Chapter 46: Laying Out A Plan
These were the five members of the Hydra, and as far as Dante was concerned, they were the five most important people in the Lucas family, and learning how to use them properly would allow him to control this family without any effort! Dante looked over the heads of all the gathered leaders and he read the tabs that were floating there.
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Name: Janet Flora (Roxanne)
Affiliations: Dante Lucas
Title(s): Mistress of Seduction, Phantom Queen
General Skills: Seduction, Weapons Proficiency, Espionage, Information Gathering.
Loyalty Progression: 90%
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Name: Floki
Affiliations: Lucas Family, Dante Lucas
Title(s): Scream Merchant, Blood Reaper
General Skills: Interrogation, Weapons Proficiency, Torture, Butchering, Medical Proficiency, Pain Tolerance.
Loyalty Progression: 70%
——
Name: Jackson Renolds
Affiliations: Lucas Family
Title(s): Street King, Casanova, Kingpin
General Skills: Business Management, Weapons Proficiency, Substance Identification, Vehicular Proficiency, Espionage.
Loyalty Progression: 50%
——
[Physical Analysis +3%]
Dante wasn’t surprised by any of the title cards. In fact, he already expected them to have those title cards because he already knew all of them from when he was in charge of the Cleaners. There were many missions where Dante would have to team up with one or more of the other heads before he could complete his mission, and this allowed him to form a good relationship with most of them. The only person that Dante still hadn’t formed a proper relationship with was Jackson, and this was because Jackson had a massive stick up his ass that made him almost impossible to get along with.
"Well well well, it seems the little lion is no longer so little anymore. You’ve grown into quite the alpha, haven’t you, boss?"
Roxanne spoke with a smile on her face as she looked Dante over, and she bit her red bottom lip softly while giving him a very seductive look. Dante knew that she was only trying to get a reaction out of him, so he easily ignored her words as he spoke up seriously.
"Let’s get straight to business. We know the Bellagrin were behind the attack on our warehouse, so now we’re going to be taking everything from them. I am giving everyone here a timeline of six months. By the end of six months, I want to be in control of all the Bellagrin assets in this city and I want to drive that family out of this fucking country."
Dante’s words were met with complete silence, and Dante could see a lot of shock on the faces of the other leaders. It was obvious that they didn’t expect him to ask for something so insane.
Floki spoke up respectfully.
"Boss, are you sure about that timeline?"
Floki gave Dante the sort of look only an elder could give you. Other than Philip, Floki was one of the only members of the Lucas family whose hands Dante was more than willing to put his life in. Floki had been like an older uncle who looked after Dante from a young age and there was a time when Dante even thought about leaving the Cleaners and joining the Inquisitors just so he could learn from Floki. But Dante discovered that he enjoyed going on missions more than he enjoyed hearing men scream for mercy, and that was why he stayed in the Cleaners. But Dante and Floki were still very close even now, and that was why Floki had enough courage to question Dante and ask if Dante was sure about this. Dante nodded his head to Floki and spoke again.
"The Bellagrin are nothing compared to our family. We all know that the only reason they’ve been allowed to act out like they have is because my father refused to put them in their place. I’m sure he had his reasons for what he did, but I am not my father. I want this city under the Lucas name, and you will all get it for me. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Boss!"
The leaders all answered seriously when they heard the intensity in Dante’s words! There was no way you could hear such a declaration and not feel something deep in your heart! And at that moment, all the leaders felt Dante’s zeal fueling their desire! If Dante was telling them that they could do this in six months, then that was what they would do! Dante looked around, and he made sure that they all understood properly before he finally nodded and turned to Philip to ask.
"Philip, what about Randy. Did you do what I asked you to?"
Philip nodded immediately. Dante had called Philip earlier today and told him that Randy had gone against the family, and he was the one who betrayed them to the Bellagrin. Philip had half a mind to run up to Randy and kill him when he heard what happened, but Dante told him not to do that. Instead, they were going to use Randy as the lure to find out the location of Silas and take him out of the equation while also dealing a massive blow to the Bellagrini in one movement.
The plan for this was simple. Dante instructed Philip to set up a fake raid on Randy’s house in the third district with a few men. The men were instructed to make the raid look as believable as possible, but they were told that they should not kill Randy under any circumstance. Instead, they were to destroy his house and hurt Randy a little before giving him some room so that it looked like he managed to run away from the house. The men would shout how they knew Randy betrayed them and that Randy wouldn’t be safe in any territory to really put fear into him, and they would allow him to leave.
But behind the scenes, Randy’s car would be tracked by their IT team as it headed out of the region. Randy now knew that going to any of the Lucas territories was going to be dangerous since the entire Lucas family was after his head, and he also knew that going to any of the Romanov or Bellagrini territories would lead to his death since he was still part of the Lucas family in name. That meant there would be only one place that he could go to for safety, and that was the hideout of Silas. Philip had done exactly what Dante told him to, and he was currently tracking Randy’s movement. And from what he had seen, Randy was on his way towards the fourth district on the eastern side of the city. If they continued to follow Randy’s movement, it wouldn’t be long before they found out exactly where he was going!
"I have the men on standby, and the IT team is still tracking him, boss. Shouldn’t be long before we get him."
Dante nodded before he told Philip that this was going to be his first solo mission with the Cleaners.
"I’m going to be busy at the company dinner tonight, so I won’t be there to hold your hands. I’ll be counting on you to take command and handle things while I’m gone. Can I trust you with that?"
"Of course, boss."
Philip’s answer was immediate, and Dante looked into his eyes and saw how serious he was at that moment! Philip knew that this was a big moment for him. All the missions that Philip had been on with the Cleaners before had been controlled by Dante since Dante had been their leader, so this was the first time that Dante would be putting full trust in him! Philip had to make sure he didn’t let Dante down! Dante nodded when he saw that Philip understood, and he then leaned back into his chair and spoke to the heads all around him.
"I want all of you on high alert from now on. The Bellagrin will know that we are going against them once we make the first move, so things will escalate quickly. Jackson, keep your ears close to the street and make sure to let us know about any rumors in the Bellagrin movement. Floki, we’ll be counting on you to get information out of any men we capture. Your department hasn’t been busy for a while since we’ve been at peace, but that’s about to change, so sharpen your cleavers. Tim, you’ll be in charge of ammunition, and you’ll be working with Philip to make sure you get everything you need. Make a list of costs for the guns, grenades, and bribes and send them to me. Roxanne, I have a special mission for your team, so meet me later. Any questions?"