers.

  He shakes his head, “We aren’t positive yet. Less than ten but more than three. I have a meeting tomorrow to learn more.”

  I have my little ah ha moment. That’s why he showed up at my house. They’re due into town tomorrow and I need as much time as possible to set up and prepare to do some recon. Their location should be secure if they have any common sense, but the security should be minimal until the girls show up. Probably an old warehouse somewhere in the outskirts of the business district. That’s usually where these dumb asses set up.

  I should be able to go in and scout the area and start to get my maps of this place laid out.

&n
bsp; I hum to myself running through the plans of what I need to do before they arrive. “Does the agent know if any of the potential dancers have trained with any of the schools we’ve worked with before?”

  I tilt my head to study him as I ask my question. I want to know if they are using a warehouse that I’ve scouted before, but our code is rather loose and up for interpretation. It makes it flow more naturally in conversation, less obvious as code and makes it harder to break if anyone does figure out our words have a different meaning. Sometimes it can be a bit more ambiguous like that last question. He could take it in a few ways but I’m hoping he realizes since he already acknowledged it’s a player, we haven’t had any contact with before he knows I’m referring to the location as being a repeat.

  I know he understood when the grin spreads across his face, “Yes, actually one of your favorite schools.”

  Oh fuck. These guys really have no fucking clue what they have gotten themselves into. They definitely did not do their research before coming here because otherwise they would know better than to choose that particular location. I think the count is up to four times I’ve raided this location to wreck different operations. It’s become such a hotspot for criminal activity I installed my own surveillance equipment to make my life easier.

  The building is an abandoned Sheriff station from before the town really grew and that side of town was all but forgotten. The building is relatively small for its intended purpose. It's a two-level building built into the cliff facing the docks, the second level is on the ground floor and is where the old sheriff and deputies’ offices were located. The first floor built into the cliff has two small holding cells, two other rooms that were once used for interviews directly across from the cells and an extra closet at the back of the building.

  The already available cells, location to the docks and multiple entrances is what makes it so appealing to those working in the human trafficking industry. And let’s face it, as a criminal there’s a certain sense of satisfaction of carrying on your nefarious dealings in a building that was once meant for the very people who work to stop you.

  Luca and I have talked about shutting down the building and putting an end to its use, but let's be honest, they would just find another building. Instead, we decided to deck this shit out to make it easier to save more girls and take out more of the bastards involved.

  Luca and Kade are laughing and Noah looks confused, I know I must be grinning maniacally but fuck, I just can’t help it. I’m positively giddy. I can’t wait to check the camera feeds I have set up for there. I might be able to even overhear some information about the ringleader of this specific operation. I’m about ten seconds away from rubbing my hands together and letting an evil cackle loose.

  Chapter Seven

  After the guys all left and I was able to shower and get dressed more appropriately for what I planned to do tonight, I was finally able to access my feeds and start getting the information I would need.

  I’ve been watching these three guys secure and set up the building when I notice Luca staring down at me. I slowly slide my headphones off my head and around my neck as I look up at him, “Hey, sorry I didn’t hear you.”

  He just nods but it’s Kade’s voice that answers from somewhere behind me, “We know. We’ve been here for at least twenty minutes,” he explains as he walks out of my kitchen and over to where I’m sitting. He’s holding a jar of peanut butter in his hands and eating straight from it with a spoon. Fucking savage.

  I don’t have the energy to bitch him out, so I settle for rolling my eyes. I glance down at the pages of notes I’ve taken based on what I had heard from the three stooges before looking back up at Luca and wincing. Once I get into the zone of working, I tend to stop noticing the things that are going on around me. It’s one thing that Luca cannot stand about me and takes every opportunity to bitch me out about it.

  He says that I leave myself defenseless when I let my senses go that much and I’m just asking to be attacked. He also always uses it as another reason to berate me for my choice in where I live.

  I love my condo though. I don’t feel like I need a mansion in the hills or a high security penthouse or even just my own house. I live by myself. I don’t need a lot of space. I love my neighborhood. I have the sweetest neighbors and it’s a quiet place to live but is still close to downtown and the bay. What more could you ask for?

  Well according to Luca, a fucking armed guard to escort me from my door to my car. Cue eye roll, please. His entire lecture is as expected and with a few cringes and twice as many eye rolls, we finally make it through to the end of it. I still refuse to move.

  Shocker, I know.

