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Tristan continued to examine me, waiting for me to take a bite of the bait he placed on the hook. “Your face hasn’t changed, but I know your heart is racing. Your eyes are the same, but there’s fear in there—deep down inside. That’s exactly what I wanted.”
“Did you send men to Serengeti?”
His eyes narrowed.
“Now look who’s arrogant. I told you the truth, and you didn’t believe me. Cane isn’t coming, and my wife is vulnerable. Now all you’re doing is wasting time.”
Tristan continued to give me that aggressive look with a crooked sneer. He rose from the chair and kicked it over. “I can’t wait to fuck your wife in her mouth, her pussy, and her ass.”
Chapter 6
Cane
Constantine answered the phone with his usual act of strange indifference. “My favorite Barsetti. How’s it going?”
He’d never met my brother, so it didn’t make sense for him to have a favorite. But Constantine was a bit of a nutjob in that way. He was always hanging off the edge, ready to turn in either direction. He was full of craziness, but he was also full of ruthless intelligence. It was the reason everyone hired him to do their dirty work. He had a mental hinge that allowed him to live a life free of remorse and guilt. I’d seen him gut a man like a fish then immediately eat lunch afterward, while the corpse was still warm and bleeding on the floor. “I’ve been better.”
“That’s too bad. Hope you aren’t expecting me to fix your boo-boos.”
“No. Actually, I have something for you.”
“Indeed?” he asked, a smile in his voice. “You know there’s only thing I want. I just haven’t decided if I’m going to take it from you.”
I’d been a brother to this man in my past. The fact that he considered me to be nothing more than a stranger hurt my pride. But I knew it was just the way he was programmed. He didn’t feel camaraderie like the rest of us. He was built on a different foundation. “You can’t take anything from me, Constantine. But I’m prepared to give it to you in exchange for something.”
“A barter, huh? What do you have in mind?”
“I know you won’t be able to turn it down.”
“Then it must involve a lot of bloodshed.”
“Actually, yes.”
He grew quiet. “I’m listening.”
“I have a job for you. I have an enemy I need to eliminate. You take him out for me, and my entire business is yours.”
He was quiet again, his twisted thoughts working quickly. “All for one man? I hope you have a legitimate reason why you can’t do this on your own.”
“I do. This man is in a complex with a hundred soldiers. All heavily armed.”
“Now we’re talking…”
“He has my brother held captive. I need your crew to help mine take everyone out in the compound while I get my brother out of there. That’s the job. It’s big. There’ll be a lot of casualties. But the trade is fair. Do we have a deal?”
Constantine took his time thinking to himself. He didn’t say anything for nearly a minute. I was in a time crunch, but Constantine operated by his own rules. He couldn’t be rushed or persuaded. “You need to be more specific.”
“About what?”
“Who’s the main target?”
“Tristan Clavern.”
“Ah, yes. I know him. Never liked him.”
“That makes two of us.”
“So your entire business is mine, huh? Does that include everything?”
“It includes everything inside the warehouses, the supplies, the clients, everything. Your men can resume my business, and my clients don’t even need to be aware of the change in ownership. But I suggest you don’t fuck them over because they’ll come after you.”
“I’m a very honorable man…when it comes to business.”
“Does that mean we have a deal?”
Constantine paused again, and this time, it seemed like he was drawing it out on purpose. “I think so. When is this going down?”
“In an hour.”
“In an hour?” he asked incredulously.
“I know that’s extremely short notice but—”
“I like it. The business has been getting too easy lately. Send me the location, and I’ll meet you in thirty minutes.”
Chapter 7
Crow
I was scared.
I couldn’t lie to myself.
My brother’s life was on the line. Button would never be safe if we both died. Adelina would be a prisoner again. My body would be thrown into the middle of the ocean so my remains would never be found.
My life had completely turned upside down since Cane asked me to save Adelina.
What if I had just said no?
What if I were in Greece with Button right now?
Would things have been better? Or would they be worse?
Could anything be worse than this?
Two guards stood on either side of the door at the entrance to the warehouse. The place was cold because the ventilation system must have stopped working ten years ago. The concrete was cracked in places as time and the earth made its mark. All I could do was sit there and keep waiting. The pain was agonizing, but it didn’t seem important compared to the fear deep inside my chest.
