mess with the mob and you lose more than your teeth

Vito Rosales did not ask much.

Really, all Vito asked their employees was what they could give. Can't fight? Be a runner. Can't run either? Hell, inventory. Contrary to popular belief, not a lot of shooting went down in the mob. It might frighten the ladies and gentlemen of the audience, but the sad truth was that the only difference between a mob and a company were a few pieces of paper. On that point, The Rosales Gang? It was a smooth, well-oiled machine.

But machines can stop at any time. All it took was an exposed wire, a wrench, a goddamn nut in the wheel. In this case, a sneaky little thief. A few weeks ago, Rivera reported that someone had been pocketing cocaine, because the supply number in the cache didn't add up with the sales. It always came a few hundreds too short. Vito couldn't believe it, not at the fact that there were thieves among their numbers, but because they'd have the nerve to do it. He assigned a lackey to do inventory in all of their dead drops, and it looked like Rivera hit the nail on the head.

According to the records, this had been going on for a while now, and further research revealed who the culprit was easily. Someone, a certain Jeremy Maloney, was sneaking out kilograms of coke and selling them online for bitcoins. Digital consumption. Bah. It was a coward's business. Well, he wasn't going to pull one over him.

After all, all Vito asked for what they could give. Abusing his, and Klaus' hospitality, that was just pushing it.

It was high time the two of them had a chat with good old Jeremy.

Vito sat at the driver's seat of his black sedan, loading his gun with one, two, three poisoned bullets. At the back seat, his favorite crowbar, Old Faithful. Nobody outside would be able to see inside because of tinted windows, and that just seemed like the best kind of meeting place, somewhere a little more private, you see? Vito already sent Klaus a message that he was ready to go, and waited patiently in his car.

As soon as the car started, he drove off to their destination.

Vito felt nothing but a sinking feeling when Klaus kissed him. He could tell the man, his beloved, was very shaken up by the betrayal. Vito knew he shouldn't feel guilty. It wasn't his fault. But damn it, he couldn't help it. Vito took care of things so this didn't have to happen, but no matter how careful he was, eventually fuck-ups would pop up like groundhogs and undo his hard work. It was unavoidable. He knew that. He just didn't want to keep seeing Klaus hurt.

He wanted to offer something to help him, kind words or maybe a hug, but that wasn't his style. He held Klaus' nervously twitching hand during a stop light, running his thumb over his fingers reverently. They'd make that bastard pay.

"I should've seen it coming. I'll keep a tighter leash," he said, and he hated how his tone wavered, apology unsaid but implied. Vito's pride had been wounded. It was hard to recover from. Klaus was very kind to his moods when he should've been punishing him for his incompetence.

Klaus was always too kind. That was one of the reasons why these issues popped up. They get used to the kindness, so they think they were going to be forgiven. Vito never got that, that sense of entitlement. When people were given more leeway, you'd think they'd be more inclined to be more loyal, not less.

"I've had Basco try to call Maloney's contact numbers all morning. He hasn't responded." He paused, as if tasting the bitterness of the situation. "No such luck. I was too confident that Rivera was making stuff up that I didn't bother having the inventory checks be secret. That's my fault." Maloney got away because he knew how they operated. Bastard.

When they reached the bastard's residence, Vito parked the car in front. He pulled out his crowbar from the backseat, feeling the familiar weight in his hands. The car door closed, and Vito stalked up the front door, breaking it open with his crowbar. All the lights were off. No signs of life. Fuck. He likely wasn't here, but Vito whacked a nearby vase to the floor anyway, venting his frustrations. "I'll make it easy if you come out, kid! You really want to take that offer right now!"