The Joy of Revenge

CHAPTER 170 Exploit Noah Inside the limousine, | found Lorenzo leaning comfortably against the dark leather seats of the vehicle, toying with a crystal glass filled with scotch. | noticed his blank stare and the circular movements of his hand and quickly assumed he was deep in thought.

New He was probably thinking of ways to negotiate a deal with Liam. For the past ten years, Salem supplied all the crystal meth distributed throughout the Central States, earning over a hundred million dollars annually. It was a business Dofa Veronica Ortiz wanted to keep, but because of Cynthia's untimely death, her control over New Salem’s drug laboratory and pharmacy was now compromised.

| watched Lorenzo take a sip of his drink. | eyed the amber liquid warily and debated whether | should warn him against ingesting anything from the minibar. Pete was the one who commissioned the limousine and it wasn’t beneath him to lace all its food and drinks with poison.

As the limousine accelerated towards the airport's gates, images of the Consigliere suddenly choking and gasping for air, his blood dripping down his face from the sides of his eyes, nostrils and mouth suddenly flooded my psyche. | pictured him beggingto help him, his eyes filled with confusion and fear. | imagined him grabbing my arms with his blood stained hands, his body convulsing horribly until he finally collapsed at my feet.

A shiver ran down my spine. It was a thrill imagining the old man succumbing to such a gruesdeath.

If only my imagination could beca reality.

If Lorenzo were to die here and now, Veronica would be left with no choice, but to leave the comfort of her Texan home, fly to North Dakota on her world-class private jet, have her men bring Pete's tortured body to her, and kill him using the signature Ortiz M.O., leaving two positions vacant in the aftermath.

| would never becConsigliere since that position was reserved for an Ortiz blood relative. But because | was Pete's second in command, | would surely becCapo Ba stone, the underboss of the West North Central States.. the very rank and title I've been gunning for.

If only Pete would die...

1/5 11:37 Sat, Apr6 M CHAPTER 170 Exploit | would then be known as Capo B astone Nestor Villegas. | let out an annoyed sigh as the nplayed in my head. | detested my Spanish name. It just didn’t suit me.

But Capo Ba stone Noah Jensen, now that had a nice ring to it.

The corner of my lips curved upward in a pleased smile as | imagined myself as underboss. My word would be law and | would have control over “Judging by that smile on your face, | trust you've dealt with Pedro,” Lorenzo suddenly said, interruptingfrom my thoughts. | looked out the window and noticed we had already exited the airport. | coughed to wipe the smile off my face, berating myself for allowing my thoughts to register on my face.

“Yes, | have, Consigliere,” | replied nonchalantly. “He is no longer a problem for us.” “Are you sure?” He asked doubtfully. I glanced at him, my brow furrowed.

I'm sure. He'll do everything we tell him to do in order to win back our trust,” | assured him. “Consigliere, if | may speak freely?” | waited for him to nod his head before continuing. “If you have your doubts about Pedro, all you have to do is ask Dofia Ortiz to give you a green light. Simply explain to her that it is in everyone's best interest if we, uhm, do away with Pedro. Without him in the-picture, we no longer have to deal with such tedious complications.” | crossed my fingers, hoping he would agree with me, however, to my utter dismay, he shook his head.

“It does not need to cto that, Nestor. Pedro, after all, is family,” he said before tak another sip of scotch.

“My concern, as of the moment, is his hostility towardsfor se him to Chicago. After seeing the injuries he sustained, | do understand his thirst to aven himself, but as, | am a high ranking member of this organization, it is forbidden, However, is common knowledge that just like his father, Pedro lacks self-control, | fear he may act rashly and put a gun to my head.” “I understand your concern, Consigliere. What do you needto do?” “I need you to lock him in his room from the outside... when I sleep. For my protection,” Lorenzo instructed.

“Once | fix these problems here in North Dakota and all goes back to the way they once were, Pedro will forget | ever sent him to Chicago.” “As you wish, Consigliere. If you want, I'll ask sof the Colonel’s men to keep watch outside your room,” | suggested, looking out through the limousine’s window We were 2/5 11:37 Sat, Apr 6 CHAPTER 170 Exploit speeding along the highway behind Pete's car.

“I would like that, Nestor,” he agreed, obviously pleased at my suggestion. He raised his glass to his lips and downed the contents of his glass, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket. “Rest assured, after | have dealt with this Mayor Cohen, I will deal with Pedro myself.” | turned my head to look at him and was surprised to see him grinning so... wickedly. “You just said a moment ago you don’t want to have him killed. So how are you going to deal with him?” | asked. He chuckled.

“Nestor, I'm not going to kill him. | need him for business,” he replied, amused. “You see, Pedro has a gift, a certain talent, and | plan to exploit his so-called gift.” His words felt like a knife had pierced my heart. | had a sinking feeling Lorenzo was planning to reopen his sex trafficking den and Pete... well, Pete was skilled in the art of abduction.

