Chapter 5 - Two Kings and One Baker
Warehouse 19 sat near the river beneath a highway overpass.
Kalin’s convoy arrived first.
Ara was in the second armored SUV.
Kalin had argued about that for twenty straight minutes.
He lost.
“You stay inside the vehicle,” he said.
Ara looked at him.
“We already discussed commands.”
“This one is different.”
“Why?”
“Because Anton Rossi is not me.”
“Meaning?”
“He doesn’t care what happens to you.”
Ara held his gaze.
“Then you’d better make him care about the truth.”
Kalin stepped out.
His black coat moved in the wind.
Tattoos showed above his collar where his shirt was open at the throat.
Russo followed.
Across the warehouse, black vehicles appeared.
Anton Rossi entered with six men.
He was in his fifties, silver-haired, immaculately dressed.
His expression was controlled.
“Kovatch.”
“Rossi.”
Anton glanced around.
“You chose strange neutral ground.”
“I didn’t choose it. Tomas did.”
Anton’s face changed slightly.
“Tomas Kovatch?”
“He is not a Kovatch.”
“He works for your family.”
“Not anymore.”
Anton studied him.
“My nephew was shot two weeks ago near the north docks.”
“I didn’t order it.”
“My warehouse burned.”
“Not me.”
“You expect trust?”
“No.”
Kalin nodded toward Russo.
“Bring him.”
The captured attacker was dragged forward.
Anton’s eyes narrowed.
“Emilio.”
Kalin caught the name.
“You know him.”
“He worked security for one of my freight companies.”
Emilio’s face drained.
Anton stepped closer.
“You disappeared three months ago.”
Emilio said nothing.
Kalin tossed the phone toward Anton.
“Read the messages.”
Anton’s men checked it first.
Then handed it over.
Anton scrolled.
His jaw tightened.
“Tomas.”
“Yes.”
Anton looked at Emilio.
“You attacked the bakery?”
Emilio stared at the floor.
Anton glanced toward Kalin.
“A bakery?”
“Fourth Street.”
Anton’s eyes shifted.
“The girl.”
Kalin became still.
“You knew?”
“I knew you watched her.”
“From whom?”
Anton lifted the phone.
“Apparently the same man feeding me information about you.”
Kalin’s fists clenched.
Tomas had been selling secrets to both sides.
Anton looked around.
“Where is he?”
A voice echoed from the upper catwalk.
“Exactly where I wanted both of you.”
Everyone looked up.
Tomas stood above them.
Behind him were armed men.
Kalin moved slightly.
Tomas raised a hand.
“Don’t.”
Anton stared upward.
“You used my people.”
“I rented loyalty. There’s a difference.”
“You started a war.”
“I nearly started one.”
Tomas smiled at Kalin.
“Then the baker started thinking.”
Ara heard him through the cracked SUV window.
She opened the door.
Russo’s guard tried to stop her.
“Ma’am—”
“He knows I’m here.”
“Ara!”
Kalin’s voice thundered across the warehouse.
Too late.
She stepped out.
Tomas laughed.
“There she is.”
Kalin moved toward her.
“Get back in the car.”
“No.”
Tomas clapped slowly.
“Still doesn’t listen. That must be difficult for you, Kalin.”
Ara looked up at him.
“You destroyed my bakery.”
“Yes.”
“You had me shot.”
“Not intentionally.”
“How considerate.”
His smile faded.
Ara stepped closer to Kalin.
“What do you want?”
Tomas looked at Anton.
Then Kalin.
“The old families gone.”
Anton laughed without humor.
“You think killing two men changes the city?”
“No.”
Tomas raised a small remote.
“But exposing every financial record in that case while police raid both organizations?”
Kalin’s eyes sharpened.
“The stolen files.”
“Copies are already uploaded.”
Viktor’s voice came through Kalin’s earpiece.
“We’re tracing the upload.”
Tomas continued.
“By morning, Kovatch and Rossi businesses collapse. I acquire what survives.”
Ara frowned.
“You destroyed a bakery for a hostile takeover?”
Tomas looked at her.
“You’re surprisingly annoying.”
“I get that a lot.”
Kalin whispered, “Ara, stop.”
She ignored him.
“You know what your problem is?”
Tomas’s expression darkened.
“You think powerful men are machines. Press the right button, they react.”
She pointed at Kalin.
“You thought hurting me would make him reckless.”
Then Anton.
“You thought killing Rossi’s people would make him retaliate.”
Tomas smiled.
“And I was correct.”
“No.”
Ara looked around.
“They’re standing in the same room talking.”
Anton glanced at Kalin.
Then almost smiled.
Tomas’s face tightened.
Ara saw it.
“You didn’t plan for that.”
“Enough.”
His thumb shifted over the remote.
Kalin immediately moved in front of Ara.
Tomas laughed.
“There. That’s the Kalin Kovatch I know.”
Kalin didn’t look away from him.
“You want me?”
“Yes.”
“Then let her leave.”
“No.”
“You have your war.”
“I want your weakness gone.”
Ara felt Kalin’s entire body change.
Anton spoke sharply.
“Tomas.”
Tomas turned slightly.
That was enough.
Russo fired at the overhead light.
Darkness crashed across the warehouse.
Everyone moved.
Kalin wrapped Ara in his arms and dragged her behind a concrete barrier.
Gunshots echoed.
Metal rang.
Then Tomas shouted.
“Stop!”
Emergency lights flickered on.
Tomas stood near the catwalk stairs with a gun pressed beneath his own chin—not out of surrender, but panic.
Anton’s men had surrounded the far exit.
Russo’s men controlled the stairs.
Tomas had nowhere left to go.
Kalin stepped forward.
“It’s over.”
Tomas laughed breathlessly.
“You think you won because of her?”
Kalin looked back at Ara.
“No.”
His voice was calm.
“I won because I finally listened to her.”
Tomas lowered the gun slightly.
Sirens sounded outside.
Viktor’s voice came through the earpiece.
“Federal task force arriving. Anonymous package with Tomas’s financial records landed on the right desk ten minutes ago.”
Anton raised an eyebrow.
Kalin looked toward Ara.
She smiled faintly.
“You said give Rossi something he’d believe.”
Kalin almost laughed.
Tomas stared at them.
“What did you do?”
Ara answered.
“Something boring.”
Police lights flooded the warehouse.
May you like
“Paperwork.”
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