Erick opened his eyes and looked around the room.
It wasn't one of the luxurious hotel rooms in which he had become accustomed to spending his nights whenever he traveled on business.
No.
It was a fairly modest room, with a small closet on one wall, a dressing table in the opposite corner, topped by a TV set, and between the two, on the wall where there was a window overlooking the deserted street in front of that roadside motel, there was a bed, on which Erick was lying.
"Uhm... You awake, handsome?" Erick heard someone say next to him.
The woman who had asked the question was very beautiful, with straight black hair, short in a Chanel cut, her eyes were slightly slanted, so dark they were almost black.
Her skin was slightly darker, and her naked curves were covered only by a rather modest sheet.
In fact, only part of her curves were covered by the modest fabric.
The other part of the beautiful brunette's curves was being caressed by Erick's nimble fingers, while the beautiful woman began to emit slightly hoarse, soft moans.
"I couldn't sleep, actually." Erick replied, looking into the brunette's sleepy eyes.
They were pleading with Erick to do something.
And the young man was very good at deciphering that kind of look, languid and impermanent.
One of Erick's hands went like lightning towards the back of the beautiful brunette's head, gripping her hair tightly, at which point she let out a slightly more intense moan.
Erick brought her face close to his and kissed her voraciously, almost as if he was trying to devour her lips.
"You're insatiable... If I'd known before that you were like this..." She smiled languidly. "... I would have taken the initiative much earlier..."
Erick let out a chuckle.
"I still can't believe that you were actually watching me all this time..."
"And I still can't believe how good you are at betting... And at fighting, too. My jaw dropped when I saw you going at Luther's men with just that pool cue." A crystalline laugh echoed from the woman's throat. "Are you sure you're only nineteen?"
Erick grinned evilly.
"Are you sure you should be asking that kind of question to the guy who saved you from that shithole of gambling and women?"
The beautiful brunette immediately fell silent, letting Erick continue his caresses.
He was interrupted, however, by the ringing of his smartphone.
When he saw the name of the contact on the screen, he stopped caressing the woman's skin, and his countenance became much more serious and concentrated.
Cold even, from the point of view of the beautiful woman who had lain with him that night.
"Reed." Erick answered, his tone without a drop of that charisma from minutes before.
When he heard what the voice on the other end of the line said, Erick didn't delay with his answers.
"Right. Yes... I'll be there, and you'd better have some news." He finished, tapping the screen to end the call. "I have business to attend to, Melissa, enjoy the room, you know where to find me." Erick stood up, reaching for his shirt at the foot of the bed.
The beautiful brunette, Melissa, smiled languidly, not hiding the twinge of sadness she felt at being abandoned in the middle of the night, but then left herself again, covering her skin and her curves as she watched Erick get dressed.
When Erick was ready, wearing a long black coat, a white shirt with a red wool pullover, and black jeans, he left the room and called an Uber, leaving the beautiful Melissa behind.
***
Not long after, Erick found a group of shabby men and women in an abandoned building in the middle of the city.
"Right, what have you got for me, Silas?"
The man to whom Erick had addressed the question, Silas, was taller than Erick himself, very broad, with a big, dirty beard that almost covered his mouth.
His eyes were as dark and emotionless as those of a great white shark, and the only apparent skin on his body, his face, was too dirty for anyone to discern its color.
When Silas spoke, the abandoned building almost seemed to tremble under the considerably low bass of his voice.
"The Vaughn villa is becoming hell on earth as Claudius Clifford consolidates his power. He rules with an iron fist, and all those who dared to openly air their grievances against Clifford's seizure of power are now seven feet under."
"And Erick?" Erick looked intently at Silas, analyzing the man as if he were a potential adversary.
Or an especially appetizing prey.
"E-Erick Vaughn is being taken to Hollowood, Mr. Reed." Silas couldn't stop himself from stuttering as he realized the intensity of Erick's eyes on him. "But... Mr. Reed... May I ask why you need this information, when we've already struck a powerful enough blow against the Vaughns, slaughtering the Burroughs before the month begins?"
Erick smiled.
And his smile sent shivers down everyone's spine.
"I need this information, my dear Silas, because it shows that Clifford is not fit to be the head of the Vaughn family. Because he's too worried about the raw power of the violence that runs in the blood of Erick's family... And so you're going to keep attacking exactly where he believes he knows best." Erick's smile widened, becoming more maniacal, sadistic. "While I attack him where he least expects it..."
Silas nodded.
"Now, it's time for me to make my money generate more money, make you stronger and more violent, and when the time comes... I'll take half of what Erick left in Clifford's hands, thanks to his foolish mistake of being framed so easily."
"So he-" Silas started to ask, but was immediately interrupted when Erick turned his eyes on him once more.
"Go on, Silas. Knowledge is a powerful weapon, and it's good that you share my knowledge."
Silas bowed his head humbly.
"So he... Didn't kill that Susan girl?"
"How could he kill his own mother, Silas?" Erick rolled his eyes, sighing slightly. "Besides, Susan is still very much alive. She's probably taking advantage of the Vaughn family's resources alongside Clifford, hiding out in his house while she watches the world burn..."
A buzz began to form, as everyone there whispered amongst themselves.
Erick let the buzz spread, and when the small crowd became noisier than he himself would have liked, he spoke up, whereupon everyone fell silent to listen to their leader.
"Let's show those Niners and that son of a bitch Clifford that justice exists..."