AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The only reason why I don’t choke on my next sip is sheer willpower.
Raizo stares at me before he breaks into a genuine laugh. “Oh my God, Zakrevsky, you should see your face. Clara Everett is Detective Greg Everett’s daughter. Everyone knows that.Iknow that. I’ve dealt with her father many times before over the past few decades.” He leans in closer. “Which is how I know ‘whiny’ and ‘petulant’ are things she is not.”
I should be taking this in stride. I should be grateful to be so close to avenging Tolya. I should be laughing at his jokes and playing the good host for the sake of our treaty.
But I’m just not feeling it.
“If you know her so well, how is it easy to just throw her to the wolves?”
Raizo shrugs. “Money. Is there anything more seductive?”
I can think of a few things. All of them are attached to Clara. “Must be a pretty high price?—”
“Twenty million.”
Excuse me?
He sets the bottle on the counter with a decisive thunk. “Twenty million dollars, starting bid. And as I’ve said before, the selective bidders all agreed to bring cash on site.”
I don’t have a fucking clue how he managed to manipulate the market around Clara. And I’m quickly realizing I don’t want to know.
“I hope we’re sticking to our agreement,” I say instead.
“Of course. You get half of her proceeds and twenty percent of the rest.”
I freeze. “The original agreement was for thirty.”
Raizo clicks his tongue at me. “Now, now. Don’t get greedy on me. You stand to make a baseline of ten million from one sale alone. What’s a minor adjustment going to do for your books, hm?”
I set my glass down and discreetly signal for the bartender to leave. After a quick wipedown of the counter, he does, and I slide off the bar stool with all the collective calm I can muster.
“It’s one thing for you to arrive unannounced to my home.” I force a smile that he does not mistake as being genuine or happy. “Unarmed and unguarded, except for your driver. Don’t worry—we’ve been making sure he stays comfortable.”
Raizo stands and opens his mouth to retort, but I hold a hand up to stop him.
“It’s an entirely different level of disrespect to threaten me in my own house, then turn around and try to cheat me out of ten percent. Give me one very good reason why I shouldn’t have you gunned down on your way out.”
He doesn’t seem fazed, but everyone has their tell. His is in the way he quickly wets his lips—they get dry when he’s nervous.
Then he pulls out his cell phone and holds it up to me. “I saw the alert. Seemed as good a time as any to have a chat and clarify a few details. You can’t afford to have the cops sniffing around here, especially when you’re harboring Miss Everett and her brat.”
Ice shoots through my veins. “Excuse me?”
Raizo pockets his phone and nods. “I saw the toys on my way in. The children’s books in the study?—”
“You mean Gloria’s grandkids?” I laugh and shake my head. “Really, Raizo. Do I look like the babysitting type?” I clap a hand on his shoulder and steer him back down the side pathway we took here. “Half my staff lives on site. Of course we’re going to have kids visit now and then, especially for myhead housekeeper. She’s got more grandchildren than you have skeletons in your closet.”
I usher him out the front door to his waiting car.
“I’ll settle on twenty-five percent or the deal’s off. Including the event.”
Raizo turns to me, his voice low. “Throw in the kid and you can have seventy.”
I pretend to not know what the hell he’s talking about. I shove my hands into my pockets so he doesn’t see my fists clench.
“Think about it, Demyen,” he suggests when I don’t answer. “If you think Clara’s bringing in a good price, you should see how much the other side pays.” Raizo glances over my shoulder at the compound, his eyes calculating.
But then he gives me one final nod and slides into his car.
