Leniency executed

In a dimly lit room, a man was strapped to a steel chair from the neck to the waist. His breathing was ragged and shallow and at first glance he seemed to be solitary until a lighter flicked open to light a cigar and turned off.

"Let me go!!"The man yelled.

“I’m sorry." Another man stepped from the shadows. " I’m in no position to do that. That decision is for the boss to make."

The chair banged in his attempt to be free. Which made the other chuckle. It had been days since they had a guest down the torture chamber. They are only allowed to bring someone once the main man says they can and they cannot do otherwise. Their boss is merciless, a contrast to what the public eye sees him. His men have nothing but respect and fear for him.

Like him, they want change in the mob world. It's their belief that themuch younger generation is capable of running the decades old mob and it's time to change the rules. But that will take time. They all know that and that is here their boss comes in. To them, he is a visionary. A game changer and the ender of a dynasty. The metal door to the dungeon creaks open.

"Sir."

Conrad or Falcon walks in followed by his men and Edward who was still in his office suit. “What happened here, Julian?”

“It was nothing. Went as planned.” He dismisses the inquiry.

“As planned? What are you talking about? It's all over the news! There was a shoot out! That was not the plan!”

Julian is the man in charged of Detroit. He frowns, sighs heavily and stands still for a moment, regarding Conrad as though torn about what he should tell him. There is no way he can never tell with his facial expressions what's going on his boss's head. It could be he’s annoyed that he has to explain himself to him infront of his group or justify his business actions, but he seems to know better than to deny Conrad the explanation he demands right now. He moves in front of the barely conscious man and hunches down to get a better look of the identity, eyeing him up and then accusingly looks at Julian. A sign that means he's not going nowhere without answers.

He sighs heavily. His frustration is evident.

“Hear me out, sir. it had a purpose."

“By shooting your men?” He asks in stupefaction. " Julian, I used to like you and now I wonder how you can choose to sacrifice your own men, your family here, in such a horrible way. Surely, you are not dumb. You said so."

“It was necessary sir..."

Conrad drops his jaw and stare at him as though he has two heads, mind blown and unable to put all that together in any logical way. He is imagining flying bullets whizzing past his head in some Al Capone type shit. Mob business is not for the faint hearted. It’s like a sick game between all these powerful men, yet he's struggling to figure out how Julian ended up in that situation.

“How in the … do I even want to know? How many of your men died?” He swallowed hard, head reeling and blink a lot in his general direction. Adding more weight to his over-saturated brain, and who is this?"

“Umm, none. I wouldn’t put them in harm’s way. One is wounded sir. The body count is from their end."

The boss sits in a vacant chair adjacent to the unconcsious man. He sits up straighter and turns to face me Julian and his men. Eyes on pirecing as he bites back his anger, confusion at the lack of death count, chew on his lip and nod at him. If Julian is capable of transparency, then maybe there is hope for their group. He needs to know why it happened because he is confused and as much as he wanted to blow their brains out himself, he did not want to lose valuable assets.

"Talk, I am still confused and I don't like myself when I am confused." He turns to Edward, "get me something cold. Man, it's hot here."

“Okay. Thank you." Julian started. "This is personal to me, sir. This man is a piece of shit who murdered a prostitute in cold blood several years back. NYPD couldn’t pin it on him. She was my sister. My father, who was a detective at the time, took early retirement. He had a breakdown and developed a drinking problem and that is where my live turned into a living hell. I saw the opportunity since he works for our biggest competitor. I figured it's a win-win. We vcan get information while I get my revenge."

None of what Julian said means anything to Conrad, so he sat there staring and nodding at him. Acting like he gives a shit about his sob story but he isn't. He only cares about the business and how to keep his turf and a woman. A woman he couldn't help but to think about.

Julian wasn't done explaining. “He has been lying low for a long time, out there biding his time. A little tip he would be there tonight, a gun pushed in the right direction and some clarification that he was the man who killed her. I knew it would go down, and we were waiting for it.”

"There was no mention of casualties either, so that means there was an error in the news."

"Yes, sir."

"Now, what do you intend to do with these motherfucker here? You realize that you broke a rule or two, Julian?"

"Aye, sir. I hold myself accountable. Spare my men. It was my idea alone. I will accept the punishment." Julian said with conviction and Conrad swears he heard gasps of relief from his men behind him. They all know how harsh the punishment for subordination can be. He's not known to be gentle and if he goes full throttle, some of them might meet their maker earlier than the rest of them.

Conrad smiled, he is in the mood just thinking of Meredith's face while they sparred this afternoon. "I will let this slide, for now. Make sure you get something from him."