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“In case I don’t cooperate?” she asks, a snark in her tone.
“Something like that…” I smile, loving her sass. “But it won’t be needed.”
Glancing at Omen, I signal for him to start. So he sets his cell up on the dock and presses record. Bayou stands back, ensuring everything is secure, while Grudge watches the door, and I start talking to her.
“Charlotte, the first thing I want to address with you is that we have it on good authority you go by another name. Charlize. Can you tell me why the two names?”
She raises her brow. “My nameisCharlize, but at the hospital, my coordinator thought that some of the older and the younger patients might not gel with Charlize. It’s not the most common name, so for the sake of the patients, we changed it to Charlotte. I have nothing to hide, Nico.”
Tilting my head, I smile. “For the sake of this exercise, I’ll get you to call me Hoodoo. It’s whohewill know me as. He’ll recognize the name better than Nico.”
Charlotte scrunches her face in confusion. “I’m sorry… what?”
“Charlotte… I’m going to keep calling you that. We have someone in common, a man you know and who I know, but we know him very differently. To you, well… I don’t know if you’re in love with him or just in love with what he can provide for you. But tome,he’s cold, calculating, ruthless. A killer.”
Charlotte shakes her head, looking completely confused. “I… I don’t know what you’re talking about?”
Rubbing my hands together, I let out an exhale. “Charlotte… you work for Anton Novikov as his babysitter, yeah?”
She jerks her head back. “How could youpossiblyknow that?”
“And when his wife goes out, you fuck him on the sofa while the children are sleeping… yeah?”
She gasps, swallowing hard, her eyes welling with tears as she sniffles back her emotions. “Whatisthis?”
Squatting down so I am more at her level, I slump my shoulders. “Charlotte, Anton Novikov is the leader of the Russian Bratva, andheis the reason I was in the hospital. He sent a drone into the clubhouse compound laced with strychnine and a note saying he was coming after the club. He intended to kill one of us… he nearlydidkill me.Hedid that. The man you have been sleeping with for years is a criminal mastermind, a killer, and the leader of one of the biggest crime syndicates in New Orleans.”
Charlotte stares at me like I am completely insane, then she lets out a laugh. “Am I on some television prank show? Good one, Anton, you got me. You can come out now.” She continues to chuckle to herself as I huff.
“You don’t believe me?” I ask.
She rolls her eyes. “Anton is one of the kindest, gentlest people I know. There’s no way he iscapableof hurting anyone.”
My stomach tightens hearing this. I hate that Anton has gotten her so caught up in his web. “Charlotte, think about it. Does he leave to take private phone calls when you're with him? Do strange men show up to talk to him, then suddenly leave?” She looks at me like I have just hit the nail on the head. “That’s his soldiers coming to talk business with him… honestly, this can’t bethatmuch of a stretch, can it? Where do you think he got all his money?”
“He told me he was in global exports.”
I let out a laugh. “C’mon, Charlotte. You never once thought something was off about him?”
Her bottom lip begins to tremble, and she shakes her head. “This is crazy… I don’t… I can’t—” She stops midsentence like she’s starting to shut down.
I need to convince her, so I pull out my cell and flick it to the recording of the nanny cam that Raid sent me in case I needed to really bring it home.
“Charlotte, what you’re about to see happened yesterday and was captured on Anton’s nanny cam.”
She shakes her head, her eyes bulging wide like she is freaking out. “No… I can’t. I don’t want to see—” But I place the cell in front of her, showing Anton talking to some guy. I have no clue who. Then the guy drops to his knees, clearly begging Anton for forgiveness. Anton pulls out his gun, aiming it at the guy’s head. Charlotte gasps, her eyes going wide as she reaches out, grabbing my cell and holding it like she can’t believe what she’s seeing. The guy vehemently begs for his life, but Anton pulls out his cock, pissing mercilessly in the guy’s face.
“Oh, my God!” Charlotte mumbles, her eyes welling so much they overflow, her hand trembling, making the phone shake.
As the guy begins hyperventilating in panic, Anton shoots him in the shoulder, then twice in the stomach. Charlotte lets out a small scream in shock that Anton would do that. She pushes the cell away from her like she doesn’t want to watch anymore. But I bring it back in front of her face.
“Watch, Charlotte. Watch what this asshole is capable of.”
She wipes underneath her nose, almost dry retching as the guy falls to the rug and begins to bleed out. Anton grabs a bottle of alcohol, pouring it all over the guy. We can’t hear, but you can see the poor bastard writhing in pain as Anton smashes the bottle over him, the glass cutting into his skin. Then, Anton turns, walking away, simply leaving him there.
Bleeding.
Writhing.
