Page 100 of Beni

Neil didn’t have to be one of those people.

“Alone, if you wouldn’t mind,” Beni said.

Neil gave him a look over his shoulder, blank and yet still loaded. “If you have something to say to the boss, you can do it with me here. Since when have we ever allowed guys on the crew to have an all-access pass to the boss, huh?”

That told Beni a lot.

In just a few words, Neil had basically let Beni know that, in fact, he was not aware of Beni’s true purpose on this crew, and the reason why he was here. And if the man’s gaze was to be trusted, and that annoyance he found staring back at him, Neil was just a little bit jealous that Beni seemed to have free reign with Jerome here.

Huh.

He tucked that away for later.

“Boss?” Beni asked, not bothering with Neil. “Do you have a minute for me alone?”

He didn’t need to make a scene to get his point across with the asshole, and frankly … the Capo would always have the final say when it came to his guys.

“Step out,” Jerome said to Neil with a flick of his wrist. “And we’ll continue our discussion on your idea later.”

“And what idea was that?” he dared to ask after Neil had left, slamming the door behind him. “Because he doesn’t seem too happy to leave it hanging. Or hell, maybe it was just me.”

Jerome chuckled. “Easy, Beni. I like Neil … been looking after him and his brother since they were kids, you know? Friends with their deadbeat father, and all. Their ma is a good woman, but needs help every once in a while to get by.”

Interesting.

And yet, he didn’t care.

“What did you need?” Jerome asked.

“The incoming shipment of cocaine, actually.”

That got the man’s attention.

And fast, too.

“What about it?” Jerome cocked a thick brow, an underlying threat coating his words when he added quickly, “And just how the fuck do you know about it, anyway?”

Exactly.

“Have you considered that everything else might have just been a distraction, and the real problem is someone might be coming for that cocaine?”

“What?”

“Think about it,” Beni said, “a load of cocaine in the hands of a small, but organized, gang would do them … wonders. The money they could make? Insane. Now, imagine they have someone willing to help them out with getting what they need. Or maybe they made someone work with them, who is to say? Point is, when your attention is on everything else they’re doing, it’s very unlikely that it’s going to be on that cocaine. You know, where they don’t want your attention to be because they’re going to steal it right out from under you when you’re not looking.”

Jerome was quiet.

Beni waited him out.

“That’s … an interesting thought,” the man finally admitted. “But also not something we know to be true.”

“Except, it could be.”

“What do you suggest I do?”

“Move the shipment’s arrival location, and even the day, if possible. Tell no one but those who will have a direct hand in actually handling the cocaine. I don’t care if it’s another made man you drink with on the weekends, don’t tell anyone. Unless they have to handle the shipment in some way, then they don’t need to know all the details.”

“What then?”