Chapter 15: Chapter 15: The New Empire

CADEN

We slowly walk out of the bedroom and head down the stairs and outside. My girl walks over the bodies like it’s an everyday occurrence. After we head outside, we’re starting to load up when we hear vehicles coming down the driveway.

Our men stop them at gunpoint. Everyone raises their hands, and the driver puts it in park. I start to walk over as Eva pushes past me, stomping toward the driver.

“Who the fuck are you, and how many are there?”

“My name is Jesus. We work for Ortiz, and there’s about fifty of us all together. A guard sent out a text for backup but I’m assuming we are late.”

“That’s right, you’re late! I took care of Ortiz myself!

“Since you keep looking at me and what I’m holding, I’m sure you can see that I have his gun, and his blood is on me. Don’t believe me, send someone up to the second-floor bedroom. You’ll find his body there.”

He motions over to his passenger who slowly gets out with his hands up and is taken by Vinny and Tank to verify what I’m saying.

This dominating personality in Eva has got to be those Romano genes. I have to keep adjusting myself because, damn it, she’s fucking sexy when she’s pissed.

Minutes later, the men slowly emerge and the passenger gives a nod to Jesus. He walks over and climbs back in the van. He looks down and nods again, verifying Ortiz is in fact dead, and what Eva said is true.

“So now that you have verified it, you all now work for us. We own his fucking empire. Caden and I now rule as king and queen! Is that understood?”

Everyone quickly nods their heads and starts making phone calls. When Jesus gets off the phone, he turns to us.

“My king and queen, Ortiz’s lawyer, Leo, will meet us at your mansion with all of the info you need—properties, shipments, and what everyone’s duties are.”

“Perfect! Since we will probably be restructuring, I will need your teams to also report to my mansion with all of my teams to secure the properties.”

“Yes, my king and queen.”

We hear all the engines roar to life as they head out. Eva and I walk over to our SUV with Tank as Vinny heads to his.

“Hey, you kids, we will chat later, since we will have business to discuss. Go get your boy!”

We both smile as we head out to the safe houses. Tank starts driving while Eva and I sit in the backseat. I pull out my phone and immediately call Frankie. It rings one time, and then he picks up and I put him on speaker.

Frankie says, “Boss man, tell me you got good news!”

“I got my queen, and we are headed to the safe house.”

“You fucking got her? Are you fucking serious? Don’t fuck with me, Caden!”

“Yes, I got her!”

“Did you get Ortiz?”

“Yep! I put a bullet in his head!” Eva says.

“What the fuck, Eva! You shot him?”

“Yep! If you can have wet towels and some clothes for us to change in when we get there... I have blood on me, and I want to get it off before I see Nate.”

“You got it!”

I hang up the phone, look over at Eva, and think how hot she is right now. I grab the back of her neck and pull her toward me while I crash my lips onto hers.

I caress her lower lip with my tongue, and she parts them so I can dive in my tongue, exploring every inch of her mouth. I pull back so I can rest my forehead against hers. ~My~ goddess, ~my~ queen, and soon to be ~my~ wife!

When we pull up to the safe house, Frankie runs out and tosses the wet towels and the clothes at Eva.

“Jesus Christ, Eva, were you right next to him?”

“Yep, I shot him with his own gun.”

Frankie looks at me wide-eyed, and I nod my head, confirming it. He just chuckles as Eva wipes her face and hands off and jumps back in the SUV to change out of the bloody clothes.

No sooner is she finished than Nate comes running out of the house, crying and holding his lion, running to his mom. I watch her drop to the ground, crying and hugging Nate.

No doubt she was scared about whether she would ever see him again. I let the two have their moment, and I tell Frankie that we can all pack up and head back to the mansion.

I am directing the men to the mansion address so we can all discuss where we go from here. I am interrupted by a little voice yelling out, “Daddy! Daddy!”

Oh, what sweet music it is to my ears! I walk over and he reaches up for me from Eva’s arms. I quickly scoop him up, walk over to sit in a chair, and just hold him as he cries.

“Thank you, Daddy! You kept your promise to get my mommy back!”

“I told you I would, Nate, and I always keep my promises! I would never let anything happen to your mommy.”

“Can we go home now?”

“We sure can, little man! Maybe we should have a barbecue and go swimming tomorrow to relax. How does that sound?”

“I like that idea! Maybe I can jump this time.”

“Even if you can’t yet, Nate, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it. Soon you will be comfortable enough.”

I stand up, carrying him, as everyone runs out to hug Eva. We load up into the cars to head for home. The drive is long and quiet, and when we arrive and open our gates, there are SUVs parked everywhere.

Men are standing around with their guns. Some are smoking. When we pull in, we can see all of Ortiz’s men up front and a man who must be the lawyer, Leo. Poor guy has tubs of files.

When we unload, I get out carrying Nate, and Eva follows me. We see Fernando and Gracie up front. They run over to Eva, and I can hear Gracie crying.

I hold Nate as I address everyone standing around. Now that we are here, at some point these kids will be taking over.

“Everyone, I want to thank you for being here. I know today has been a very long day, and we are still winding down from the adrenaline. Yes, we have eliminated Ortiz, and there will be a shift in power.

“We lost some great men today and will never forget their sacrifice. Eva and I will be taking over immediately. I will be on the hunt for a larger building for Maxwell Industries as we are now adding another side to the business.

“Jesus, I know this can’t be easy for you and the others. To show our appreciation, we will be having a barbecue tomorrow at two in the afternoon. If you have families, bring them. Now you are a part of this family.

“Wherever you normally stay, do that for now until we can get everyone integrated together. Have a lovely evening. I will check in with everyone tomorrow. Leo, do we have everyone’s numbers?”

“Yes, Mr. Maxwell.”

“Perfect, let’s go inside so we can discuss this further.”

I motion for everyone to head inside. I walk over to the couch and sit next to Eva with Nate on my lap. I try to move Nate to sit next to me, but he isn’t budging.

“Nate, my son, I need to do business, so I will need for you to go to your mom.”

I direct Leo to the other couch as Tank, Frankie, and Fernando all pull up some seats.

“Okay, Mr. Maxwell. First, how do you prefer to be addressed? We are used to saying ~my king~ with Ortiz. Also, I have one bin here that is strictly employee files. Family info, addresses, and phone numbers.”

“Mr. Maxwell is fine. Give that bin to Frankie. Frankie, I want you and Tank to get everyone’s name and number written down. We’ll have to have leaders set up. Get it all in a database for the records. Now, what’s next?”

“The next bin is strictly property Ortiz owned. Public and not public. Most he acquired recently but never stepped foot in. Warehouses and so on.

“The third bin contains his contacts on shipments and what he was running from where and how often.”

“Okay, Fernando, you’re up. You will understand this more than anyone. Leo, what job did you have with Ortiz aside from being a lawyer?”

“I was his assistant. I helped with the transactions and made sure things got where they needed to. Also, should any issue arise, I would have the documents ready for filing with courts.”

“Great, you are now my assistant. You will work closely with me and Fernando.”

I slowly look over the properties Ortiz owned, and I see what looks like a newly acquired mansion estate. Looks to be a fifteen-bedroom main house with multiple smaller houses around the back.

I look at Eva and show her, and her eyes light up. Looks like we are moving!

“Hey, Leo, did this place get furnished by Ortiz yet?”

“Yes, he was just starting to furnish it but never moved any personal stuff in and hadn’t been there yet. The workers may still be working and finishing up the last bits this next week.”

“Perfect! We will be moving in and having that be the new main house.”