The first time Joshua was asked to carry on Gruvv's work, he was still in college. It was his last year, with everything that went down with Gil, the arrest, the murder, and then seeing how Gruvv ended up in a coma too. Plus, his brother-in-law was involved, so it was a tough decision, but Joshua decided to say yes to his father's request.
"Is this okay with you?" Sage asked Joshua that night, right when Gruvv was put into a coma and lost consciousness.
No matter what was going on inside the Dhurudatta household, business had to keep on going outside. Joshua agreed.
His dad gave him most of the info he already knew, except for the information about firearms sales. The Dhurudatta family's biggest underground biz is selling firearms that the Campbell family makes on their own. It's the family of Dhurudatta's eldest son's wife, Sarah Campbell.
The Campbells, like other Elite families, have been running their business for generations. But they needed a safe and reliable place to grow their business, so they looked for one. That's why the business agreement was added to the marriage agreements for their kids later on. Cross happens to be the oldest son of the Dhurudatta family.
The Campbells are selling two types of firearms.
The first is the firearms they sell to people who don't have any status. The firearms are usually just pistols, such as 2MM, AMT, or other Beretta series. They sometimes take firearms from other factories that have worked with them to meet their supply needs.
The second is privately owned firearms. These firearms are usually special-ordered and require a lot of people to go through a long and complicated process. Each firearm has its own unique features because they're all made right there at Campbell's factory. Their main feature is the embossed initials of the Campbell family name on the firearm and the bullet.
Private ownership firearms are actually more specific than most people think. That's why in this country, there are only 10 families who can buy and order them. The types of firearms they produce include Shotguns, Rifles, and Sniper Rifles. The factory will engrave the initials on Butt Plate, Stock, Butt Swifel. They're pretty strict about it, they only allow their own engraved bullets to be used.
With such top-notch security for a long time, it was pretty hard to get a gun with the Campbells' initials on it. Just a heads-up, they don't allow firearms to be gifted, traded, or given away. With certification, regular checks every 3 months, and destroying any firearms that aren't being used or are replaced, it's not going to be easy to get away with it.
"Isn't that a bit complicated? You'll have to handle all of this, including any future requests for firearms from gangs of all sizes."
Joshua looked at his dad at that moment and just shrugged his shoulders, "I have no choice."
Correct, he and his two older brothers were never able to say no to carrying on with the organization. Gruvv ended up leaving his job, but then he got another one in the main office. That's the official position. Nothing was really different, though. Later on, Joshua would've also been in one of those roles over at headquarters.
After he saved Amari that night at the party, when he was on his way home, Shin handed him the bullet. That night, he called Cross to confirm right away about the bullet that had the Campbell family name written on it.
Also because there's a little dot at the end of CB's initials.
"The Campbells' firearms are now modified to ensure ongoing safety and confidentiality. Now, all firearms for private ownership can't just use any bullet. It's not going to work." Cross explained at the end of the call that night, he then spoke again, "So if you find a bullet with the initials CB engraved with a small dot, it's definitely the latest model, made 8 years ago."
"8 years ago?"
"Yeah, that little dot is the mark for Leona's name when Sarah states that she can't have any more kids, and that Leona will be the only one to inherit the company. When Leona's ready, the carved initials will change to CB (dot) DT."
"Can the bullets be purchased on a regular basis?"
"Nah, the Campbells only put out 35 of those things twice a year."
That was Cross's explanation that night. Joshua was waiting for Amari to hit him up about it, but the guy never did. It was already a month later.
There was something else that attracted Joshua after all, the smell of Amari's pheromones.
Joshua is a singular alpha, which basically means he can't smell the pheromones of other omegas except his family members or omegas who've become part of his family. However, why was he able to smell Amari's pheromones that night?
Joshua was busy with his tablet, but his mouth was full of chocolate. He and George were in the car, checking the names of the registered buyers. But the 10 families on the list as regular buyers of the firearms hadn't changed in 60 years.
