Page 62 of Caesar DeLuca
“I don’t know who you are! If this is about money, I don’t have any! I could give you free haircuts for life. Keep you looking fresh.”
“Tempting,” I admit, swallowing another taste of brandy. “But I’m afraid I’m much more into the idea of making you understand how you’ve crossed me.”
“Crossed you? But I don’t even—OH!” Craig jerks back as his beady eyes settle on the ring on my pinky finger.
The gold of the D for DeLuca catches in the light and glimmers at him.
He understands now. He gets what this is.
Craig Goose might live in a blip on the radar kind of town, but he’s familiar enough with the concept of a shakedown. Probably from being a business owner.
I grin at him. “Do you want me to tell you why I’ve requested your presence here today?”
“The bets I made at the horse races? I paid that off years ago!”
“This has got fuck all to do with horse races, Craig. Keep up—are you following?” I snap my fingers a few centimeters in front of his face, making him flinch. “I requested your presence because I don’t like the activities you’ve been up to. Do you know which activities that might be?”
He shakes his head, his face slicked with tears and sweat. “If this ain’t about the horse races… then… then you’ve got the wrong man.”
“You’ve been going behind your wife’s back.” I cross over to my desk and pick up my glass of brandy for a final swig. Draining the glass, I even take the last two ice cubes into my mouth. “You’re a married man and yet you’ve been a creep.”
“I love Bev!”
“What would she think if she found out the way you’re perving on her friend? Ariana is like a daughter to the woman. Yet you thought it was appropriate to do what you’ve been doing. Do you realize I’ve been keeping a close eye on you, Craig, for the last few weeks? That night you towed Ariana’s car home and then tried to go into her bedroom? I saw you.”
His beady eyes aren’t so beady anymore; they round to twice their usual size. “I hadn’t heard her correctly about where the bathroom was!”
“You were on my radar as of that night. I know someone with nefarious intentions when I see them, and you were up to no good. I had my men research you, follow you, dig around into your past, and learn everything about you. I don’t like what I discovered, Craig,” I explain plainly, stuffing my hands in my pants pockets. “I learned all about how you’ve been perving on Ariana for months now.
“There was a night this past winter where someone was banging on her doors late into the night. That wasn’t you, was it, Craig? How about the slashed tires on her car, giving you an excuse to tow it back to her house? How about all the times you’ve volunteered to help her out just so you could come over to her home? You’ve been taking things out of her dresser drawers, haven’t you? Isn’t that what you were going to do the night I saw you?”
Craig’s resorted to shaking his head profusely, producing gibberish answers. He’s denying the truth I’m speaking to him despite the fact that I’ve got plenty of proof. All the evidence that points to Craig being a pervert for a long time now.
“I was never going to do anything… it was harmless!” he chokes out when he witnesses one of my men hand me my brass knuckles. “I swear, I didn’t realize the girl was off-limits! Bev is always talking about how she’s all alone?—”
“So, after everything I’ve told you, you think the problem is that you got caught? That she wasn’t as alone as you thought? That’s what you’re taking away from this?”
“No… no of course not!”
But as he blubbers on my office floor, he offers no real defense. He has no explanation for his actions. He knows he’s fucked up.
I slide on the brass knuckles and curl my hand into a fist. “I’ve heard enough of your sobbing. You’ve violated Ariana’s trust and privacy—two things that are important to her which makes them very important to me—so now you’re going to pay the price. This is going to hurt. Don’t worry, you’ll never make the same mistake again.”
I throw the first punch, introducing his face to my fist.
I stroll into the bedroom of my penthouse at the Crown with blood staining my clothes. I’m no less pissed after making Craig pay for what he’s done.
Almost enough to have my men bring him back up for a second beatdown.
Currently, he’s being transported to the mountain town near Ariana, where he’ll be dumped bloodied and bruised and reeking of booze. The sheriff we’ve paid off will show up and arrest him. His third public intoxicated offense in a few years.
Should he ever give her trouble again, I’ll kill him with my bare hands.
I told Ariana she’s been playing with fire.
I told her she didn’t understand the predators lurking in wait, looking for an opportunity to take advantage of her. She should be somebody’s wife; she should be taken care of.
…I’d never let her be so unprotected if she were mine.
