The Rise of Mackin Jones

Chapter 105

The city streets were darker than usual, the kind of darkness that hinted at something stirring just below the surface.

Luis felt it in the air—the way the city seemed to hold its breath, waiting for something to happen. He stood on the balcony of the penthouse, looking out over the skyline, the distant hum of traffic, and life below him.

Beside him, Maria joined him, her expression thoughtful. “Bones says the whispers are getting louder.”

Luis nodded, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Someone’s making moves. We just don’t know who yet.”

Maria leaned on the railing, her gaze focused. “Do you think it’s someone new or one of the old players trying to make a comeback?”

Luis considered her question for a moment. The city had a way of recycling enemies—old rivals who disappeared for a while, only to resurface when they thought the time was right. But this felt different. Whoever this was, they were moving in the shadows, making alliances before showing their hand.

“It doesn’t feel like someone we’ve dealt with before,” Luis said finally. “But we’ll know soon enough.”

Maria’s eyes darkened with anticipation. “Then let’s make sure we’re ready.”

Luis nodded. The reign had begun, but the challenges were only just starting. And if someone was coming for the empire they had rebuilt, they would find out just how dangerous it was to challenge Luis and Maria Borsen.

The tension in the air had thickened, and Luis could sense it.

The city was whispering—but the whispers were still too quiet, too fragmented to make sense of. Whoever this new player was, they were playing a careful game, moving silently through the shadows, just like Luis had always done.

But the difference was, Luis had never left his enemies guessing for too long. This new figure, though, was different. They were holding their cards close, and it was beginning to irritate him.

Maria stood beside Luis on the balcony, her fingers drumming softly on the railing as her mind raced through the possibilities. She hated being in the dark about anything. Control was the only thing she trusted, and right now, they didn’t have all of it.

“We need to make them show themselves,” Maria said finally, her voice low but firm. “We can’t keep waiting for them to make the first move. If they think they’re safe in the shadows, they’ll grow bolder.”

Luis nodded, his jaw tight. She was right. Waiting any longer was giving the enemy too much time to fortify themselves, and in this city, hesitation was just another word for weakness. But it wasn’t enough to just flush them out—they needed to be sure. They needed to know who they were dealing with and, more importantly, what their ambitions were.

“Bones is meeting with one of our Eastside contacts tonight,” Luis said, his voice steady. “They’ve got eyes on some of the smaller crews that haven’t fallen in line yet. We’ll find out who’s been making moves.”

Maria raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “You think it’s the remnants of Miguel’s old crew?”

Luis shrugged, his eyes cold. “Possibly. But if it is, they’ve got someone new backing them. Someone with enough resources to stay under the radar.”

Maria’s lips curled into a small, dangerous smile. New blood, old ambition. It was a lethal combination, but not one that Luis and Maria hadn’t seen before. “Then let’s see how bold they get.”

Later that evening, the air was heavy with the threat of rain, and the streets reflected the hazy glow of streetlights as Luis and Maria’s car wound through the Eastside.

They weren’t going to sit back and wait for Bones’s contact to report in. This was too important to leave to others. They needed to feel the pulse of the streets themselves, to see the territory they now controlled—and sense if something was slipping.

The Eastside had always been more volatile than the Southside. The crews here didn’t respect stability the way Luis’s operation had built it. It was fragmented, disorganized—a feeding ground for ambitious nobodies who thought they could rise by sheer will. But Luis knew better.

Power in this city wasn’t something you took—it was something you earned through precision, calculation, and ruthlessness. And right now, someone was testing how far they could push before stepping directly into his path.

As they pulled up to an inconspicuous building on the outskirts of the Eastside, Bones was already waiting outside. The rain had started, light but steady, tapping against the roof of the car as Luis and Maria stepped out.

“Anything?” Luis asked as they approached, his voice clipped with impatience.

Bones shook his head, his expression unreadable. “Not yet. But something’s off. Our contact hasn’t shown, and they’re never late.”

Maria’s eyes flickered with suspicion. “Do you think they’ve been compromised?”

Bones’s jaw tightened. “Maybe. Or they’re lying low because something’s about to happen. Either way, we need to find them.”

