Page 45 of Defy

“He’s late meeting one of our gun suppliers at the docks. Pissing off an international arms dealer isn’t something I’d planned on doing today.”

Hearing our conversation so close to his office door, my father sticks his head out. “Luis is standing Sampson up?”

“Seems that way.” My mother gives him a tight smile.

“Fuckingrat.” My father eyes me like he doesn’t like what he’s about to have to do but he opens his mouth to speak anyway. “Dominic, do you remember Sampson? Ran weapons out of Somalia?”

I nod. As it happens, this is an arms dealer I met as a teenager, accompanying my father. I’d done several deals with him before I fled Venezuela. Only about six years older than me, we always got along well and negotiated easily. Two kids, trying to make our parents proud.

“I want you to increase next quarter’s order by twenty-five percent. But I don’t want to pay any more than I’m paying today.”

I laugh. No way is Sampson going to agree to that, even for me.

My father’s expression doesn’t change. “I’m serious, Dom. I’m tired of your brother’s bullshit.” At this point, I’m not sure who’s adding more shit to the stack, me or Luis but my father is looking at me with an appraising look. Is he telling me what I think he’s telling me? If I do this, he’ll strip Luis of my title and give it back to me?

Luis could have sent me and Libby on our way like I’d asked him to. While it’s also true that he didn’t have to come at all, I didn’t ask to be brought back here and fuck his life up. Like usual, he overestimated his power and underestimated those around him.

“I’ll make your deal with Sampson. In return, I want to be recognized as the second-in-command in this family again and I want to remain head of my own security team. I don’t trust anyone’s judgement but my own when it comes to my safety.”

A satisfied smile paints my father’s face. “I’m glad to know you were paying attention all those years ago.”

I nod, confirming that I purposely used his own words from that lifetime to argue my terms.

“Done.” He holds his hand out for me to shake. “Now go. I’ll find Diego myself for that debriefing.”

Fifteen

SAMPSON REACHES FORWARD to shake my hand as he claps me on the back. “You’re a sly bastard, Dominic. I’m counting on you to come through.”

I fall easily into the man-hug with one of the scariest assholes on the planet. “You’ll get your money as long as you keep your mouth shut,” I assure him.

Sampson and I strike a deal easily because I don’t care what it costs my family in the long run and the long game is what Sampson is after. I basically told him to consider the weapons an advance. We’ll keep paying the same amount over the next 4 years, but he can start cutting the overall number of weapons back next quarter. In the end, he’ll make up more than double what he’s losing today.

Soon after I strike the deal, I find out that Luis missed the meeting with Sampson because he was following up on a tip he’d received. Someone is stealing from one of our clubs and he left shortly after the morning’s drama, following the guy before torturing him to learn who else was involved, ultimately taking out seven people total who had been skimming from my parents right under their noses for quite some time.

Unfortunately, his good deed put him back in my parents’ favor which is fucking inconvenient and also explains my father’s elated mood.

Luis basks in their complimentary praise like a toddler who’s just learned to wipe their own ass or tie their own shoes.

“Looks like we both advanced the kingdom today,” he says with a satisfied smile, pouring himself a drink.

Storm clouds are gathering out at sea and look like they’re moving toward land, fast. I love watching the rain battle it out with the waves. The oceans feed the clouds and the clouds empty into the oceans. The power struggle is beautiful to watch even though ultimately there is no winner. In those moments, it’s like they’re mad at each other simply for existing.

“It would appear that way,” I reply to Luis, coming back to the present, thinking he didn’tadvanceanything. He just stopped our “kingdom” from shrinking due to theft, but I opt not to point that out.

I have nothing more to say to him so I excuse myself to find my mother. She and I need to clarify a few things after ourmomentearlier.

It takes me twenty minutes to find her and she’s in the absolute last place I thought to look. A room I’ve avoided at all costs since I’ve been back.

Adriana’s.

I knock lightly on the partially open door. “What are you doing in here?” I ask curiously as I come to stand next to her at the foot of Adriana’s bed. She’s clutching one of Adriana’s dresses with one hand and fingering her rosary with the other.

“Thinking about life. And death.” She’s not crying, but I can easily detect the longing and sadness in her voice.

Somehow this room still smells like my sister. I’m a little surprised to find that my parents haven’t changed the décor. I figured neither of them would want the reminder. It appears my assumption was incorrect.

As if she can read my thoughts, my mother waves her hand at the bed before us. “I wouldn’t let your father change anything in here. He was angry about it for a while but he eventually relented and allowed it to stay as is. Once it was time for Luis to move into your room, your father couldn’t bring himself to get rid of your things either no matter how angry he was at you for leaving.”

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