Page 49 of Assassin's Prey
“Now that we’ve compared dicks, have a seat.” I waved a hand toward the couch like I owned the place, which technically I did.
“You don’t realize it, but you’re just like your uncle,” Redding said tightly, taking a seat.
It wasn’t a compliment, but if he thought I was as ruthless as Amos, I’d take it. “What do you want?”
Holding up a hand, Redding waited until a sheaf of papers was deposited in his palm, then shoved them across the coffee table in my direction. “I want you to sign these.”
I didn’t reach for them. “What do they say?”
“They sign over control of your shares in Hacr Tech to me.”
“Cutting Chadwick out of the deal, huh?” It hadn’t escaped my notice that the lawyer wasn’t present.
“I have you to thank for that,” Redding said. “I’ve been looking for a way to remove my partner for too many years. Now I can.”
“And what do I get out of it?”
“You get to live,” Redding said, pointing out the obvious.
I rolled my eyes.
“You and your family will be left in peace,” he reiterated. “You may even keep the trust your parents so cleverly devised. With Hacr, I’ll have no need of anyone else’s money.”
“Not with that top-secret communications system you’re on the verge of releasing.”
Redding actually looked impressed. “So you’re more than a hired gun. Something of your father must live on then.”
Not in me. I was who Amos Agozi had made me. My brothers had stood a fighting chance though; I’d sacrificed my own to be sure of it.
I considered the papers a moment, as if I would ever make a deal with this devil. “That’s a very generous offer.”
Redding grinned. “I thought so. Far more than what your uncle wanted to give you.”
My muscles tried to tense, but I forced the reaction back. I couldn’t afford to give Redding an inch. “My uncle?”
“Of course. You didn’t think he came up with the idea on his own, did you? He wasn’t happy to discover we had evidence of his participation in your parents’ murders, nor that we were willing to use it against him after already using him to kill them in the first place.” His smile went almost dreamy, as if a pleasant memory was coming back to him. “We had Amos by the balls back then—or he had us. It was a mutual vise, I’m sure, at least until his murder.”
Redding narrowed his eyes. “That was you, wasn’t it?” His gaze trailed over me, taking in the sight of a killer. “It was such a big mystery then, but I can see it now. Thank you.”
“I didn’t do it for you,” I bit out. “I did it for them. Remember that.” He’d just confessed to being an accessory to my parents’ murders. Did he honestly believe I’d let him live?
“I really don’t think there’s anything you can do about it, is there?” he asked, glancing at the packed room.
“Not right this moment.” We had each other by the balls, as he’d put it earlier, but it wouldn’t stay that way.
“I don’t kill unless it’s necessary,” Redding said. “With this agreement, it won’t be necessary.”
I snorted at that bit of bullshit. “You don’t kill at all. You hire henchmen to do your dirty work and hope they’ll keep you and your kingdom safe. News flash—you don’t stand a chance against me.”
“We’ll see.” He heaved a deep sigh. “Just sign the paperwork, son. All of this will go away. You can keep living your vigilante life guilt-free while squandering your parents’ millions, if you so choose, and there will be zero threat against you and your brothers. If not for yourself, do it for them.”
They wouldn’t want that any more than I did. “Fuck you.”
Redding stared me down a moment longer before slapping his thighs and standing. “Our business for today is concluded, then. Call your brothers off. You are free to go.” He turned, hesitated. “Last chance, Agozi.”
I didn’t bother with an answer. We’d both known I was going to walk out of here from the get-go, and if he knew I was like Amos, then any hope he’d had that I would sign his agreement had been pure delusion. Let him have the final word if he wanted it.
It was the last concession I’d make, because I fully planned on having the last shot.
