Chapter 486


    King of the Underworld


    Adrik


    Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org.


    “We’re still working on the n, to bepletely honest. We have people watching Ricardo in Italy.


    We’ve also gotten word that Niko and Vito are nning oning back to the city. Since they’ve all


    been gone, the underbosses have stopped enforcing taxes. The people pushed back enough and the


    underbosses heard what happened to Lorenzo, Massimo, and Anthony. We think the cash flow is


    drying up, which is why they’re nning oning back to the city,” I said.


    “And what will happen when theye back? If you grab them, then it might mean you ruin your


    chance at getting Ricardo,” Trino said. His eyebrows were furrowed. He was thinking deeply on this


    matter.


    “That’s also what we think, which is why we haven’t made a solid n yet. We’ve been keeping tabs on


    Martin, but I think you know more about him than we do. Whatever we decide, it all needs to happen


    quickly. Martin can’t get word that Ricardo has been taken care of and vice versa,” I said.


    We ordered dinner and kept talking for several more hours. To her credit, Emilia actually had a few


    good ideas along the way. She didn’t seem intimidated by the subject of the conversation and the


    longer she spent with us, the more rxed she became. Even after finding out everything about us.


    Trino noticed. It was evident he fell a little more in love with her throughout the evening.


    “Watching Trine and Emilia makes me feel like I need to apologize to everyone. We really are di


    sgusting, “I told everyone silently.


    Sephieughed, making the others look at her. She took a page from Misha’s book and said,


    “remember when Trino used to beg me toe to Colombia to help him find a girlfriend? Turns out he


    needed toe here instead. Trino smiled broadly at her.


    “Nice save, princess.”


    After a few more minutes, the conversation turned back to the matter at hand. Stephen, who had been


    quiet for most of the evening, asked, “what are you thinking about the Mexicans once Martin is taken


    care of? Is that going to be enough to make them stop? There’s still the potential for war with them, I


    think.”


    “Once I’m back in power, they’ll heel if they know what’s good for them. The messages I sent when I


    took over are still fresh for most of them. They’re only doing this now because they have the backing of


    Sal and the other bosses. That’s the only reason they’re bold enough to move against me. They know


    Jefe supports me, so they know if they want to keep their lives, they’ll do the same,” Trino said.


    Stephen seemed satisfied with his answer, but both Sephie and I knew he was still mulling over


    something in his head. Misha, too. There was more to that question, but since he didn’t continue the


    conversation, I let it drop as well.


    “What about Dario? What happened to him?” Trino asked.


    “He’s still here. I’ve kept him well hidden. When I agreed to let him go, it was before most of this had


    happened. Sephie and Misha were the only ones that had any extra knowledge about people. We’re


    going to talk to him again to make sure we didn’t miss anything. As long as he checks out, he can still


    go free at the end of this,” I said.


    “You think he was lying?” Trino asked.


    “Not necessarily. But I want to make sure we didn’t miss anything. Now that we know what we’re


    dealing with on arger scale, the likelihood that he was lying is much higher. Demons are tricky. That’s


    why it took us so long to pick up on Armando. His demon was savvy enough that it knew to step back


    anytime he was around Sephie,” I said.


    “That’s why Armando appeared to be a mo ron, for the record. He had no recollection of anything that


    happened when his demon was running the


    show,” Ivan said.


    Trino inhaled deeply. “That makes so much more sense. I was really wondering how someone as


    wealthy as him could be that f**king st upid. Does Giana know about all this? I wonder if she ever saw


    the differences in him.”


    “If she did, we don’t know about it. He got her hooked on coke, so it’s possible she was just high as f**k


    for most of the time while she was with him,” Sephie said.


    Emilia turned to look at Trino, surprise evident on her face. She said something to Trino in Spanish; her


    tone was deadly. He raised his eyebrows, trying not tough at her as the rest of his group snickered.


    “She just told him she’d ki ll him if he ever did that to her, Sephie told us. “I picked up a few words and


    pieced it together. I have to say, I like her.”


    Trino responded in Spanish, pulling her closer to him. He was clearly trying to reassure her that he


    would never do such a thing. Trino enjoyed partying, but he was never known to partake in his own


    product. The most I’d ever seen him do was have drinks while he was at a club. I had a feeling even


    that would calm down if he stayed serious about Emilia.


    “Di sgusting.”Ivan said,ughing in his head.


    “In the most adorable way possible.” Sephie added. “Is it wrong that I find her threatening his life really


    endearing?”


    The rest of us couldn’t help butugh quietly. The others were beginning to suspect that there was


    some kind ofmunication they were missing out on. We might’ve left that part out when we told


    Tring everything. It was the only detail we kept back.


    We were still deep in discussion, even as it was approaching midnight. I was thankful for the extra


    sleep Sephie and I had gotten over the weekend. It wasing in handy now.


    “Gus, Oscar, what are the people in the city saying now? Do you know?” Sephie asked.


    “They’re happy the bosses are gone, from what we can tell,” Gus said, looking to Oscar to see if he


    agreed.


    Oscar nodded in agreement. “It got dicey with a few of the underbosses right after Sal left with the


    other two bosses. I’m sure that’s also a reason they stopped collecting taxes. One of them almost died


    because the people in that part of town came together and ambushed him and his guys. They’re much


    happier now that things are quiet.”


    “They know Jefe was the reason that the brawn operation got shu t down and they know he’s the


    reason the other bosses have run. They fully support him, from everything we’ve heard,” Gus said.


    “We’re close to handing over the doctor that created brawn to the police. The DA came across some


    evidence that clearly shows Sal paid him to create brawn in the first ce. He thinks he can prosecute


    him. There are a few other things that need to happen at the same time, but it will all benefit the people


    and make them happy with the mayor,” I said.


    “It’s important to keep the people happy. I relied heavily on them when I took over. I have a feeling I’ll


    rely heavily on them when I go back to take care of Martin.” Trino said.


    “You’ll have our help as well,” I said. Trino sighed. It was obvious the betrayal by Martin was still


    weighing heavily on him.


    “Don’t worry. Trino. It’s all going to work out eventually. It’s just going to be messy first,” Sephie said,


    grinning at him.