Page 20 of Vicious Hearts

“I set up a munitions factory.”

I watch her lips part in shock but continue.

“At first, we sold to smaller countries; it’s a profitable market and I reinvested all the profit into a bigger, better plant. The second factory gave me better turnover, and it also caught the attention of bigger fish. Eight years after the first factory, I was supplying some of the greatest world powers with their arms. All legitimate,” I add.

“That’s not what the FBI and Interpol claims,” she points out. I guess that’s her question. Shedoeshave a process.

“That’s because they don’t know what I know.”

“Which is?”

“All in good time,” I tell her, and she huffs in irritation at my reluctance to answer the question.

“So, all this,” she waves her hand around the boat, “all this comes from arms trading?”

“For the most part. I’ve got interests in real estate, precious metals, logistics, and I’ve dabbled in some art.”

“Precious metals; does that mean mines, or end product?”

I blink. I don’t see why that’s important, but I don’t lie. There’s no way anyone can know where that mine is. No way.

“Mining,” I tell her, but she just starts scrawling without giving me a reaction.

“What about family?”

“What about them?”

She waves her pen around animatedly as she talks.

“Who are they, what do they do, can we get an interview?”

“My personal life is out of bounds,” I tell her.

This has only made her more curious and more determined, but she just purses her lips and moves on. I know she’s going to circle back around to this topic eventually.

“Some would say your rise to fame and fortune has been meteoric. What would you say is the single most important thing that contributed to your growth?”

“Focus. Singular focus. I had an idea. I planned. And I saw it through. I didn’t let anything stand in my way.”

“And what of the rumors that you have ties to the mafia?”

“If you look up the definition of rumor, you’ll see I fit very nicely into that mold. Someone invented a story about me; someone else found it intriguing enough to spread it around.”

“So, you deny any involvement with organized crime of any kind?”

“Unconditionally.”

She sets aside her resources and folds her hands over her knees casually. I take this to mean her next question is off the record, for our ears only.

“You’re a very private person. No one has ever gotten close enough to even say hello or get a picture of you. Why have you now agreed to sit down for this, your first every interview, with me?”

“To show the world thatI’mnot the monster they should be afraid of.”

* * *

Seven callsme two hours later. He doesn’t know the details of what’s happened between Ariadne and me, but the first thing he does is apologize and tell me he should have gone digging further. He’s one of the smartest men I know, and he would’ve put it together in his head that this was crucial information that he shouldn’t have missed.

He goes on to explain what he’s learned; he gives me the facts as they are and waits for me to give him any further instructions. My mind is racing at a thousand miles an hour as I consider what he’s told me.

---