When We Ride on Our Enemies

by Roy Glenn

Genres: African American Urban

Synopsis

Roy Glenn returns with his bestselling Mike Black saga, which has continued to excite readers for two decades.

When Shayla Clark murders Giovanni Folliero, a made man in The Montanari Family, it forces a sit-down between kingpins Mike Black and Salvatore Marino. At that meeting, Marino tells Black, “There will be no peace until Shayla Clark is dead and you hand over her dead body.” But Black refuses to give Shayla’s name up, instead choosing to lead The Family to war—one in which they are outmanned and outgunned. Is this the one thing they can’t survive?

Release date: August 25, 2026

Publisher: Urban Books

Print pages: 288

Sample

Shayla Clark, a numbers runner and loan shark who worked for RJ, a captain in the Family, murdered Giovanni Folliero, a made man in the Montanari Family. She killed him because, for reasons that still are unclear to this day, Folliero killed Shayla’s younger brother, Marchello Clark, a gambler and enforcer who worked for Judah, a member of RJ’s crew.

A sit-down between the boss of the Family, Mike Black, and Salvatore Marino, the head of the Montanari Crime Family, was called to settle the matter. The meeting was brokered by Angelo Collette, the boss of the Curcio Family, in an attempt to avert the coming war.

Thinking that he was going to be the next boss of the Curcio Family when Big Tony died, Johnny Boy told Angelo that the anonymous tip that got Angelo locked up came from Big Tony. And then he told Black that Big Tony knew that one day he was gonna need to get rid of Crazy Nicky, and he was tailor-made to step up for it. Consequently, Black shot Johnny Boy, and Angelo killed his uncle, Big Tony Collette. That paved the way for Angelo to become the boss of the Curcio Family.

The sit-down was held at Angelo’s private club in Yonkers. Now that Angelo was boss, the club had been taken over by his longtime friend and adviser, Joey Toscano.

After the introductions, the sit-down began with both men showing respect for the other. When Black began to make his case to avoid taking his Family into a war that they weren’t prepared to fight, Marino asked if he could speak with Black alone. At that point, Black became hopeful that there was a chance to avoid going to war.

“Give us the room,” Black ordered, and Bobby and Wanda stood up immediately, as did Angelo. Marino looked at his bodyguards, Cesare Ricci and Gianpaolo Agosti.

“It will be all right,” he said, and each nodded, stood up, and left the room with Bobby, Wanda, and Angelo. Once they were alone, Marino explained his position, and Black said that he understood.

“Nothing we can do to work this out peacefully?”

“Honestly, Mike, if it were entirely up to me, I’d say good riddance to that numskull and say thanks to your people for putting him out of everybody’s misery. But it ain’t entirely up to me. As I said, the old man still carries some weight.”

When Marino stood up, Black did as well.

“There will be no peace until Shayla Clark is dead, and you hand over her body.”

With that, Marino and Black shook hands, and Black watched him walk out of Angelo’s office, along with any chance of avoiding a war. Bobby saw the look on Black’s face when he came out of the office. He stood up.

“I guess the Family is going to war.”

“Unfortunately.”

Black turned to shake Angelo’s hand.

“Thanks for your help.”

“For what good it did. Anything you need, Mikey, you got it. You know that.”

“Thanks, Angee.”

Black looked at Bobby and Wanda. “Let’s go. We got a war to get ready for.”

Wanda stood up and followed Black and Bobby out of the social club.

“Nothing you could do to talk our way out of it,” she said more than asked.

“No. He says his hands are tied.”

The three walked outside where Chuck was waiting. He never was comfortable surrendering his gun, so, in all those years, Chuck had never seen the inside of Angelo’s club. He always waited outside.

“Let’s go, Chuck.”

“I don’t like the look on your face, boss,” Chuck said on the way to get the car.

“No, Chuck. We’re going to war.”

Chuck didn’t say anything for a second or two. Like Black and everyone else, he hoped to avoid going to war. Especially on the heels of their recent clash with the Albanians.

“Where to?” he finally asked.

“Take us to Purple Rock. Rain’s waiting for us there.”

Black took out his phone and made a call.

“This Rain.”

“Assemble the captains.”

“I was hoping you weren’t gonna say that, but somehow, I didn’t think that was actually gonna happen.”

“No, Marino says his hands are tied.”