Was this the reason why Pete and Cris were planning to abduct Virtue? | silently prayed for side. Lorenzo to collapse and die on the spot, but G od wasn’t on my “What do you mean, Consigliere?” | asked, playing dumb, hoping he would be willing to elaborate and clarify, but instead | was met with a stern glance.

“You are on a need to know basis, Capo Nestor,” he answered, placing an emphasis on the word capo. “Whatever business | have with Pedro is between the both of us. Know your place.” | quickly turned my head away and scowled. As usual, | was casted aside due to rank.

Just like Pete, Lorenzo waved his title in my face, as a constant reminder that | was bene them. As a capo, | had no choice, but to obey.

However, there was one thing the Consigliere didn’t know. | plan to take Pete's position. Pete was a stup id, petulant man-child and the organization, | believed, deserved someone better.

I've been patient. | have allowed Pete to play gangster in that little basement of his, knowing full well when his mother died, he would instantly lose the respect everyone gave him.

| kept my distance and worked in the shadows allowing Pete to believe that | rarely meddled in his affairs.

Contrary to his beliefs, | manipulated each situation to my benefit.

| was the one who sent Cris the invite to the club frequented by Ariana De Vega. | know th3(5 11:37 Sat, Apr 6 CHAPTER 170 Exploit wouldn't be able to resist and | was right in my assumptions. They abducted her, tortured her and raped her. In the organization, everyone in the family was off-limits, unless sanctioned by Dofia Ortiz, so Pete, the idiot that he was, found himself in a tight spot once he touched Ariana.

De Vega's retaliation was expected and the manner by which Cynthia met her death did not disappoint.

Yet, both De Vega and his niece denied ever killing Cynthia. All | could surmise was it had to be Liam, but | was wrong, it wasn’t him either. I, then, suspected Theodore since | knew firsthand that he was one slick mo therf ucker. With Cynthia out of the way, he and Liam could inherit the empire. Theodore Cohen was a well respected associate of the organization and with the right amount of flair, it was quite possible for him to negotiate a deal with Veronica.

However, Theodore died, leaving New Salem at the mercy of Liam Cohen. In just one week, Liam killed all of Pete’s loyal drug runners at the OI’ Barn, orchestrated a massacre in the hopes of covering up the disappearance of the Martins, and with Pete out of New Salem, he negotiated for a bigger distribution price while increasing his profit percentage.

It wasn’t panning out the way we wanted and Doha Ortiz wasn’t too thrilled to discover her cut had becso much smaller than before.

I ran my hand through my hair in frustration. Even with all the bugs | planted inside Cohen Mansion, | was clueless. It’s either the Cohens had found my bugs or they knew someon listening and watching.

| asked Sarah to cause a scene during Theodore’s wake to test the efficiency of the liste devices | had placed around the first floor. I was able to receive a recording, but not muc after. All | got was static.

Liam probably had a jammer. It was the only logical explanation. The listening devices | ha placed in every house in New Salem including the laboratory were all working except for those in Cohen Mansion, Virtue’s store, Dom's, Bo’s, the Sheriff's station, the pub, and the stores on Main street.

Initially, | wondered if Dom, Bo and Chip were working with Liam, but when Jack mentioned they had installed a jammer to block listening devices near the precinct, all my suspicions disappeared. | had offered to renovate OI" Man Eugene’s farmhouse in an effort to bug the place, but Bo said they liked how rustic the place was.

Anyway they were newcomers and weren't my concern. All their business operations were 4/5 11:37 Sat, Apr 6 CHAPTER 170 Exploit legit and they never once caused a problem for me.

Since | had bugged probably every household and almost every establishment in New Salem, | was privy to every secret, including Liam's secret meeting with the women who advocated for women’s rights. | heard him advise the women that a rally against Ford would give them media mileage across the country. | found it strange for Liam to propose such a thing given his relationship with the Martins as well as the organization itself, until | heard his conversation with that rat named Demon. Then it all made sense.

Liam will be shocked to find the Colonel is on my side. The Colonel was a former classmate and long tfriend of my father’s. During the summer, my father and | would go camping with the Colonel. The first summer | met the Colonel was the summer | found out who my father really was.

Pete was unaware | had undergone training and he believedto be useless with a gun or a knife. | allowed him to believe | was just a redneck hi ck only good with a hammer and saw. It was my purpose to overthrow him without him even suspecting.

| felt the limousine slow down and heaved a sigh of relief. We were finally at the mansion Pete had procured for Lorenzo.

| needed Lorenzo and Pete in their designated bedrooms, out of my way, so | could prepare.

Ctomorrow, | will becCapo Ba stone Noah Jensen.

Chapter Comments Tara Castelli POST | love this book so much. Do you think we can get a couple of chapters on updates instead of just 1. | rather wait a week for a couple to a few chapters. If possible pleas...

Tara Castelli it’s says it was updated but I’m not getting the next chapter VIEW ALL 2 COMMENTS >