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Dmitri nods his head, satisfied with my answer. I’m not done yet though.
“That’s fantastic. So… when can we sign contracts?”
“Wow, you move fast. I’d like some time to think about it, if that’s alright. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can, and we can talk contracts then. If you get your people to send over all the paperwork so my people can go over it, that would be great.”
His smile stiffens. “Oh, I see. Well, we're hoping to get this project and agreement underway in the next eight weeks. We'd love to have everything in place before then.”
This is where people who assume they have some control over us falter. I know we’re small fry to him, and he probably expected me to jump like a dog and catch his bone.
I won’t though. I gave my answer.
“I’d like some time tothinkabout it. I’ll get back toyouas soon as I can,” I merely repeat. I almost laugh at the flicker of anger that sparks in his eyes. I know what death looks like, and I’m sure this guy is the kind who would kill me dead just for my insolence if he could.
He needs me, and that’s my leverage.
"Okay. Well… I guess we’ll be waiting eagerly to hear from you."
“Three weeks tops,” I answer. That will give me time.
Dmitri bows his head, and although he looks calm and cool, his eyes still give him away. There’s a lethal iciness in them that I pay attention to.
Fucker… he can wait.
“Thank you.” He stands, as does Yuri, and they both leave.
The tension leaves the room too, and the air is less tight as the door clicks shut.
I look to Salvatore, who leans forward onto the table. Christian shakes his head.
“I do not like them,” Christian says.
“You and me both,” Salvatore agrees.
I’d jump in there and say the same, but I decide to take the high road and talk out the shit.
“What don’t you like?” I ask.
“Shady as shit,” Salvatore says.
I raise my brows. “We’re shady as shit.”
“Come on, Vin, you know what I mean. Diamonds as well… we’ve never done diamonds.”
“And there’s a reason for that,” I add.
“Yes, we’re done if we get caught,” Christian puts in.
“But we’ve never got caught, not once. I want us to think about this objectively. I’ll admit there’s something I don’t like. They won’t be telling us everything the same way we’d never tell. Business is business. So, the focus needs to be this: we stand to lose a shitload of money if we get this wrong.”
Salvatore narrows his eyes at me. “I don’t know, Vin. I feel like there’s more that could potentially be damaging to us.”
He’s right, at least I sensed that too. This alliance could be no different to any other we’ve agreed to, but then it might not be. And it’s an alliance. Different to just a simple contract. It means working together above the rim.
“The problem I see is, there’d be a clash of titans. We know how we run things but don’t know how they do. We don’t know what else we could be getting into with guys like that,” I say.
“So, what do we do?”
“We’ll do our standard checks and make sure it’s all for our benefit. If it is, then we’ll do it.” There, that’s me being completely objective, although my gut instinct is already telling me not to trust them.
