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Slade stood, walking around his desk. He leaned back against the large mahogany structure to stare in my direction. Flashes of Lily hit me hard. I could see her in him. The lips, the color of their eyes. And then…nothing. My mind blanked for the first time in my life as I thought his question over. There were plenty of things that wanted to come, but rational answers wouldn’t break through. I licked my lips, lowering my head, but never taking my eyes off him. I could see his curiosity and something else. Regret? Uncertainty for letting me in his space?
“I’m here to collect what’s mine.” And just like that, my eyes closed, only to wrench back open. I cursed in my mind.
“I beg your pardon?” He pushed from the desk, tilting his head. There it was. Anger. But more than that. It was threatening rage, as if he only hoped I’d say something to set him off. Now I could see what put people at unease. Luckily, it didn’t faze me like it would most.
“I have money and I want to partner with you. Name your price.”
A deep laugh echoed through the room and I felt myself relax.
“You want to partner? That’s hilarious. Sorry, I’m not looking for anyone to buddy up with. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
My mouth jerked, playfully. “Maybe.” I switched to French. “I’m in a predicament. You can say this is a turning point in my life. I need to start a legitimate career. Work on some form of stability.” I switched to Russian. “I have plenty of skills, but no work history. None that I can put down on paper anyway. Not unless it’s written in blood, that is.” Arabic. “I’m a killer. It’s something I love to do, but I can’t continue if I want to settle down and have a real life. A life with your sister. Fuck, I love her with every fiber of who I am. Soon, I’m taking her and keeping her for the rest of my life and there’s nothing you’re going to be able to do about it. Do you hear me?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Slade raised his hand. “You lost me halfway through the Russian. I don’t speak the language very well. So, let me get this straight. You need a job, but you don’t have work history? Am I getting that right?”
I shrugged. “Close enough.”
“Sit.” He walked over, pouring two glasses of Scotch. I took the offered glass and watched him return to his chair. The man people feared was back. He looked ready to eat me alive. I almost wished he would try. A fight would do me good, although I wasn’t sure how much of one it’d be. I knew of ways to kill someone in two seconds flat. He didn’t appear to be an actual fighter.
“I’m a little confused as to who you are. You attended the Paxton Banquete. I’ve seen you a few places after that. But you don’t belong in the business world. I see that now. So, who the fuck are you?”
My Scotch disappeared in one swallow and I rotated the glass back and forth in my hand. “I’m a man with a dark past, but I’m hoping to improve my future. My skills are varied and I don’t accept failure. I speak four languages fluently. I know a lot about money. How to earn it, and how to spend it. If it’s persuasion of a client, I can do that, too. Name it and I’m your man.”
“You didn’t answer my question. Who’s the real you?” He took a gun out from inside his jacket, pointing it at me, but I never broke my stare.
“I just told you.” I stood, walking a little closer to him. “If you don’t mind, I can demonstrate.”
“You come any closer and your brains will decorate my floor. Who. The. Fuck. Are. You?”
A sigh left my mouth. This was backfiring in my face. What the hell was I doing? “My name is Zane Collins. You know that. I’m a jack of all trades. All. Although, I’d like to put that part of my life behind me and look for something a little more…respectable.” A step closer brought me within perfect range. My hand lunged forward, removing the gun from his grasp. I had it disassembled in seconds flat. “I’m asking for your help. Something I never do,” I said, placing the pieces on the desk next to him.
“Quite the party trick,” he said, raising his eyebrow, “but I’m not impressed. I’ve seen it before. And I’m not sure I can help you. You’re hiding something pretty big. I can feel it.”
I laughed. “Aren’t we all?” The darkness in me swirled and I brought up my hand, shaking my head. “Listen, I’m going to be frank. You and I have the opportunity to get along great or we can be worst enemies. I really don’t need any more of those.”
The ring of his phone had his hand coming up.
“Marcio.” He pushed off the desk and headed back for the Scotch. Shit, was he going to have me thrown out? Killed for showing up and running my mouth, not to mention threatening him?
He paused in pouring. “Are you fucking kidding me?” Hesitation. “No, not yet. I’ll get back to you.”
A growl tore from his throat as he hung up the cell and pushed it back into his pocket. My lips parted at the new man I was staring at. A caged animal surfaced from the depths of the mask I was so sure I’d seen through. Glass shattered against the wall, sending liquor all over the surface.
“Fuck! I’ll destroy him. Sending flowers to my sister. I’ll—”
Slade’s glare melted as he turned to look at me, the composed imposter sliding back into place. “You want my help, you’ll do something for me to earn it. How does that sound?”
Flowers? To Lily? He…another man trying to take what was mine? “Name it,” I gritted out.
“If you’ve done your homework on me, and I have no doubt that you have, you know I have people I don’t get along with. First, I want you to tell me who those might be. Let’s see how good you really are.”
The internal list I had made would have been pages long. Slade was far from popular. He had more enemies than anyone I’d met outside the trafficking world. “Well, there’s Taylor Williams from Putlzer, David Lang from Weston, and if you want to go way back, there’s your ex-best friend and right hand man, Christopher. He didn’t take to being fired very well, if what I heard was right. Forcefully removed from the building, so I hear.”
Anger returned. “He hit on my wife. Showed up at my yacht while I was out of town. Mary thought she could trust him. He crossed the fucking line. He’s luckier than he knows.”
“I have no doubts.”
He shook his head. “Besides, I’m not worried about any of those people. This goes past that. This is about my sister.”