  Finally, I’m able to share with them what I’ve learned so far and question Luca on any more information he may have gotten. Surprisingly enough, It’s Kade who clicks in another piece of the puzzle for me.

  Big operations like the one I’m supposedly dealing with shouldn’t be moving this fast. They became big in the underground for a reason. You don’t grow an empire by making hasty decisions. Trust me, that's something Luca and I are both intimately familiar with, it took us years to build what we have. You don’t start a base in a new unfamiliar location and move in inventory two days later.

  Yes, referring to humans as inventory disgusts me too but this is how this shit goes. That’s how these bastards see this and if I want to end them, I have to think like them sometimes.

  So why is this supposedly huge and well-known empire making hasty moves? Well, Kade, that beautiful face of his is apparently not the only thing worthwhile, explains to us how their last base in Reno was raided and shut down by a vigilante group that’s been hunting them down. A few guards were able to escape with just a couple of girls. Apparently, there were some casualties amongst the vigilante group as well. It’s a shame, I always hate hearing about that.

  I know civilians shouldn’t go into a situation they are unprepared and untrained for but let's be real here, someone has to do it and the resources of the government just aren’t cutting it. Especially when so many of them can be bought or are involved themselves.

  There are other groups like our own that have taken up the job for themselves. Almost everyone I have ever met has a personal reason for getting involved in something so dangerous. Many people jump into it without training or preparing for the world they are stepping into, and because of that, many of them die. It’s why Luca and I built our empire first.

  We invested most of my trust fund and inheritance that I received on my eighteenth birthday into building our empires and preparing ourselves for this world. We have been training since I was attacked a couple days after my birthday, in martial arts, self-defense, weapons, hacking, breaking and entering, stealth and recon. Everything we could think of that would help us save as many people as we could. Kill as many of these monsters as I could.

  We have spent thousands of hours studying everything we could about how these operations work. The big players, biggest cities where trafficking occurs, how they move the victims, how auctions work, who the biggest buyers are. All the while Luca was the face for our empire, slowly building up into one of the most recognizable figures in the underworld.

  We say Luca is my boss but really, I am his silent partner. We don’t want my name or my face out there. No one needs to know the part I play. To the world I am just a dancer and a bartender at his favorite club. Luca did it to protect me. Ever since I first met him, he has wanted to protect me. I did it for the freedom it gives me. I go on these jobs and can move more freely without risk of being recognized. Luca has to stay away from these jobs or risk his position at the top of the food chain.

  He has his finger in many pots, slavery is the only criminal industry he won’t touch but he has been very careful not to broadcast that. He occasionally buys at auctions to keep up the pretense and be able to mine for information but it's the least effective way for us to save someone, so we only have him do that occasionally. It takes a huge to
ll on him when he has to be a part of it, but we get invaluable information from it while also protecting him. I am just as protective over Luca as he is of me. For a long time, we were all the other had. Just the two of us against a world that would have once given me nightmares.

  We grew by mostly dealing in information, primarily thanks to me. When we first decided to do this and started our training, I dedicated myself to learning everything I could about code. School had always come easy for me, learning had never been a challenge, but I never had the drive to push myself as far as I could until after my life changed.

  As soon as I started, I learned everything I could until I knew I was one of the best. Still, I study new techniques and other hackers’ signatures. Forever hungry to learn more about anything that can benefit us. We may not be good people, but we are a far cry from evil.

  Someone has to be the top dog and I want it to be us. Information is truly the best thing to deal in. It’s something everyone needs and is willing to pay for. We don’t have to worry about someone raiding our warehouse. It’s hard to infringe on our market because it's hard to find someone to match my skills let alone my determination or loyalty.

  At the height of our empire, it’s almost impossible to succeed in the criminal world without Luca’s support. He is the last person you want to cross because just about every big player owes him a favor and most of them owe him more than one. The fights he puts on are the place to be, where moves are made, deals are sealed, partnerships formed, all under the watchful eye of Luca and his men.

  Being the in between behind so many deals and partnerships affords Luca access to even more information. He often knows when the big players are going to make a move almost immediately after they decide to. He’s aware of the small dealings because they go to him in order to grow successfully. Almost no moves are made without us becoming aware of it.

  “So, who is it that we are dealing with?” I ask Luca. He hadn’t risked saying a name in front of Noah earlier and I haven't had a chance to ask. It’s not that I don't trust Noah. He’s too good to have any footholds in our world. He most likely wouldn’t even recognize the significance of the name had we talked about it in front of him. It’s still better to never reveal your cards.