“See you when you get here,” Rain said as they got in the Mercedes-Benz Maybach, and Chuck drove them to Purple Rock.

After she hung up with Black, Rain thought about what was ahead for the Family. She knew, like everybody else did, that the Montanaris had them outmanned and outgunned, and knew they were in for a fight.

Maybe one we can’t win.

Rain exhaled, and then she called and told her captains, the four Kings, and Nick’s team, to come to Purple Rock for a meeting.

“What’s the plan?” Wanda asked.

After being on the sidelines for a while, Wanda was glad to be back in the fold with her brothers. James thought she should step back from being so visibly involved with a criminal organization because the optics weren’t good for him as a prominent criminal defense attorney. Wanda reluctantly agreed and became less involved in Family matters. Then she began taking steps to separate criminal law from the corporate law her law firm, Wanda Moore and Associates, practiced. That separation from her Family continued and grew wider while she recovered from her recent injuries at Big Cross Cay, in The Bahamas.

Black chuckled. “I planned to talk my way outta this mess. That plan went to shit.”

“So, what’s the plan, Mike?” Bobby asked. “We going on offense, or you gonna let them strike first?”

“You know, as badly as I wanna bomb first, I don’t think it’s the thing to do.”

“I agree,” Wanda said. “But tell me why you don’t think it’s what we should do.”

“Because Marino doesn’t wanna fight us. As far as he’s concerned, he’d say good riddance and thank you to our people for putting Folliero out of everybody’s misery. But it ain’t entirely up to him. The old man, Nicodemus Conti, is Folliero’s uncle. Momo, that’s what they call him, and Marcell De Luca, Marino’s predecessor, came up together, so he still carries some weight with the people who are loyal to him.”

“So, Marino doesn’t wanna go to war over him?” Bobby asked.

“No. At least I don’t think so. My thinking is that if we don’t hit them first, he won’t have to retaliate. At least that’s what I hope happens.”

“What happens if they don’t bomb first?” Wanda asked.

“Hopefully, nothing,” Black said.

Bobby huffed. “What do you think the chances of that happening are?”

Black chuckled. “Slim to none.”

Bobby laughed. “And Slim left the city. He’s in Jersey somewhere, drinking a beer and getting his jimmy waxed.”

Wanda dropped her head and shook it. “Sorry to say this, but he’s right, Mike.”

“Yeah, I know. If nothing else, it might buy us some time.”

“Time to do what?” Bobby asked.

“Time for me and Marino to talk some more. My thinking is, his not wanting to go to war over Folliero, maybe he can convince this Momo guy that his fuckup nephew isn’t worth going to war over.”

“I guess it’s worth a shot,” Wanda reluctantly agreed, but not Bobby.

“I think we should go hard at them from the jump. Hit them hard and don’t let up until they think going to war with us is a bad idea.”

“They got more manpower and firepower than we do, Bobby,” Wanda pointed out.

“And that’s why I say we punch them in the mouth now,” he laughed. “While they’re taking their coats off.”

Wanda laughed. “I’m laughing, but that’s not a bad idea, Mike.”

“No, it’s not. But the fact is, they got more manpower and firepower than we do, Bob. What happens when they take our best shot?”

Wanda stopped laughing. “I wanna hear that one.”

“We keep coming at them with everything we got. Because if they take our best shot and they keep coming, at that point, all we could do then is throw everything we got at them.”

“Yeah.” Black nodded and raised a finger. “And that is why we’re gonna let them make the first move.” Black paused. “And then we come back at them with everything we got, and hopefully, that will make them wanna make peace.”

“I agree,” Wanda said.

“Bobby?”

“I’m with you.”

So it was settled. They would wait for Salvatore Marino to make the first move, and they would respond with what they hoped would be enough force to make the Montanaris want to make peace.

The captains and several other prominent members of the Family were assembling at Purple Rock. The four Kings, RJ, Marvin, Judah, and Baby Chris, as well as Barbara, were on their way. RJ told them he intended to ensure the Kings played a prominent role in fighting this war. He wanted recognition and also wished to protect his father and uncle.

“Bullshit,” Judah said and laughed. “This nigga heard Michelle’s footsteps coming up behind him, and he knows he needs to step up.”

“You’re laughing, Judah, but that shit is real,” Marvin said. “Uncle Mike sees her as the successor to the reign of Rain Robinson.”

