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“His business holdings.”
“Yes. That’s exactly right.” He leans forward. “I don’t just want Esguerra gone—I want what he has… his wife included.”
I cock my head. “So you want Julian Esguerra killed but his wife kidnapped?”
“Yes, and not just his wife.” His smile is chilling. “You see, she’s useless to me without some kind of leverage.”
“Leverage? You mean something like a family member?”
“Yes, precisely. And not just any family member. I need someone she’d do anything for… even embrace her husband’s killer.”
My face remains unchanged, but my blood turns to icy sludge. Is this a roundabout hint that he knows about my obsession with Sara? If so, I’ll kill him on the spot, his hidden goons be damned. If he so much as threatens her, I’ll peel his fucking skin off and—
“You see,” Novak continues, oblivious to my rising rage, “I need Nora, and I need her completely under my control. I considered using her parents for that, but it might not be enough. After all, parents usually sacrifice for their children, not the other way around.”
I rein in my bloodthirsty thoughts. “What do you have in mind, then?” He might not be talking about Sara; at least, he fucking better not be. Going on the assumption that he’s not stupid enough to threaten me so obliquely, I decide to take him at face value and say, “As far as I know, other than her parents, Nora doesn’t have—”
“Yes, exactly. As far as you know.” Novak leans back, clearly enjoying his moment of superiority. “You and all the rest of the world, a select few people excluded.”
I stare at him, my thoughts jumping from one fact to another. “Your asset,” I say slowly. “The eight-month timeline… Are you saying that Esguerra has a—”
“Child? Yes.” His bland face animates. “A daughter, in fact, born last Tuesday in Switzerland, some two weeks ahead of schedule. Elizabeth Esguerra—Lizzie, for short. Pretty name, no?”
“Yes, very,” I manage to say. My heart is threatening to erupt from my ribcage, and under the table, my hands form into fists.
A baby. A fucking newborn. That’s his plan, his asset. He’s right in that it would be the perfect way to control Nora. A mother would do anything for her child; she’d give up an empire and her own life if need be.
It shouldn’t matter to me—Esguerra is no friend of mine—but for some reason, the involvement of an infant makes Novak’s plan downright obscene to me.
It makes me glad I was going to double-cross the fucker all along.
But wait. He mentioned that his asset would be able to assist in the hit. That means the child is not it. However… “Is it a nanny?” I ask evenly. “Your asset—she’s connected to the child, isn’t she?”
Novak nods, his hand flexing on the table in front of him. “Yes, but not a nanny,” he says, his expression smoothing out. “A pediatrician—one that comes highly recommended by the Swiss clinic doctors Esguerra favors.”
Of course. I suspected Novak might have some connection to that place. “You bribed the clinic staff?”
“I tried, but sadly, no.” He sighs. “They’re so frightened of their patients that they’re next to impossible to bribe. I had to hack into their computers instead.”
“I see.” All the pieces are falling into place now. “That’s how you knew about Nora’s pregnancy so early.”
He nods. “Esguerra brought her there to be examined as soon as she missed her period. And as soon as they knew, I knew—and I reached out to you.”
I suppress the urge to reach across the table and break his neck. Maybe it’s because I know Nora, or maybe it’s because when I think of infants, I picture my son at that age, but the mere notion of a newborn being used like that makes me ill.
Keeping my tone steady, I say, “So you want me to kill Esguerra, kidnap Nora and her baby, and bring them to you, so in one fell swoop, you’d eliminate your biggest rival and gain control over his holdings.”
Novak’s smile is all teeth. “Exactly.”
“That’s very clever.” I inject an admiring note into my voice. “If you just took Nora and the child to control Esguerra, he’d find a way to fuck you over and get them back—he’s done that before. But his wife—his widow, I should say—will be easier to handle, especially with a baby to keep her in line. Are you planning to make it legal with her?”
“Yes, of course. Marriage is the easiest way to bypass all those pesky ownership hurdles. I will adopt the daughter as well.”
“And raise her as your own?”
He shrugs. “More or less. Any children I breed with Nora will obviously take priority, but as long as her mother behaves, I have no intention of harming the child.”
“Very generous of you.”
He either misses the sarcasm in my voice or chooses to ignore it. “Yes. I think we’ll all benefit in the long term—as will you. A hundred million will go far in assisting with your little vendetta.”
