Page 27 of Down & Dirty: Rage

“Bullshit,” Rage muttered. “Know you don’t got any idea how an MC runs, but that ain’t it. Can’t just lay out the welcome mat. We do it for them, next thing you know we got other MCs tryin’ to take advantage.”

“And they fuckin’ took my boy,” Zeke reminded them.

“They could do so much worse to Ledger if you fuck with them. Or fuck with the Souls.” Vi didn’t hesitate to return that reminder. “Think carefully, cuz. This isn’t a bunch of losers like the Warriors, nomads without any roots. This is thegoddamnMafia.”

“No fuckin’ shit. That’s why we’re havin’ a sit down with you, Vi, and your crew. You should be able to handle it.”

Vi’s jaw dropped open. When it snapped shut, she said, “Not counting me or Scarlet, I only have five on my crew. Five. Against how many?”

“That’s why you?—”

Reaper cut Zeke off. “What if we start taking them down and make it look like it’s another family ordering hits on their organization? Like theBravtaor the AP.”

Zeke’s brow furrowed. “The what?”

“The Russian or Armenian Mafia,” Reaper patiently explained. “Plenty of other crime families exist that aren’t Italian or Sicilian. If we handle it right, we might be able to make it look like they want to take over Pittsburgh and are challenging the Russos for it. If we can get a war started between two large criminal organizations, it might solve a shitload of your issues without us having to get too far in the weeds.”

“Why would any of them be interested in Pittsburgh?” Ghost asked.

“They’re Steelers fans?” T-Bone joked.

Indie elbowed him. “None of this shit’s funny.”

“The other option would be to get the feds involved,” Reaper suggested.

“Fuck that,” both Zeke and Rage said at the same time.

“Figured you’d want to avoid that direction.” Reaper stared at the table for a few seconds, and when he finally lifted his head, he asked, “They’re buying their shit from a Mexican cartel, right?”

“Yeah,” Zeke answered. “Dunno if it’s the same as the one they dealt with in the past when the Demons were their mules.”

“Not sure if it’s possible, but if the cartel thinks the Russos are fucking them over somehow, that might cause a shitstorm that would at least weaken them. We want to get these assholes fighting another big organization, not us.”

Not us.That caught Rage’s attention. Reaper was making it sound like he was one of them.

“So, we have some options. Though, none of them are going to be simple or neat.”

“Like the idea about makin’ the Russos think another Mafia family’s tryin’ to take them out,” Rage told Reaper.

Grim agreed. “That might be the safest option.”

T-Bone grunted out a “Yeah.”

Vi looked over at Ghost. “Thoughts?”

“He got any?” Zeke huffed.

Ghost’s mouth twisted. “Sure. Think you’re a dick.”

Indie cackled. “That’s not an original thought. Everybody thinks that.”

“Just have to pick another crime family that isn’t too far away,” Reaper suggested. “One in Ohio. Or even Chicago.”

Rage was liking Reaper’s idea more and more by the minute. Cause chaos and let the crime families get theirhands dirty. Contain the death and destruction within the Russos’ orbit, not the DAMC’s.

It was the start of a plan, anyway. And much better than anything Rage or Zeke could come up with. They just need to figure out some of the smaller details. Important details so that this plan wouldn’t come back to kick them in the balls.

“Indie, do some research to see where the closest mob family is,” Zeke ordered.