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I was within two feet of the table before Sanford paled, slowly lifting his head. I studied his Adam’s apple as he swallowed before shifting my gaze to his companion. There was surprise, but not as much as a man trying to keep from being hunted down.
“What are you doing here?” Sanford asked.
“I thought we should talk.” I leaned over, palming the table then giving the young man a hard onceover, my expression stern and cold. “Unless you want your nightly treat to learn certain sordid details about his master, I suggest you send him away.”
“You can’t tell me what to do,” Sanford was so stupid as to suggest.
I slowly turned my head, leaning closer. “Would you like me to provide an example of what I will do to your friend?” My question was said quietly so as no one else was able to hear.
“Jimmy. Take a beat for a few. I’ll call you when I’m finished,” Sanford directed.
“Where should I go?” the kid asked, the whiny sound to his voice already pissing me off.
“I don’t give a shit. Here,” Sanford said as he reached into his pocket, throwing me a look to say he wasn’t reaching for a weapon. I nodded, allowing the man to grab his wallet. Even he knew I was a crack shot and before he would have a chance to wrap his hand around the handle of a gun, he’d be dead. “Take the money and buy yourself a treat.” He tossed three hundred-dollar bills across the table.
The kid snatched it, huffing before jerking up from the chair and walking away. I eased into the space, unbuttoning my jacket, sitting back in the seat and taking a deep breath. The scent of food was incredible, my mouth watering, but not because of the need for nourishment.
Other than the sweet taste of Eden’s pussy.
When I said nothing for a full minute, Sanford became exasperated. “What do you want?”
“You know what I want. The nine hundred thousand dollars that was stolen from our accounts.” The amount was amusing, as if one million would sound an alarm.
He snorted, as if I was issuing a false claim, but the nervous tic on the corner of his mouth gave him away. He’d been very careful with his actions, only scraping small amounts at a time. However, I’d been the one to insist on a full audit after Sanford’s retirement. When his extortion was discovered, I thought Alessandro would upend the country to try to find him. Although I couldn’t blame my brother. No one stole from the Montenegro family and lived to tell the tale.
“I wouldn’t do anything like that. I’m a businessman,” he insisted.
“Yes, and a trusted friend of my father’s for years. Then you decided you needed retirement money. A bad decision.”
He pushed his plate away, staring at me as if I’d lost my mind. Perhaps I had, but that wasn’t because of business. Money was important. Even a single penny unaccounted for wasn’t acceptable. As a waiter approached, he tried to wave the man away.
I stopped him short. “I’ll have a bourbon. Neat. My friend will have nothing else.”
The waiter didn’t hesitate, moving away quickly. I remained where I was, unconcerned that Sanford would make any attempt on either getting away or acting out foolishly. He knew he’d been caught red-handed. The only question that needed an answer at this point was whether I’d allow him to live. With the nature of my family’s business, usually an infraction this egregious would mean the end of his life.
And not a pleasant one.
However, given I didn’t believe in circumstances, the fact he’d arrived in New Orleans only days after I had meant there was something else going on. Perhaps we’d underestimated his abilities or his contacts. Or perhaps he was interested in capitalizing on what secrets he could share about the organization. I was determined to find out what the hell was going on. That didn’t mean I couldn’t make him sweat.
“I’ll pay you back.”
“Yes, you will.” Ultimately, it would be with a pint or six of his blood, but not until I determined his real intentions. “Sadly, you’ve spent a significant portion of the money, Sanford. A new car, an excellent choice in the Mercedes I might add. They run beautifully with limited issues. The new house in Charleston is also beautiful, albeit smaller than I thought you’d purchase.” I was only allowing him to know the lengths I’d gone to in order to ascertain what he’d done with the stolen funds as well as locating his whereabouts. “I’m uncertain how you can manage to repay the corporation. Now, I could contact the police. That would certainly provide some form of satisfaction.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” he spit out. “You know what I could tell them. I have…” He stopped short before implicating himself, exposing the rest of his dirty little secret.
“Evidence? Is that what you were going to say?” I laughed and rapped my fingers on the table. Seconds later, the waiter returned, placing a cocktail napkin on the tablecloth, carefully placing the glass in front of me, ensuring the logo was front and center. He didn’t ask about payment, merely walked away. At least the kid knew when to get lost.
As I took a swig of the smooth liquor, I did what I could to hide my amusement as two beads of sweat trickled down on both sides of his face.
“I’ll get you the money, but I need time.”
“How much time?”
“Two weeks. Tops.” He reached for his drink, almost knocking over the glass of red wine. It would be a pity for a single drop of the expensive cabernet to be wasted.
“You have five days, Mr. Wallace. If at that time you don’t provide me with a cashier’s check totaling one million dollars, then I’ll have to resort to retrieving other methods of payment. Now, I’ve given you a break in only adding eleven percent as a fee for my trouble. Consider yourself lucky.”
“That’s extortion.”
