Page 31 of Bad Blood
His head flops around like a fish. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, if you don’t know anything, then I have no use for you,” I say, my arrogance taking center stage as I hold up his phone. “Because these phone calls to Thalia Santiago are all I need to condemn you. Right here. Right now.”
“Maybe I’m screwing her too.”
And maybe you don’t need a tongue. “Don’t insult my intelligence,” I warn, my hand clenching around the back of his chair. “This is a business deal gone wrong. See, Bardi, I think you were outside my casino because you were waiting for Thalia Santiago to return.” Leaning down, I offer a cold smile. “With her stolen earnings, of course.”
It’s an educated guess. I have no idea if they were working together to split the money or if there were a few more moving parts. What I do know is that Marco Bardi is a simple-minded criminal. One lacking finesse and style.
He’ll crumble like a stale donut if given thewrongincentive.
“Fuck you, Carrera!”
Strong insult. Weak delivery.
They’re the words of a cornered man. He has no rebuttal, so I sharpen my knives and go for the kill. “She’s in my penthouse, right now. Whatever you offered must not have satisfied her needs, Marco,” I lie. “Because when I bartered protection for truth, she threw you under the bus faster than you can say ‘traitor.’”
“Bullshit.”
“Think so? Then tell me why, just half an hour ago, she fell to her knees begging for her life while selling you out? She told me everything you’re doing to her.”
More lies.I have no fucking clue what he’s doing to her. This is a power play with a fifty/fifty odds payout.
“You’re lying.”
“Maybe,” I say, tucking his phone into my inside suit jacket pocket. “Maybe not. Are you willing to take that risk?” Pushing off his chair, I hold up a finger. “Before you answer, let me give you a tip—there’s already a deal on the table. There can be two, and you can prove your worth to me, or you can keep protecting the woman who sold you out and watch as RJ here carves your heart out of your chest.” I motion behind me where RJ spins a vintage dagger in his palm.
My fist aches to drive into his face, but I fight the urge, leaving the threat to detonate by itself.
I don’t have to wait long.
Bardi’s frantic gaze bounces between RJ and me. “It wasn’t me!” he sputters, spittle forming at the corners of his mouth. “It was that bitch’s idea to come here and steal from you.”
“That’s not what she said.” Sighing, I glance over my shoulder. “This is going nowhere. You know what to do.”
RJ advances with a nod, the dagger in one hand, a pistol in the other.
That’s all it takes for Marco Bardi to tattle like a little bitch. His body jerks, causing the chair to skid a couple of inches. “No! No!” He swallows hard, sweat staining the front of his shirt. “So you know about the video…”
No, but I do now.
“What doyouthink?”
His face blanches. “Fine, so I may have used the skin flick ofsweet little Ellaas incentive for extra cash. It’s half a million, for Christ’s sake. She’s a fucking Santiago. It’s not like they can’t afford it.”
I control a knee-jerk reaction to put a bullet between his eyes.Jesus Christ.This son of a bitch was blackmailing Thalia with a sex tape of her sister? Is that why she was so desperate for money?
“Incentive…” I say, walking around him like a tiger assessing his prey. “Is that what we’re calling extortion these days?”
Bardi’s bound hands tug on their restraints. “Why do you care?”
I don’t give him an answer because, frankly, I don’t fucking have one. “Was shooting up my casino part of yourincentive, Marco?”
“I told you…I had nothing to do with that. I’m opportunistic, not suicidal.”
Condemned men will say anything to save their own asses. Marco Bardi is a waste of space who exploits women at their weakest—a wanna-be gangster with the intelligence of a dishrag and the balls of a toddler.
However, he didn’t mastermind the attack on my casino tonight. This dumb fuck was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
