Page 10 of Queen's Move

“Of course, a stellar piece of work there. Executing a weak ruler and flawlessly picking up where he left off.” He reached for his drink, Red Rose tea with one sugar, and took a quick sip. “You will make an exemplary partner. I’m honestly becoming as impatient as a young bridegroom.”

No response for a moment and he wondered what she was thinking. He found her all the more enticing for thinking that she could change his mind. Nothing she said or did would change his mind. They were a match made in heaven. Had been from the moment he set eyes on her, but he became more convinced each time he saw her, talked with her. She was vicious, intelligent and beautiful. He couldn’t have asked for a better woman to come into his life. He didn’t mind chasing her around a bit, cornering her in her beloved city until she had nowhere to go but into his waiting arms.

“Alright,” she finally said. “Nothing I say is going to convince you otherwise. But if you ever do manage to get me to an alter it will be one hundred percent unwilling. And you’ll have to sleep with one eye open for the rest of your life.”

“I’m sure we’ll settle into married life blissfully,” he replied, a smile curving his lips.

“And for the record, no woman likes to receive body parts as an engagement gift, asshole.” Each word a little grenade lobbed at him. He let her have the last word, mostly because she hung up on him.

Sotza lowered the phone and took a sip of tea, picturing Vee, flushed with anger, stomping around her condo. She was a beautiful woman, but he particularly liked when her cheeks were blushing pink. It complemented her smooth, silky blond hair. He’d never been particularly attracted to any single type of woman. Thought they were all fine. Fucked the ones that attracted him, when he felt like it. Not often. Women got complicated and annoying. And he preferred not to kill them unless it became unavoidable. But Vee, she was different. Her cool beauty called to him, but her fiery temper captured and held his attention. Her intelligence, her determination, her pride, it all sealed the deal.

There was almost nothing he wasn’t willing to do to ensure her place at his side. Including cornering and trapping her in her own city. He’d give her one more move, just for fun. After that, it would be time to collect his queen.

Chapter Nine

“We can’t find her, Señor.”

Sotza looked up from his temporary desk and studied the man standing before him, assessing him. He didn’t frown, didn’t get angry, didn’t react. That was the thing about the Venezuelan boss, what terrorized the people that knew him, or knew of him. He rarely gave warning before he struck. Simply waited until his victim wasn’t watching then killed them, no fuss, no mess. The lucky ones would die before they even knew what happened. The unlucky ones got to find out why he was nicknamed the Gentleman Butcher.

Sotza sat back in his chair, his posture straight. “I must say, Mr. Cruz, I am… disappointed.”

It’d been five days since he spoke with Vee, five days since he took out her Mexican connection. He had to admit, he’d been hoping for a vicious comeback from his future bride. Her retaliations were a thing of beauty, the dockyard a particular favourite moment of his. She’d been glorious, facing him down, standing at the front of her crew, surrounded by smoke. Wild and furious, unafraid. He wasn’t disappointed with her quiet disappearance though. No, he was intrigued. What could she be up to?

Steve Cruz shifted from foot to foot and tried to look anywhere but at his boss. “The thing is, she ain’t at her condo, she ain’t at her mansion, and none of us that’re sitting on both places saw her leave.”

“Which draws us to the conclusion…?” Sotza asked patiently.

Cruz frowned, then he understood. “That she must’ve left another way, or maybe never was at home to begin with.”

“She was home, Cruz, as I told you when I asked you and your men to sit on her residences. To watch her movements and report.” Sotza mulled over the possibilities. “Perhaps she didn’t leave. Perhaps she’s still at home.”

“No, boss, we checked.”

Sotza stiffened, his back ramrod straight against the leather chair. “What exactly do you mean by ‘checked’?”

“We knocked on the door.” Watching Cruz explain his actions was like watching a train about to derail. His death was going to be fast, surprising and painful. “When she didn’t answer we went in to check on her, see if she was there. But everything was silent, cold, you know, like no one’d been home in awhile.”

Sotza refrained from pointing out that he’d specifically asked Cruz and his men to remain in the background, never going near Vee or her people. Now it would appear that Vee had gone to ground in a move he hadn’t anticipated, and he had no idea where she might be. If she’d fled the city or was waiting him out.

He also didn’t ask why Cruz hadn’t thought it strange that there was no security stopping them from entering her home. He didn’t want to tip Cruz off to the depth of his fury. Not before he was ready to dispose of the man. “And the mansion? I take it you applied similar tactics?”

Cruz nodded eagerly, wanting to prove his diligence. “No one home there either, Señor.”

This is what Sotza got for hiring local thugs. He’d overestimated Cruz’s intelligence, expected too much. In hindsight, Sotza should’ve gotten someone smarter, braver and generally a bit more of everything that Cruz wasn’t to watch his woman. The moment he’d decided to keep Vee for himself he should’ve flown Mateo Gutierrez in. Mateo was a jack of all trades. Sometimes Sotza’s second, sometimes his enforcer, sometimes security, and sometimes, on rare occasions, he acted in Sotza’s stead. Taking meetings Sotza couldn’t or wouldn’t make, acting decisively in the Venezuelan boss’s name. Naturally, when Sotza had left his estate, he’d left his seat of power vulnerable. The only man he trusted to care for things in his stead was Mateo. But now he needed him in Miami.

When Sotza went a few minutes without speaking, Cruz opened his mouth to say something, break the silence, possibly blubber out an excuse for his poor behaviour. Sotza help up a hand, stopping him. Cruz fell silent while Sotza picked up his phone and dialed Mateo.

“Mateo,” Sotza said into the phone when his man picked up, his voice marginally warmer.

“Boss,” Mateo acknowledged. “How’s Florida? You get down to the beach yet, enjoy some sun?”

Sotza shook his head. Mateo liked to think he was funny. He enjoyed the idea of Sotza in a bathing suit, out of his typical outfit of impeccable black suit with its long coat, white collared shirt, vest and tie. “Regrettably, no.”

“Too bad,” Mateo said, humour in his voice. “With your once-per-decade tolerance toward vacations I thought you might do what the locals do and go to the beach.”

Now Sotza did chuckle. The reason Mateo was calling his trip to Miami a ‘vacation’ was because they both knew how much Sotza enjoyed a good bloodbath. He loved takeovers, the more hostile the better. It’d been years since anyone had dared to disrupt his life enough that he had to reiterate his brutal reputation. This trip had invigorated him, reminded him of why he loved being boss. And Vee was the icing on the cake. The sweet treat he wasn’t expecting when he agreed to Reyes’ proposal to travel to the States.

“I need you in Miami,” Sotza said, sobering and getting down to business. “Come watch my back while I take care of business.”

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