Page 18 of Flame it Up

"What the fuck do you want?" Pyrus growled. His patience for Richard was generally nonexistent on any day. But on a day like today, when Richard ruined his good mood, rage replaced tolerance.

They had parted ways some years ago when Pyrus discovered Richard was laundering money for a well-known organized crime boss. Pyrus had made it very clear to Richard that he needed to stay far out of his way. It was the only concession Pyrus was willing to give him.

“I’m in trouble,” Richard said, his voice even lower and shadier than usual.

“Excellent,” Pyrus said, going back to the dresser to look over his shirts again. “Sounds like this is all going great. I’m hanging up now.”

“No!” Richard demanded. “Please. I need your help, Pyrus. For old time’s sake.”

Pyrus stopped and stood up straight. His fingers tightened on the phone as if he wished it were Richard’s neck.

“Old times?” Pyrus growled. “You dare come to me now, talking about old times? You might not want to remind me of our connection, Richard, or how we parted.”

“I just wanted you to remember that we were friends once. That you cared about what happened to me.”

“Yeah,” Pyrus said, chuckling. “Once, I did. But not now. So, as interested as I am in yourtroubleand how much shit you’re about to get buried under, it’s really none of my business, so …”

“They’re going to kill me, Pyrus!” Richard yelled.

“What?” Pyrus asked, genuinely confused. “Who?”

“The gangsters,” Richard muttered. “The guys I’m laundering for. They found out that I was skimming. Well, I still am, kind of skimming, and you need to hear this.”

Pyrus stood still, closing his eyes. A big smile spread across his face as he reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

He felt a tremendous sense of amusement … and satisfaction … that Richard was in such a terrible position. He couldn’t enjoy it, though. A wave of fury rode hard behind that good feeling because Richard wasn’t just fucking up himself.

Pyrus wanted to completely destroy him when he found out about Richard’s illegal activities. Pyrus had been personally insulted by someone he trusted doing such a thing right under his nose, but he was also furious at the implications for their business and everyone connected to it.

“I should have destroyed you when I had the chance,” Pyrus growled. “Instead of just letting you walk, I should have taken you apart, piece by piece.”

“Why didn’t you?” Richard asked, his voice harsh with the power of his rage. “You can’t threaten me after the fact, Pyrus. That’s when it ceases to become a threat. Don’t fuck around telling me what you might have done since you clearly didn’t have the balls to go through with it.”

“It had nothing to do with the size of my balls, asshole!” Pyrus yelled. “Don’t think, for even one second, that my restraint had anything to do with any lingering vestiges of friendship I might have for you. Believe me, Richard, all the warm and fuzzies went out of our relationship a long time ago.”

“So why not destroy me?” Richard asked. “Maybe, you couldn’t. You didn’t have the power to take on the mob and me at the same time.”

Pyrus laughed out loud at the absurdity of such a statement. It was pathetic that Richard could entertain such an idea. It was also a clear indication of his lack of intelligence.

“Don’t be so ridiculously fucking stupid,” Pyrus said. “The only reason I didn’t touch you was because there are too many innocent people connected to you.”

“Oh?” Richard asked, sounding genuinely curious. Pyrus couldn’t believe it, but he knew damn well Richard never thought about anyone except himself.

“The workers in your factories,” Pyrus said softly. “Their families. All the members of your staff that don’t know shit about what you’re doing under the table. If I destroyed you, I’d destroy all of them too.”

Richard laughed with a low chuckle that sounded threatening, more than amused. “Well, check out the situation now, old friend. The mob will take care of that. Once they murder me, everyone goes down. They might even want to kill a few of my staff just to cleanse the area if you know what I mean.”

“You are one reckless, selfish son of a bitch, you know that?” Pyrus exploded. He felt an intense regret welling inside him that he hadn’t killed Richard when he had the chance. He might have been able to mitigate the liquidation of Richard’s assets and make sure innocent people didn’t get hurt.

I can still do that if I work fast.

“Fine,” Pyrus snapped. “Let them do the dirty work for me. They can take care of you, and I’ll take over your company. I can build a safety net for anyone caught in the jaws of your bullshit schemes. I’m calling my lawyer right now. Have a nice life, Richard, however long it might be.”

Pyrus actually pulled the phone away from his face and raised his thumb to tap the screen. Before he could, Richard’s voice reached him, and it was low and sinister.

“You don’t want to do that, old buddy.”

Pyrus glared at the screen, tempted to end the call. But Richard was the worst of backstabbers. If he hung up now, he could stumble right into a trap set by Richard. Even if his old business partner had nothing left to say but empty threats, Pyrus needed to hold his temper just for another few minutes to hear it.

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