Josh allowed the tension to build as he and his brothers silently looked between the two men; unconcerned that Bonetti still had his gun. From past experience he knew Saunders was the leader of their two man operation.
“You guys know I’m the reasonable brother. That’s why I gave you fair warning the last time we… talked. I told you never to come back to this house uninvited. You didn’t listen, did you?” To punctuate his words, Josh smacked Bonetti across the back of his head. When Jason did the same to Saunders, he raised an enquiring eyebrow at his brother.
“Reflex,” Jason said with a shrug.
Josh couldn’t help but laugh. Although the situation was serious, he was enjoying Jason’s by-play. The grin that split Jake’s face told him, he was too.
“Now, what do you both think I should do about the way you so blatantly disobeyed me, hmm?”
“You better fucking kill me because if you don’t, you’re going to wish you had!” Saunders mouthed off.
“Thank you for that,” Josh smiled. “When you come face to face with the devil, be sure to tell him you hastened your meeting.”
“You’re not going to do shit; too many people know we’re here.”
“That’s right,” Bonetti finally found his voice. “Too many people know we’re here.”
“Shut the hell up,” Josh told him giving him another slap to the head.
Saunders recoiled as Jason moved his hand, but he only ended up ruffling his hair.
“Of course, you’re both right, I’m not going to physically hurt you. I’m going to do much worse. I’m going to destroy you. When I’m finished with you, you’ll both be locked up for a very long time.
The beauty of this is, you won’t see it coming. Picture this… “Josh swept his hand through the air, “… you fools locked up with all those people you’ve arrested. What do you think guys, good plan, right?” Josh asked his brothers.”
“I like the way your mind works, little brother,” Jake responded.
“I say we kill them,” Jason’s replied with a straight face.
“See what I’m up against, detectives, and I use the term detectives loosely, you understand. You should be pleased that on this occasion, I’m going to side with my brother standing by the door.”
“Are we supposed to be afraid?” Saunders asked.
“That’s up to you, but my advice would be that you be very afraid.” Josh paused and looked between the two men who had been his bane since his youth. “There’s something I don’t understand; from what I read in the papers, Matthaeus hasn’t been seen for weeks. It would seem to me this would make it the perfect opportunity for you guys to redeem yourselves. So why are you here?”
“We’re here because this family thinks they can get away with anything they like. Well, I’m here to tell you that you can’t!”
Josh laughed as he shook his head. “You’re a fool. I don’t know if you would have gotten away with your connections with Matthaeus being uncovered, but now, I guess we’ll never know.”
Josh kept them there for another twenty minutes while he and Jason toyed with them. When he deemed enough time had passed, he nodded to Jake. Standing outside were the four men who’d been in the guesthouse when they arrived.
“I want these men off this property; please take them to their car.”
“Yes sir.”
“You boys take care now because you’ll be hearing from me,” Saunders snarled as one of the guards grabbed him by his arms.
Josh couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for Bonetti. There was no doubt in his mind that he was more of a follower. But he’d made the decision to support his partner so he’d have to deal with the consequences.
When they were finally alone, Jake asked the question he’d been expecting.
“What did you do?”
“I had their car moved outside the gate, where certain illegal substances were placed inside. Said car is now back in its original position. The other call I made was an anonymous tip-off about two crooked cops.
I can see the headlines now… Two of New York’s finest caught and charged with drugs with the street value of a million dollars!”
“That’s a hell of an outlay!” Jason whistled.
“But worth every cent,” Josh smiled.
Walking back to the main house, Josh positioned himself between his brothers “God I miss shit like that,” he said throwing his arms around their shoulders. “You guys have got to promise me that the next time you have some ass to kick, you’ll include me.”
“Deal,” Jason agreed.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” The brothers said at the same time.
Epilogue
Josh and Lux had been away for a few months. First, they’d spent time alone solidifying their relationship, and regaining some of the ground they’d lost over the last seven years. During that time, they’d finalized and taken care of all Lux’s unfinished business in Trinidad.