Luis felt a surge of irritation. The city was shifting again, and it wasn’t the kind of shift he liked. Everything had been under control, but now a ripple of unpredictability was running through the streets, and that meant someone was about to test him.

“We’ll go to them,” Luis said, his voice low and hard. “If they think they can hide, they’re wrong.”

An hour later, Luis, Maria, and Bones made their way through a narrow alley behind an old warehouse, their footsteps silent as the rain continued to fall. The city’s heartbeat felt different here, slower, but with a pulse that hinted at danger.

This part of the Eastside wasn’t like the Southside they controlled—this was lawless, the kind of place where loyalties shifted with the wind and where the shadows themselves felt hostile.

Bones led them to a small, dilapidated building—one of their contact’s usual meeting spots. But something was wrong. The door was ajar, creaking slightly in the wind, and the faint light from inside flickered like a dying flame.

Luis exchanged a glance with Maria, both of them instantly on alert. This was a trap—or if not, it was a warning.

Bones stepped ahead, pushing the door open with a quiet grunt, and they entered the dimly lit room. The smell hit them first—blood and fear. The contact was there, slumped in a chair in the corner, blood pooling beneath him, his face pale and eyes wide with shock. He was already dead.

“Looks like we found him,” Maria said coldly, though her eyes were scanning the room for any signs of life, any indication of who had been here.

Luis crouched beside the body, his jaw clenched. This was a message. Whoever had done this wanted them to know they were being watched and that someone else was playing the game now.

Bones stood by the door, his eyes dark. “They’re moving faster than we thought.”

Luis rose, his mind already racing through the possibilities. This was no small crew. This was someone with the resources and the connections to strike in the heart of their newly acquired territory without fear of reprisal.

“Whoever they are, they’re not afraid of us,” Maria said, her voice edged with anger. “We need to send a message back.”

Luis nodded. “We will. But first, we need to know who they are.”

Maria’s eyes flickered towards Bones. “Check the rest of the building. See if there’s anything useful.”

Bones didn’t waste time, slipping into the shadows to search the room. Luis remained by the body, his gaze hard. This wasn’t just about power. Whoever was behind this wasn’t just making a play for territory—they were trying to send a message. But they’d miscalculated. This was Luis’s city, and they had just crossed a line.

“They’re testing us,” Maria said quietly, stepping closer. “Trying to see how we’ll respond.”

Luis’s jaw tightened. “Then we show them we’re not to be tested.”

Maria’s smile was sharp. “Good. I’m ready to start breaking bones.”

Back at the penthouse, Luis sat in the study, the weight of the night’s events still heavy in his mind. The dead contact had given them nothing. Whoever had killed him had been careful—there were no signs, no messages left behind, just the corpse as a warning. But Luis wasn’t going to be spooked. If they wanted a fight, he’d give them one.

Maria entered the room, her face set in a cold mask of determination. “Bones went through the building. Nothing useful, except a few names of crews that might be involved.”

Luis looked up, his eyes narrowing. “Names?”

Maria handed him a sheet of paper with a short list of names—small-time players in the Eastside, the kind of crews that usually flew under the radar. But one name at the bottom of the list caught Luis’s attention. Varela.

“This one’s new,” Maria said, her voice laced with curiosity. “No one’s heard much about them. But they’ve been making moves quietly, building alliances with some of the smaller crews.”

Luis’s fingers tightened around the paper. Varela. It wasn’t a name he recognised, but the fact that they were on this list meant they were someone to watch. And if they had been meeting with their contact, it meant they were already too close.

“Find out everything you can about them,” Luis said, his voice cold. “I want to know who they are, where they came from, and what they want.”

Maria nodded, her eyes gleaming with the thrill of the chase. “If they’ve come for us, we’ll make sure they regret it.”

Luis’s smile was faint, but it didn’t reach his eyes. The game was changing again, and this new player—Varela—had just made the first mistake by showing up on his radar.

“They’ve made their move,” Luis said quietly, his voice filled with a dangerous calm. “Now it’s our turn.”

In the shadows of the city, the name Varela began to spread—whispers of a new power rising, someone with the resources and the ambition to challenge the reign of Luis and Maria Borsen. But what Varela didn’t know was that Luis had no intention of letting this challenge go unanswered.

The city was his, and anyone who thought they could take it from him was about to learn just how brutal the Borsens could be.