Jamie leaned back in his chair, arms crossed behind his head as he stared up at the ornate ceiling of the Shark family mansion. The afternoon sun filtered through the tall windows, casting golden patterns across the floor.
A soft breeze rustled the curtains as the weight of recent events hung heavy in the air.
As he stood, stretching out the stiffness in his back, he casually made his way down the hallway, nodding at a few passing goons. Some were new recruits, others veterans who had been around since the old days. They gave respectful nods, parting wordlessly as Jamie walked by.
"Yo, Martez," Jamie said, waving lazily at a bulky man by the doorway polishing a rifle. "You ever fix the trigger on that thing?"
"Still jams sometimes," Martez grunted. "Needs a new firing pin. Parts are hard to come by with everything going on."
Jamie nodded, continuing down the hall, his gaze drifting over the familiar surroundings. Every painting, every mark on the floor told a story.
His thoughts began to spiral.
Kaz had really done it this time.
Grigorovich's nephew—dead. Burnt to ash by Kaz's signature black flames. The White Tigers were a powder keg of vengeance now, and Kaz might as well have thrown a lit match.
Then came the retaliation—the brutal assault on the mansion. Seamus, their father, had fought like a demon. But even he fell to Grigorovich's fury. Now the old man was in a coma, breathing but unresponsive. The void his absence left was tangible.
Then came the emergency sit-down. All the major mob bosses packed into one room, fake smiles and hidden daggers. It was clear: lines were being drawn. Allegiances whispered in dark corners. And through it all…
There were other players. Shadows within shadows. Jamie couldn't shake the feeling they were being watched—not just by the Tigers, but something else.
He paused at the entrance to the garden and leaned against the doorframe, his thoughts drifting deeper into the past.
He was sixteen.
A smaller version of himself sat on a high-back chair beside Sean. Seamus leaned forward, his expression cold, calm and unreadable. Across from them, seated in a too-large leather chair, was Alexandrov Grigorovich.
Back then, the man had been nothing like the mountain of tyranny he had become. Skinny, jittery, sweating like a pig in the summer heat through his button-up. He could barely meet Seamus' gaze.
"You know why we called you here," Seamus had said, voice low and calm, like a shark circling blood.
Grigorovich nodded, eyes darting. "Y-yes sir... I understand. I... I can move the goods. Discreetly."
Sean chuckled, lighting a cigar. "Discreet is just what we need. You'll get paid. Just make sure don't get cold feet." Jamie remembered the way Grigorovich swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing. "I won't. I-I swear."
Funny how things change.
The sudden buzz of his phone in his pocket dragged Jamie out of the memory. He pulled it out, frowning at the screen.
Caller ID : Vali.
He answered, tone neutral. "Yo bro, what's up."
Vali's voice came through ragged and breathless. "Jamie—they—they took them. Amy and Kimara. I tried to follow the van, I swear, but it lost me in the Old Industrial Zone. I—I messed up, big time, what the hell am I going to tell Kaz." Jamie's face darkened as he turned away from the sunlight.
"Slow down Vali, I need you to keep a level head right now. Tell me who took them?" Jamie asked his voice raised with panic. "I don't know. I think it was Zorya's Kid, y'know that broad who works for grigorovich. Maybe Dimitri too. Some guys I didn't recognize. They hit fast and hard. I didn't expect it."
Jamie exhaled sharply, pressing his thumb and forefinger to the bridge of his nose. "Alright listen up I need you to come home. Now. We'll sort this. Don't do anything else."
"Yeah... yeah okay. I'm on my way now." Vali amswered voice still shaken
Jamie's voice grew stern. "And Vali?"
"Yeah Jamie?"
"Whatever you do, don't tell Kaz."
A pause, silence so intense it was almost deafening.
"No but Jamie he'll—" Vali's voice shot back.
"Do. not. Tell. Kaz. You want him to burn half the city down looking for them? We have play this smart. We get them back, quickly and quietly. Kaz finds out now, we lose control of the situation and all hell breaks lose. You hear me?" Jamie said calmly, Vali sighed in frustration. "...Yeah. I hear you."
"Good" Jamie ended the call and stared out the window again, the look in his eyes dark and somber, his jaws clenched tightly. Things were spiraling faster than he liked, faster than he could plan for.
And this time, there might not be a leash strong enough or cage sturdy enough to hold Kaz back when he found out.
"Fuck" Jamie growled slamming his fist into the wall forming a small crater and slight rocking the buildings foundation.
Jamie started pacing back and forth, immersed so deeply on thought he had not noticed Riko and Daiji's approach. "Well what the hell happened in here" Riko asked with a smirk glancing at the hole in the wall.
"Grigorovich's goons might have kidnapped Kimara and Kazunai's girlfriend" Jamie said snapping to attention almost instantly, "Ohh damn...we're gonna have a big mess to clean up this time" Daija said his eyes widened in surprise, "There's gonna be hell to pay once Kaz is back that's for sure" Riko said with his head down, his defeat at Kazunai's hands still fresh in his memory.
"That's why we get them back before Kaz comes back, we try our best to avoid any unnecessary casualties for us and collateral damage" Jamie said softly leaning against the wall and staring at the ceiling fan "Damn it, at times like this I really miss dad, he'd have thought of a solution in minutes" Jamie thought to himself, inwardly lamenting.
Soon after Vali burst through the door panting, "Well shit, that was real quick" Jamie said eyes widened in shock "I ran like four red lights and probably hit two old ladies on my way over here" Vali grinned gasping for air like he had just ran a marathon.
"Tell me he's joking" Daija said staring at Vali wide eyed, his face going pale at the thought of his cousin speeding down the freeway like a maniac in his sports car deliberately aiming for a defenseless old lady "About the old ladies, sure" Zaria says walking in already dressed in battle gear and ready to move out.
Jamie grinned and then his grin was replaced by a serious expression, one of someone who wasn't taking part in their first rodeo, "now that we're all here, lets get down to the order of business....our 'king' is off the playing field so those lowlifes are making their move, they've managed to get their hands on two of our potential rooks" Jamie said cold and well calculated.
"Rooks??" Zaria said with a look of confusion, Vali just grinned, he'd been use to hearing their dad, Seamus The Shark speak like this but seeing Jamie go at it made the feelings he had tried to deep down well up to the surface, a small tear drop streaked down his cheek, zaria quickly noticed and wiped his tear away with her hand "well this is new" she thought. "Yes rooks, two potential major pieces of this family, those two may have thought they were being sneaky with their training but I noticed" Jamie said with a smirk.
"Them training is cute and all but at the moment said damsels are in distress, so what's the plan??" Riko asked, "Honestly.....I have no fucking Idea" Jamie sighed, everyone's jaws dropped in unison, "Well lady and gents.....any suggestions" Jamie said scratching his head with a mischievous smirk brimming on his face.