“You really think so, Money?” Baby Chris asked.

“Yes, BC, I really do. Everybody saw and was impressed at how she stepped up and took over Barbara’s house while she was recovering from getting shot,” Marvin said. “And now, every time you see Uncle Mike, Michelle is sitting right next to him, whispering.”

RJ nodded because he had noticed that as well. “They damn sure do be whispering.”

“Uncle Mike is taking her to school,” Marvin said.

“You should have seen that coming, RJ,” Judah said. “Uncle Mike and your Pop and Aunt Wanda used to be all in your ear, schooling you on how to run this Family. And your Pop went all out to make sure you got the captain’s chair pulled out for you when Sherman retired. Again.”

“That nigga will be back. Wait and see,” Marvin said. “This thing we do is in Sherman’s blood. Ain’t but so many cruises he gonna wanna take,” he laughed.

RJ shook his head. “No. All it would take is for shit to get thick and for Uncle Mike to ask him to come back.” Because that’s what happened the last time Sherman retired from the game.

Judah looked back at RJ as he drove. “And besides, your boy Eazy ain’t got no interest whatsoever in our thing.”

“Damn sure don’t. If it ain’t on PlayStation, the little prince don’t want no parts of it,” RJ said as the four Kings arrived at Purple Rock. They got out of the car and walked toward the club.

“I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Michelle is here,” Judah said as they went inside.

Once they entered the club, they were escorted to Rain’s office. All of the captains were there: Carter Garrison, Jackie Washington, and Ryder were seated in front of Rain’s desk. Nick Simmons, Monika Wynn, Travis Burns, Xavier, and Carla Assante, as well as Barbara, were there in the office when the Kings entered. Even though Nick’s team wasn’t actively working for the Family, this was all hands on deck. But RJ was surprised that Michelle wasn’t there. Judah leaned close to him.

“She’s probably coming with Uncle Mike,” he said and took a seat in the back of the office.

RJ sat up front with the other captains. He knew for a fact that Michelle didn’t go to the sit-down at Angelo’s private club in Yonkers because he asked his father when he told RJ that he and Wanda were going to the sit-down with Black.

“I thought Michelle was going with him.”

“Who or what gave you that idea?”

“She was with him at the captains’ meeting.”

“Me and Wanda don’t do captains’ meetings. What does that tell you?”

“That I’m wrong.”

So, RJ was confident that she wouldn’t be at this meeting. But Judah was right about him. He did hear Michelle’s footsteps coming up behind him, so he was stepping up.

As for Michelle, she wasn’t in the office that night at Purple Rock. Since her father allowed her a role in the decision-making, she wanted to be there with her Family. But she decided that, after the freakout over her sitting next to her father at the last captains’ meeting, she would sit this one out.

Michelle knew some were concerned that she would be Rain Robinson’s successor. However, in reality, RJ and Michelle were on different paths. Rain’s job wasn’t the job in the Family that Michelle wanted or was preparing herself for. She was grooming herself for her father’s role as both CEO of Prestige Capital and Associates and the Family’s boss, the position currently held by Mike Black, her father.

Truth be told, “their thing” may be in “their blood,” but it accounted for less than a third of their income. Michelle understood that undeniable fact, as did her father, and that is why, at this point, Black devoted the majority of his time and attention to the legitimate company that he and Meka built. What Michelle grasped from that undeniable fact was that the real money, the real power, lay in being Mike Black’s successor.

Therefore, Michelle planned to continue working with and learning as much as she could from Barbara until she graduated from Columbia University. Upon graduation, Michelle planned to work in every department at Prestige Capital and Associates until she mastered them. The last of which would be working with the current COO at Prestige, Meca Brazil.

That was the career path Michelle was on.

RJ can have Rain’s job, which is what Michelle thought about that matter.

“We’ll get started as soon as Black and them get here,” Rain promised when everyone had arrived and were seated in the office.

“But you already know the deal, don’t you?” Carter said.

Rain nodded solemnly. “I do.”

“And?”

Rain looked up and faced her people. “And we’re going to the mattresses,” she said, and complete silence blanketed the office.

“I thought Uncle Mike would be able to talk them outta it,” Barbara said.

“I thought he would too, Barbara,” Rain replied. “I don’t know what was said at the sit-down, but he told me to assemble the captains, and that Marino said his hands are tied.”

