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I nod and admit, “He burned down The Black Rose.”
“Sounds right,” he agrees. “He won’t care about innocent people. It’ll be seen as an added bonus for him.”
Of course it fucking will. I already knew that though. He isn’t giving me anything actually useful. “Steel Roses, Thorns, and the fights would be the obvious hits. He will have men stationed there, ready to take advantage of any opportunity but it won’t be his focus. He won’t wait for retaliation either. He will already be planning his next mark.”
I motion for Luca as I lean back onto the heels of my feet. I don’t have to turn to know he will pass that information along to Noah and Ryder. We need to have our own eyes ready to take out any of Romano’s eyes.
“The Snow Queen will be a target. All of the men you’ve been seen with. Those two big brutes who sometimes come to the fights. He’ll try to get people to stand against you. Tell his allies not to go to the fights any longer or do business with you.”
I laugh, more genuine this time. “That won’t go well,” I point out. We became the center of criminal activity for this very reason. It’s hard to turn your back on the people who facilitate your business.
He nods. “I know. Luca being an enemy has always been Romano’s worst nightmare. Though I guess, it’s really you who he’s been scared of this whole time. Just never realized it.”
“Luca is scary in his own right,” I say. He is the face of this empire for a reason after all.
“He’s not the one calling the shots though, is he?” A Cheshire grin spreads across my face. I can see what William is trying to do. Force a wedge between us. Even if he is turning on Romano, he still wants to get one small act of revenge against us too.
“You impress me, William. Still fighting to land a hit when it’s so clear you’ve already lost. You’re aiming in the wrong place though. Luca and I have always been partners. I know that may be hard for you to understand but we work together.”
His body sags forward, but that fire is still in his eyes. I know he hasn’t given up. He won’t give us everything, but he might just give us enough. “Give me names. Allies, aliases, shell companies. Everything you can think of.”
“Promise you won’t lay a finger on Taylor,” he demands.
I pretend to consider it for a moment before relenting. “I promise from this day forward, I will not touch a single hair on Taylor’s head.”
It isn’t exactly a lie, now is it?
He studies me for a moment before finally caving. He starts listing out some identities Romano uses. Most we already knew but there are a few new ones mixed in there. Same with the companies.
He pauses when he starts to name allies. “Romano doesn’t get along with others,” he admits. “I don’t think there will be many willing to stand with him against you. He will try, but eventually he will turn to the real money behind his operations.”
“His elite clients.” We always knew that Romano catered to the wealthiest people in the nation. The sickos that are able to drop hundreds of thousands of dollars on the skin markets. He knows all their dirty little secrets. Of course they will protect him when he realizes he can’t get away from us on his own.
William nods. “They won’t hang him out to dry. They have too many skeletons in their closets.”
“How long before he tucks tail and runs to them?” I demand. Things might get a bit trickier if we don’t get our hands on him before that happens. They will have the wealth and resources to get him out of my reach. Not that it will stop me. The wealthy bastards backing Romano were always my end game anyways. I was just hoping to use him to find out who was with my father the night my life fell apart.
“First, he’s going to try and prove dominance over you. Blow up more businesses if he can. Take out your employees and associates. He will try to disrupt The Snow Queen’s distribution. He will make a show of strength, host something huge to show he isn’t being affected by this. Try to buy people to his side. When all that fails, he will run.”
My head spins at the information. Of course, it’s only a guess, but a guess from someone who knows Romano better than anyone. Plans start to come together. Maybe Romano turning to them wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all. He could lead us right to their doorstep. An avenue to explore with the guys.
“Just who is backing him?” I ask but I can see before the words are even out of my mouth, he doesn’t know.
“I know you hacked into his records,” William says. “You probably know as much as I do. Senators, police, FBI agents, judges, celebrities. They’re all clients, but there’s a circle of people even I don't know who is involved. We don’t use names for obvious reasons.”
I narrow my eyes at him, debating with myself. Based on what he just said, it’s probably just as I anticipated, he won’t have the answers I need. It’s worth still asking. “What do you know about The Fallen Prom Queen?”
Surprise flickers across his features. “You want to know about Charlotte Devereaux?”
“I do,” I acknowledge, maintaining my poker face. “Everything you know about what happened to her and where she is now.”
He scoffs, “No one knows where she is now. I don’t know how you’ve put the pieces together but you’re correct. Romano knows what really happened to her, but he wasn’t behind it. We only heard after the fact. Her father was a client, she found evidence of that,” he hesitates, looking sick for the first time since I’ve known him. “He tortured and raped her when he caught her snooping. She disappeared though. Romano still hunts her because she’s a threat. She could still have evidence with the faces of his most elusive clients.”
How interesting. There’s no sign of deception. He even looked put off by the idea of my father being the one who had raped me. Apparently, incest is the line he won’t cross.
“Guess Romano really doesn't trust you all that much.”
He sputters, “I would know if he had found her. He spends a lot of resources trying to track her down. He hasn’t found her.”
