Page 91 of Devil's Claim

He could laugh easily and that surprised me given we had Fassi breathing down our necks. “Did you have the planted information dropped off with Gio?”

His smile faded. “I did. Let’s hope Navarro is right. We’ll need to play this carefully, which could mean a trip to New York. We’ll play it by ear. Besides, we have other problems.’

“Which are?”

“The shipment from Mexico was detained.”

“By whom?” I bristled.

“The fucking federal police.”

“I thought your goddamn cousin had a tight hold on those bastards.” Eduardo Gonzalez used to be tight with Jago, almost brothers when they were growing up. Jago had spent a couple of years with his uncle training to become the killer he’d become. The man was smarmy, but trustworthy, his Mexican Cartel complete savages. That had garnered him complete respect and had created a secure passage for importing some of the best cocaine on the streets.

“He’s had some unexpected issues, including some traitorous activity. Someone snitched to an undercover. The shipment was seized and Eduardo was almost arrested. There was gunfire, people dying. I was told it had been messy, but he has it mostly under control.”

“And the goddamn shipment?”

He took a sip of coffee then threw a look over at the bar. He was more stressed than he wanted to let on. “Held as evidence for now.”

“That’s fucking crazy.”

“And damning for our reputation. We’re going to have a long Zoom meeting with my cousin. We need to know the details.”

“You think Fassi had something to do with it. Don’t you?”

“I wouldn’t put it past him. If he was promised Christine as some payment as you suspect, by now he knows she suddenly disappeared. It won’t take him long to put two and two together. Since you slaughtered his men, he’ll have another ax to grind.”

My teeth involuntarily gritted together. I’d called him near midnight, telling him what I’d managed to piece together. “He’ll want to retaliate.”

“He will, but he’s not so stupid to head to Spain unless he wants a bloodbath. We have some time, but we need to develop our plan with the diamonds.”

“Where’s Navarro?”

“Putting out fires with the clients awaiting the ship of party favors.”

“You sent Navarro?” Navarro wasn’t known for his soft handling of customer issues.

“I knew you had other things on your mind and the clients in question won’t grant an audience with anyone but the three of us.”

We sold to the elite of society. They were wealthy, powerful, and as corrupt as they came. While we were very careful who we sold our merchandise to, the clients anticipating this particular shipment wouldn’t take kindly to a delay.

“We need to watch our backs.”

He chuckled. “Always on edge. That’s what I like about you.”

“What the hell is Genevieve offering Christine? Do you know?”

When he lifted his eyebrows again, I shot forward in my seat.

“You are shitting me,” I growled.

“As I said. You might have a vice president on your hands.”

“And you’re going to allow that?”

“Not for me to decide. It makes sense. Imagine how the industry will take two powerful women at the helm of what could be a hot player in town. Once she heard about Christine’s father and what your guest said to you about the industry, Genevieve was completely on board with making this a go.”

“I fuckin’ shouldn’t have told you. She’s been planning this for weeks.”

---