Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 98583 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98583 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
“Want me to come with you?” she asks lightly.
“No, I think it’s better if I speak with him alone. Luca’s nearby. Why don’t you go find him and get some coffees?”
“You sure you don’t need me?”
“I always need you, baby, but we’ll have the rest of the day together.” I kiss her hair and pat her ass lightly. A few younger college-aged men are staring with hungry, jealous eyes. Let them look, but not too closely, or else I just might have to rip out their tongues.
“See you later then.” She stalks off, the most beautiful girl in the city. I watch her go, amazed at my own capacity for love.
I didn’t know I could feel this way.
I’ve spent my whole life caring about my family. I respected and idolized my father. I love my sister, but in a different way. Bianca can be a pain in the ass when she wants to be, which is most of the time. But my love for Lucy is overwhelming, consuming, obsessive. I still can barely go ten minutes without wondering what she’s doing. It sends shivers down my spine. God, I can’t help how much I want her.
“Nice day,” I comment to the lonely man.
He looks up at me. He’s got olive-toned dark skin and bags under his brown eyes. His hair’s thinning, but his clothes are sleek and expensive. He looks strangely out of place.
“Nice for you, maybe.” His English is accented, but still good. “You kept me waiting.”
“Sorry about that.” I sit at the other end of the bench. “My wife wanted gelato. I find it hard to say no to her.”
He stares at me, frowning deeply. “That’s the girl my brother killed himself for?”
“Lucille. A woman worth a thousand deaths.”
“Or perhaps millions and millions of dollars in destroyed art.”
“Oh, come on, Hakan. There’s nothing personal.”
Hakan Yilmaz scowls. His fingers clench, and his jaw works. But he takes a breath to calm himself before looking back at me.
“Where is Demir?”
I slip my phone from my pocket. A nice young family walks past, the father pushing a stroller.
“I love my wife. I love her more than anything. You need to understand that.”
“Yes, yes, I’ve heard how far you’re willing to go for the girl.”
“No, you haven’t.” I turn the phone toward him. “But now you do.”
Hakan’s face spasms in shock and outrage. The screen shows a photo I took of Demir this morning. He’s sprawled out on a medical table, half his skin ripped from his body, the other half burned with a thousand little brands, each one a symphony of agony.
“What is this?” Hakan whispers.
“Your brother, of course.” I flip to another image, showing more mutilation. “I assure you, he’s very much alive and feeling all of that.” I flip to another. His fingernails are missing. His lower lip was sliced off. Bloody drool covers his chest.
“You’re a fucking monster.”
“Here are my terms.” I turn off the phone and put it away. “Gray Wolf calls a truce. You send a new man to run your North American business. You back away from Philadelphia and focus your efforts elsewhere. If you do all that, we’ll come to an arrangement. I’ll step into the vacuum you leave here and funnel most of my stolen goods through your organization. It’ll be mutually beneficial.”
Hakan’s face twitches, and his jaw works. “You’re insane.”
“I’ll also end his suffering.” I mime shooting a gun. “Quick and easy. No more pain.”
“You’ll gift me my brother’s death?”
“At this point, you really don’t want him back. Trust me, he’s not exactly in good shape.”
“You’ll release him immediately. You’ll beg our forgiveness. You’ll burn for this fucking insolence.”
I sigh and shake my head. “I don’t think so. Demir’s finished. The best I can offer is easy release. Or we can go to war, and every single day you drag it on will be another day I spend some time in my basement inventing new ways to hurt your brother. This is mutually beneficial, Hakan. Take my offer to your superiors. I suspect they’ll accept it.”
“Fucking madness,” he says, his voice quavering. “You’re sick.”
I get to my feet. “I told you, I love my wife. And your brother decided to hurt her.” I show my teeth, reveling in the pleasure of my own wickedness. “Run along and leave my city. The longer you take, the longer Demir will suffer.” I make a shooing gesture before I turn and walk away.
It’s a beautiful afternoon. Behind me, Hakan is probably shitting himself with anger. Let the man burn all he wants. When he speaks to his bosses, they’ll make him see reason.
Demir is an easy sacrifice for peace and a future business agreement.
I catch up with Lucy several blocks away. She gives me an espresso from the coffee place I like. Luca’s waiting nearby with some guards, watching discreetly.