"Why do these people never miss out on buying guns? It seems like it's something they always do?" Asked him, he keeps tapping on the tablet screen, his eyes moving rapidly as he reads the screen.
George, who was driving, looked over at Joshua in the center mirror, "The bigwigs and conglomerates made it popular back then, and it's a tradition that's still going strong."
Joshua popped the last piece of chocolate into his mouth, letting out a big chew, he clucked "George, aren't rich people so weird?"
George chuckled as he shook his head, "Aren't you one of them?"
Joshua waved his hand and shook his head, "Apart from me, the only wealthy folks in the family are Mr. Sage Dhurudatta and Mr. Ian Harding."
That made George laugh again.
"Cross, Gruvv, and I are just regular kids who've had some bad luck. We're not even in control of our own dreams. This is a company that was started by Mr. Sage and Mr. Ian, and we're forced to keep it going to keep their dreams alive."
George couldn't help himself. He's been with Gruvv since they were teens, and he's seen that this path isn't what Gruvv would've chosen on his own. If he had the freedom to choose, Gruvv would probably go for being an athlete. MMA athletes, as well as Cross and Joshua, each of whom have their own hopes and dreams.
"But let's be real, your parents' dreams have definitely given you guys some pretty sweet perks."
Joshua turned off the tablet in his hand, "Okay then, there's no denying that. I can live easily thanks to their dreams that keep going." He said that as he chewed the chocolate in his mouth until it was gone, he looked out the window of the car that hadn't been running until Shin returned.
"Isn't that the same for a person you just met, the young master?"
"Amari?"
"I'm pretty sure his family stopped being Mafia and started focusing on regular companies. He should still have the privilege of being the son of a former Mafia family, right? Or is he now part of an elite family?"
Joshua nodded, "That's why his folks are trying to get him into one of them, whether it's the Elites or the Conglomerate here in the country. Because for the mob families in the neighborhood, they don't have a place now."
George let out a long sigh, resting his head on his hands, "It's wild how complicated caste is in this country."
The White family has definitely moved on from the mafia life. They're now somewhere in the middle, neither fully in the elite world nor part of a conglomerate. They're not officially part of either group.
Joshua let out a sigh and leaned his body against the passenger seat. Being the son of a mafia boss who owned a company wasn't exactly a good memory. When they were at a party of businessmen, their kids would laugh at the kids of the mafia.
"Look, he's acting like an Elite kid, a mobster is still a mobster, nothing will change."
Joshua and Amari heard those words a lot.
"He's an omega, even the dominant gene won't get close to him."
"That's proof that he's not Elite."
"Dominant blood and genes are only for the Elite."
Knock Knock. Joshua heard knocking on the window, so he turned his head and saw Shin standing next to the car door. He looked a bit worried and rolled down the car window, "Why don't you come in?"
"Josh, I think you should go see what's up with that young master. Something about him seems a bit off."
Joshua widened his eyes and hurried out of the car. Shin ran behind him, and Joshua found Amari crouched down, clutching his chest with his breath caught in his throat.
"Shin, do you smell his scent?"
Shin who was behind Joshua shook his head, "Did he really go to HEAT? I'm using a suppressant, George, too."
Joshua muttered under his breath as he took off his jacket, wrapped Amari's body in it, and carried him into the car. Joshua also drank the same suppressant as all the other workers in the company. Even though he couldn't smell the other Omegas, his family decided to make him take the suppressant just to be safe.
"Hey, what's going on? You guys were gone for thirty minutes." George looked at Shin who was now sitting beside him.
"We walked for a bit and then he said he needed to rest because his head was dizzy. After twenty-five minutes, he suddenly went into that state."
Joshua was still holding Amari, and the scent of pheromones was starting to reach his nose, making all his instincts kick in..
"George, come back to my house."
"What?!"
"You brought that boy to your house?!"
"Hurry up! Do it!"