King's Reign (Sydney Storm MC #6)(3)

Last night we’d cut a path through Melbourne, making it very fucking clear Romano no longer held any power in that city. Blood had been spilt. Fuck, for some, it had flowed. But in the end, I’d made every last motherfucker understand that Storm now ran Melbourne. And they’d spread that news around today. I’d taken a lot of fucking calls when we’d arrived back late this afternoon. We’d stepped on a lot of toes, pissed a lot of people off. I couldn’t have cared less. I’d already told Winter to pack his bags and prepare to move to Melbourne. He’d be heading up our operation down there. I’d never been interested in that city; now I’d take it over.

A knock sounded at the door, and Axe stepped inside. His gaze landed on the whisky in front of me, and he frowned. “You okay, brother?”

“Yeah. What’s up?”

He moved further into the office, a look of concern on his face. “Just got word from my guy. He’s been able to confirm that Romano is working with the feds. They turned him.”

I threw some more whisky down my throat. “And his location?”

Axe shook his head. “Still nothing on that.”

I motioned my hand at him. “Get him on the phone.”

“No.”

I worked my jaw, unable to calm my rising irritation. “Axe, get him on the fucking phone.”

His eyes turned hard. “What, so you can fuck this up? I let you talk to him, we won’t have a contact in the feds anymore.”

“Fuck,” I roared, slamming the bottle down. Standing, I met him where he stood, my body tense with determination. “You’ve got skills I don’t, brother, but right now, we don’t have time to fuck around waiting for you to work this guy. It’s time for me to have a word with him.”

Deadlocked, we wasted a minute while Axe got to the realisation I wouldn’t let this go. He could be a stubborn motherfucker sometimes.

“Jesus, Zac,” he muttered, smacking his phone into my hand. “Try not to screw this up for me. I’ve used this guy for a few years now, and he knows his shit. I don’t want to lose him.”

His use of my name lightened my mood. I lifted a brow. “You only use that name when you want something.”

“I want you to tread carefully. You think you’ve got that in you? ’Cause I sure as fuck don’t.”

“No.” He was right—I didn’t have that in me. Scrolling through his phone, I said, “What’s his name?”

He rattled off the name and I dialled the guy. While I waited for him to answer, I looked at Axe. “The time for restraint has passed, brother. We’re not taking any fucking prisoners anymore.”

He scrubbed a hand over his face and turned away from me. He hadn’t been this pissed off with me for a long time, but I couldn’t bring myself to give a fuck. This wasn’t anything new for us. He’d come around.

His guy answered my call, “Axe, man, it’s late.”

“Johnny, it’s Zachary King, Axe’s brother. We need to have a talk about Tony Romano.”

Silence for a beat. “No, we don’t. I only talk to Axe.”

I gripped the phone harder, willing my impatience to take a back seat. “Not tonight you don’t. Tonight you tell me everything you know about what the fuck Romano’s doing with your friends.”

The stillness on the other end of the phone was deafening and maddening, causing my agitation to flare. “Okay, let me put this another way, Johnny. You give me what I want or I’ll come at you in ways you won’t like.”

Axe swore under his breath, pacing the office. His angry eyes met mine, but I ignored what I saw there.

I just fucking need to know where Romano is.

“Your brother there with you?” Johnny asked, his own anger bleeding through the phone.

“Yeah, but for the record, he’s not down with this request.” I could be a good brother sometimes.

“Put him on.”

“How about you listen to me, Johnny? You give me the information I want, and then you can talk to Axe for hours if that’s what you want.”

“I’ve heard a lot of shit about you, and now I’ve had the pleasure of this conversation, I’m guessing all of it was right,” he gritted out. “I’ve told Axe everything I know. They’ve got this investigation locked down tight like I’ve never seen before. Whatever shit Romano knows, it’s big.”

“I’m giving you twenty-four hours to find his location. That’s all I need at this point.”

“Fuck. It’s gonna take me longer than that. They don’t muck around when they’ve got someone in witness protection.”

I decided to take a new tack. “Here’s what we’re gonna do. You speed this up, get me that information by this time tomorrow, I’ll leave you alone and throw in ten grand in cash.”

He blew out a long breath. “Forty-eight hours.”

I balled my fist. I did not want to wait another day, but I knew the truth in what he said. It could well take him that long. “The cash offer is only good until tomorrow. Hurry this the hell up.”

I ended the call and shoved Axe’s phone back at him. “Where’s Zane?”

“In the bar as far as I know.”

I stalked out there and found both him and Griff. They were going over something on Zane’s laptop. I pulled up a seat at their table. “I’ve got a job for you two. Romano’s in protection. You think you can track him down within the next twenty-four hours?”