Page 143 of Pink

“The one we’re about to have. So again, I will see you in approximately sixty seconds. We expect full cooperation while we enter and board the jet. As long as that happens, you will be allowed to resume your plans for the day once we’re satisfied we have what we’ve come for. Fair?”

“I hope your boss is happy,” Marco snapped, hatred coating his every word. “All he needed to do was mind his own fucking business. We could have avoided all of this.”

“Fascinating,” Lev drawled. “Again, see you in a moment.”

Thankfully, Marco did make it easy to enter the hangar and board the jet. They only needed to kill two of his men. The remaining guard waited inside the plane with a gun already pointed at the three men in ski masks as they came inside the plane.

A lot of good it did.

Alessio laughed at the sight. “Put it away. Just … put it away.”

Even Corrado chuckled.

Lev didn’t care for theatrics, and he wasn’t at all amused by their current situation. Nor was he pleased with the man sitting in the leather seat currently cutting the end off a cigar like he wasn’t at all bothered by the chaos around him.

“Marco,” Lev greeted, pulling up his mask.

On the plane, there were no cameras.

“There isn’t a bomb, is there?” Marco asked, raising a brow.

Lev shrugged. “No, there isn’t. You couldn’t say for sure, though. After all, we found you. We had enough information to get here and do this … would you take the risk that I was lying about the bomb, too?”

The man didn’t reply.

Instead, he glanced out the port window to his left where the bodies of his security rested in puddles of blood. Clean shots right to the head. All compliments of Lev’s gun and not Corrado or Alessio’s. He might not be the brains running operations or making plans, but he was one hell of a fucking shot when he needed to be.

“Maybe I should thank you. I did need new guards. I was getting bored with those ones. Have a seat.”

Lev lowered his weapon slightly but didn’t move from his position. “No, thank you. This can be hard or easy depending on how you want it to go from here. I’m really not in the mood to fuck around at this point, Marco. Your little friend has had more than enough time to do that with Gigi while I was in a jail cell. Forgive my impatience.”

Placing the cigar into the corner of his smirking lips, Marco nodded while he patted at the pockets of his blazer before finally finding the lighter he wanted. While he worked to light the thick cigar, he muttered, “I told Andino that I washed my hands of Jensen. I meant that. He would have been good business, but he was also a fucking problem. As you’ve clearly figured out.”

A wisp of confusion drifted through Lev when he replied, “And yet, the only person we could tie back to him that might have been able to help the asshole do what he’s done is you. Sure, he’s got cash and contacts, but you’ve got more. A way to get him out of the country. A bigger hand in the criminal sector of business.”

“Foolish,” the man said under his breath. “You think you know everything, but you know nothing. Shame you’ve done this. A waste of time, really.”

What?

Lev’s gaze narrowed. “You even came to New York to sit down with the Marcello boss with him at your side, Marco. Did you seriously think we wouldn’t come to you when Gigi was taken for answers? You’re the only one who has them.”

“It was Jensen’s demand he attend that meeting, not mine. Pissy man—stuck in his fucking feelings about you and that woman. With the chance of a deal still being on the table with him, I was willing to entertain what he asked for. I was there for my business with Andino, nothing else. I was clear about my position. I didn’t like what your boss did, and he needed to understand that. Andino’s choice to cut ties with me was—”

That was enough for Lev.

He wasn’t here to have a real conversation with the man. He didn’t give a single flying fuck about Marco’s feelings or excuses for what brought them here. The fact was, here they were. And that was enough for Lev.

Despite the man with the gun pointed at him that stood behind Marco’s seat, Lev still rushed forward to make his position perfectly clear. Not that he was worried about the guard. Alessio or Corrado would easily handle that fuck if needed.

Lev wasn’t fucking around when the barrel of his rifle met Marco’s forehead, still warm from the last bullets to leave the chamber.

“Where is he?” Lev growled.

Or she, he held back from adding.

“I don’t know.”

That answer was enough to make Lev shove the gun harder against the man’s head until it would surely leave a red ring behind like a bullseye. The problem was Marco didn’t flinch. Not at Lev’s actions, the threat he faced, or when the words came out of his mouth.