“Sounds like we’re going to the mattresses,” Barbara repeated solemnly.

That was when Black, Bobby, and Wanda entered the office at Purple Rock. Rain stood up, and Black took her seat behind the desk.

“Thank you all for coming,” he began. “I wasn’t able to talk our way outta this shit, so we’re going to war.”

Once again, there was complete silence in the office as they looked at Black and one another, waiting for the boss of the Family to tell them what was going to happen next.

“What now?” Rain asked.

“I’ve decided that we aren’t going to make the first move,” Black said, but he felt no need to explain how and why he came to that conclusion. “We all need to be alert and ready for whatever they throw at us.”

“Jackie?” Rain said.

“The React Team is in place,” Jackie reported. “If something jumps off at one of the spots, at the first sign of trouble, the operators know to call the React Team. Monika and her team will back up the React Team in case things get bad, and we need the heavy shit.”

“Carter?”

“All the hard targets are fortified, and our people know what they’re supposed to do. As long as that happens, we should be able to keep doing business as usual,” Carter said.

“I don’t have to tell any of you how important it is that, for the time being, this is a totally defensive operation,” Black said. “We aren’t trying to go to war with the Montanaris, but when they come at us, and they are coming, believe that we are gonna respond with everything we’ve got.” Black looked at Rain. “Is that clear?”

“Crystal clear,” she laughed. “And when they do come at us, we’ll be ready. The React Team is ready, and Monika is ready and fully loaded.”

“For real,” Jackie cosigned and pointed at Monika. “She was telling me what she got planned for these muthafuckas.” Jackie shook her head. “She is ready to respond with superior force.”

“She lives for shit like this. Don’t you, Monika?” Nick asked, and Rain and Jackie nodded in agreement because they knew how deadly Monika could be when the occasion called for it.

Monika took a little bow. “I wanna thank you all for the vote of confidence in my ability to create mass destruction,” she said.

“That’s all I got,” Black said and stood up. “Everybody stay alive, and we’ll be all right.”

It had been over a week since the sit-down took place at Angelo’s private club when Salvatore Marino, the head of the Montanari Family, made the bold statement that there would be no peace until Shayla Clark was dead and Black handed over her dead body.

In that time, everything had been quiet. Although everyone in the Family remained vigilant, Black was optimistically hoping that his plan was working, and Marino was successful at convincing Momo Conti that even though Giovanni Folliero was a made man in the Montanari Family, his fuckup nephew wasn’t worth going to war over.

Black was at the house in New Rochelle with Shy, enjoying a quiet evening sitting out by the pool. He had just commented on his optimism when his phone rang. He looked at the display and saw that it was Rain calling.

“Hello, Rain. What’s up?”

“There was an incident at The Four Kings tonight.”

Black started to get up. “I’m on my way.”

“No. I’m on my way to you,” Rain said quickly, and Black wondered why she said it that way. “We’ll talk about it as soon as I get there.”

“Is everything all right?”

“Yeah, Black. Everything is fine. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes and explain everything.”

“All right then. I’ll see you when you get here.” Black put down the phone and looked at Shy.

“What’s wrong?”

“Something happened at The Four Kings tonight. But when I said I was on my way, she said no, that she was on her way here.” Black shook his head. “It was the way she said it that bothered me.”

“I wonder what’s up with that.”

“I don’t know. But I guess we’ll find out in fifteen minutes,” Black said, and Shy stood up.

“I’m going to change.” She held out her hand. “And so should you.”

“I guess so.”

Black stood up, and they went inside to change out of their swimwear to await their guest’s arrival. Although Black was anxious to know what happened at The Four Kings that night, he was more interested in hearing why Rain seemed to be so adamant about him not going there. He and Shy had just entered the media room and sat down when his phone rang again.

“Yes, Roland.”

“Rain just came through the gate.”

“Thank you.” Black looked at Shy and stood up. “She’s here,” he said and went to the door to let her in.

“Hey, Black.”

“Come on in.”

Black led Rain to the media room, where Shy was waiting behind the bar.

“Come in and have a seat,” Shy said. “Do you want a drink?” she asked, holding up a bottle of Patrón.

“Thank you, Shy.” Rain walked to the bar. “Better make it a double.”

Black joined them at the bar. “That bad, huh?”

“Yeah. It’s that bad.”
. . .