Noah's POV

"Go, go, go."

I ordered while I stood by the docks, monitoring the carriage of our recent shipment of military class guns meant to be sold to a group who had come to my family, the Santoros, a powerful mafia family ruling New York from the underground, with a proposition of several million dollars if we are able to smuggle in weapons that would be of great help to their 'job' operations.

Originally, the group had gone to seek audience with another mighty mafia family, the Morallis, but thanks to an Intel I had gotten from an extremely reliable source, I was able to make them shift away from our rivals, thereby prompting the head of my family, Giovanni Santoro, also my father, to make me oversee the operation because he believed in my strength as a potential heir apparent to the Santoro family empire as one of the biggest crime family in New York city.

Even though I didn't like being present at a job that involved guns and violence, I needed to make sure the operation goes smoothly due to the fact that I was competing for the spot of the next leader of their family with my half-brother and the only son of Giovanni's mistress, Luca Santoro, who was strong willed as well as a brilliant strategist with a strict eye for business.

I was sure he loathed the fact that I never regarded his abilities even after we graduated from college together. He had an intense aura anytime he was around during a meeting or a business negotiation. I couldn't admit it, but deep down, I was jealous that he has been able to achieve things for the family solely on his own, causing him to earn respect from everyone, except my father.

I needed to make sure this deal I had stolen from the Morallis would go as smoothly as possible. I couldn't afford to make any mistakes, whatsoever.

By the corner of my eye, I was able to scout a coast guard approaching our vessel.

I quickly and quietly signaled to my men to drop whatever they were doing and hide. They obeyed my command immediately, unfortunately, one of them was in such a rush that he caused a huge amount of noise, calling the coast guard's attention to our activities.

"What are you men doing here at this time?" The coast guard asked.

He gently placed his hand on his gun which was located in a holster under his belt.

I composed myself. As a man that had grown up serving a big crime family, I was able to work extremely well under pressure.

"I am Jonah hall" I proceeded for a handshake and I was obliged.

"Nice to meet you. What are y'all doing here?" The coast guard asked again.

"A shipment of fresh sardines arrived after it had been delayed so we are moving it into the city" I replied.

I made sure to maintain eye contact with the guard to enable me seem legitimate enough for me to be allowed to continue his business.

"Can I see am ID?" The coast guard looked from me to the boxes the my were carrying.

My anxiety lessened. I was thankful I had given myself a rule never to leave my house without carrying my fake ID which contained my allis, Jonah hall.

Thanks to my cool, calm demeanor, I have been able to stay away from trouble since I reached the working age as a member of the Santoro family, using my fake name generated for me by my father.

I reached inside my pocket and pulled out my fake ID which I handed over to the coast guard. After several minutes of close observation of the ID, I was out of the red zone, free to continue my work.

"Thank you" I appreciated then turned away from the coast guard after I had watched him begin walking away.

As my men began lifting the boxes again, one of them mistakenly let it slip out of his hand, causing it's contents to spill on the floor.

"Shit!" I quietly cursed.

I immediately remembered the coast guard and turned to see if he had witnessed the scandalous reveal of our illegal goods. Fortunately, we were in the clear; the coast guard had not seen anything.

I heaved a sigh of relief. Getting caught would bring about a ton of trouble for me as well as for my family, and when this task was posed to see if I was more efficient than my half-brother, Luca, I couldn't afford to lose.

Anger swelled up inside me. I marched to my worker who had made the mistake of letting the box fall on the ground.

"If you don't take care, I'll make sure you and your family suffer, with each day ceaselessly hoping for me to end your insignificant lives while I torture you all" I threatened then began to help my men move the guns back into the fallen box.

"Those aren't Sardines."

The Coast Guard moved closer to me, who was surrounded by a lot of military-grade weapons, caught red-handed.

Having made up his mind to arrest me for trying to commit a criminal act, he raised his service gun.

"Don't move."

I sighed. What I had wanted to avoid hit me directly in the face. I stood up and raised my hand. Although my men were incompetent, they still had the demeanor of intimidating and well-armed.

"You don't want to do this, trust me" I adviced, slowly lowering my hand to reach for my gun.

The coast guard guessed what I was trying to do and shot up in the air, startling everyone.

"I said don't move."

Unexpected gunfire broke out immediately when one of my men fired at the coast guard but missed. I quickly hid to protect himself.

He shot back and retaliated, but my men and I, who were well-trained and well-armed, continued to fire consistently. Before long, the coast guard's gun finally clicked empty.

Despite being surrounded as well as outnumbered, he maintained his position. Although he put up a good fight, exchanging bullets with me and his men, there was no way he could win without sustaining a serious injury .

I brought him out of his hiding place and delivered a devastating strike that disarmed him by knocking him to the ground.

"You should have stayed out of my business" I scoffed.

As I was about to deliver the finishing blow, I heard several sirens from a distance coming towards me. I quickly let go of the coast guard and grabbed as much of the guns as I could into my vehicle then drove away, my men following closely behind him.

There was no doubt about it; I was in trouble.