Page 45 of Destined for the Devil
That was correct.
I contemplated killing Sergei, but I was sure it would send Isla into a sudden state of shock, and I wanted to make her happy, not stressed. So instead, I blocked his number, changed the locks on his office, and began the process of altering all our paperwork, excluding him from everything.
I knew he wouldn't dare come to my home, but the message I sent him was clear. I observed Denis with discontent, having no desire or energy to explain and engage with his nonsense.
"Seryogaisout. Last week was the last fucking straw. I'll send him a cheque for his share once we get the contracts renewed, and he can go live blissfully." I waved Denis off, concentrating on the files in front of me, but instead, his face morphed into a scowl.
"This is not your decision. You don't fucking—"
"I fuckingdorun the whole show!" My palm made loud contact with my desk, and I shot up to my feet, anger pulsating through all of me. Who thefuckdid he think he was to lecture me?! "It's already done. He knows he fucked up. If he dares to take another step forward, I swear I’ll carve his fucking heart out. Make sure you pass the message along to the cocksucker."
Denis stared back at me, completely in the dark about Sergei’s actions. Although not completely, he was the one defending him when Sergei proposed rape when Isla showed up in my house. "What the fuck happened between you two, Roma? We've been brothers since forever." He spoke in disbelief that Sergei was being removed.
"I don't give a fuck,” I spat back. “He lost it long ago. I stopped trusting himyearsago, D! And so have you; don't fucking lie right now. He’sout." My words were final.
Reluctantly, he shut his mouth and shifted on his feet, deciding to change the topic. "Rodriguez says he wants to talk. Only to you."
"I'm all ears. He knows my number," I said once I slumped back into my chair, and after a brief pause, Denis turned and walked out. But not more than an hour later, my secretary informed me that Claudio Rodriguez was waiting to see me.
That, I was not prepared for. This was extremely out of character for him—to drop by out of the blue in the middle of the day. Always opting for phone calls, evidently, Claudio decided this was a face-to-face conversation.
In his mid-forties and perpetually single, Claudio had been involved in a bunch of shit I didn’t want to know about. He had also been working for a decade longer than me.
I did what I needed to do, but I only embezzled money from the government—that’s it—I didn’t meddle in anything else. It was a ton of fucking work already—cleaning the money, securing contracts, keeping up the façade, managing my men. I had no interest in taking on more shit.
I had never sold guns, drugs, or girls, but Claudio was a jack of all trades and a master of none. And now he wanted a piece of my profitable pie. In the last ten years we stole so much fucking money that he needed a calculator and a pen and paper to figure it out.
“Roman! Good to see you, my man.” He shook my hand, and I nodded, knowing that I was neverhis man,only a necessary acquaintance.
“Drink?”
“Sure! Your national poison, on the rocks.”
I passed him the heavy glass and took a seat at my desk, observing his little smile. He sipped and began chatting about random things that hadnothing to do with the contracts he came to speak to me about.
I knew exactly which ones he was after, and in a way, Claudio was a godsend. Not now, but eventually, I wanted to get out. It wasn’t just me, Denis, and Sergei, no. We were part of a much larger, much darker web, one that you couldn’t simply walk away from. I wanted to leave it all behind, and that wish became a burning desire once I met Isla. If I passed it to one of our men, I would always be involved. But if Claudio took over, I could disappear and be free.
The timing wasn't right, but Claudio had been pushing for years, and now he came to openly ask for it. Or so I thought.
Out of nowhere, his rambling took an unexpected turn—he mentioned the house that we set on fire. I sat with a stone-cold expression, but all of me burned inside, immensely curious to find out whyhewanted to discuss it.
"It was your lucky day, Roman. That bastard finally met his fate." Claudio’s gaze fell into his glass, the vodka on ice swirling inside. "Fuck. I'm so sorry about what happened to your sister, man. I have a sister too. I wouldn't rest until I found out who ordered the job either." He spoke genuinely, but that last sentence made all the hairs on my body stand on end. I thought I alreadydidfind out who ordered the job...
"That's already been taken care of." I brushed it off with no emotions in my voice but watched him like a hawk. He nodded and narrowed his eyes on me, indicating that he wasn’t so sure about that. I said nothing else, waiting for him to keep talking.
"I sure hope so. But do you really think the Albanians had theireyeson her?" Claudio almost whispered, all his attention on me. What the actual fuck was going on? My soul in complete turmoil, I wanted to pin him to the wall and pummel the information out of him. Clearly, he knew something but wouldn’t say it out loud.
"That’s who he worked for.” I threw it out there, but I knew thatwasn’t entirely true.
"He was an independent contractor, Roman. You know that." Claudio leaned back in the armchair, looking mighty comfortable. "Listen. I honestly have no evidence of anything, Roman. I want something from you.” He nodded again, but I was stuck on his last message. Evidence? What the fuck did that mean? “I want those contracts, and they’re coming up for renewal soon. There’s nothing I can truly repay you with, so I’ve been…connecting the dots.” He searched for the right words. “And I think you made a mistake.”
My bright office swallowed his words, and there was silence between us, but everything inside me was screaming.What did he just say?I made a mistake? When I decimated the Albanian crew, killed a dozen men, and spent years reconstructing that fateful night—I made a mistake?!
“I want to give you this so I can get what I want.” Claudio continued while I struggled to take a full breath in from this conversation. “And I really want it. I wouldn't be wasting your time if I didn't have a lot of confidence in what I’ve come up with. But at the same time, I have no evidence." He lifted up his hand as if in defeat, his last words basically negating everything he said. What the fuck were these riddles?
"What the fuck are you talking about, Rodriguez? You have information about who killed my sister? Something that I missed? Then tell me. Don’t waste my fucking time.” I was ready to flip my desk over. “Where are you even getting your information?"
"Just my own conclusions.” His voice was light and calm. “Think about it. Why would the Albanians target her, hm? To get to you?" He shook his head to deny it. “They don’t have any interest in your work, you know that. For fun? That's too fucking stupid, and they’re not. They know you would annihilate all of them. Would my boys? Nah. No one has the balls, plus no one moves without my permission. Whose men are left?" Claudio placed his drink on my desk and leaned in to stare rightinto my battered soul.
