Page 92 of Wreck Me

“None, Boss.”

“Excellent.”

“You’ve got everything in place to conceal your involvement here?”

“Of course.”

“Good, because Bane’s not stupid by any stretch of the imagination, he’s gonna suspect two people—you and King. Taking his shipment is bad enough, but hiring us to actually kill his people too, that’s a whole other deal to him.”

“Don’t concern yourself with that.”

I frowned. What? What was his angle here?

With one of his dramatic hand flourishes, he told Waterstone, “I have to say, I admire your ability to sense the change in the tide, to go where the power shifts. You have a gift for strategizing far beyond the mere act of taking on a client and completing a job. You can read the power landscape impressively well.”

“That means a lot coming from you.”

“I’m sure,” Dante responded in that arrogant way of his, which had me rolling my eyes. Of course. He rubbed his goatee, the same dark brown as his hair that brushed the collar of his suit jacket, affecting a relaxed stance as he said conversationally, “Your work six years ago was particularly impressive.”

I tensed.

Waterstone cocked an eyebrow. “Six years ago? I had a lot going on then.”

“Yes, your work with Elijah Bane. Back-to-back contracts, I believe.”

“That was a long time ago. You know I’ve parted ways with him.”

“Yes, I’m well aware. He didn’t treat you well. His loss, without a doubt.”

Waterstone smiled proudly.

I wasn’t surprised, Dante was laying it on thick.

To what end, though?

“That could have been a fruitful and very long-lasting partnership, especially with how it started off.”

Waterstone frowned, clearly thinking on it. “Ah, right. The King job.”

My fingers tightened around the edge of my desk.

“The way in which you were able to make that look like an accident, so much so that it wasn’t even questioned by investigators, is another level.”

Waterstone tensed and then held up his hand. “Implicating you to give the King kid somebody to target was Bane’s idea. He insisted. I wasn’t involved in that part, I swear.”

“Water under the bridge. I’m concerned with the impeccable work you did, as I have another similar job in mind for you. Much more lucrative than Elijah’s compensation too. I pay well for talent. But I need to know what your limits are when it comes to taking on such a contract. So, tell me, why did you decide to accept such a risky endeavor?”

“Well, it wasn’t that risky at the time. You see, Bane had been feeding Jameson King bad intel through some of Jameson’s top advisors who he’d turned, who now actually work for him after Jameson kicked the bucket. So King was floundering, in a real fucking state. It was primed for Bane to make a massive coup, to take it. All it needed was Jameson out of the picture, his stubborn ass the only thing standing in the way and holding onto that empire with a death grip.” Waterstone laughed. “Death grip. Ironic, right?”

“Indeed,” Dante responded, tightly.

But it escaped Waterstone’s notice as he was far too embroiled in telling his success story as Dante had skillfully manipulated him into doing. With another one of his hand flourishes, he encouraged, “Go on.”

“So, yeah, with Bane promising us a big stake in all that once he took it over and broadened his empire to Rossun, we were all in. We took the contract to take out Jameson King and his wife, Laura too. And of course, Wayne Thorn. He was too close to Jameson, Bane was concerned he’d just be able to slide in and take Jameson’s empire over for him and keep it afloat. Bane couldn’t have that.”

“What about Laura King? She wasn’t a part of the empire. She was a pediatric surgeon.”

“To break the kid, his heir. Killing both parents and all that trauma.”

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