Page 29 of Blind Devotion (Letters of Ruin #1)

“This one’s a no.” I exited out of the details of the latest hit request. The proposed compensation was almost an insult. Normally, Erel and I overlooked such small contract requests, but in this case, the target’s name was of interest.

“Thought so too.”

I nodded at Erel and relaxed back in my chair, swirling my cognac. The spicy cedarwood aroma blended with a touch of orange zest settled beneath my nose.

“Have Jerome and his team get in touch with him.”

“The usual?”

Another nod. They would issue a few threats and warnings, just enough to make it clear there was no other option. Either he paid up and received our protection, or he lived just long enough for another group to accept that pittance of a contract.

“I want eighteen of his thirty-three percent shares sold to me by the end of next week.” Not too much to be suspicious, but enough to get a foot in and put pressure.

This was my in with FinTech, the German tech company I had been in talks with about a purchase for months. I planned on playing the local aspect with my expansion of a subsidiary of DV Banks in Germany, but this was more propitious.

The founding CEO was a stickler for straightlaced dealings and refused to explore the advantages of a partnership with DV Bank and Holdings, considering the rumors of my less-than-legal ventures.

Looked like the man gave less of a care in his personal life.

The married idiot knocked up one of his business rivals’ daughters, a small player in the underworld but one all the same, and now I had him in the palm of my hand.

Erel clapped his hands gleefully. “I love trapping idiots.”

I smirked. “It does make life more interesting.”

“Speaking of interesting,” Erel said, leaning in, and already I hated where this was headed. “How’s your little guest doing?”

“Recovering.” Two days since I last saw her in person, and I still couldn’t get the taste of her lips out of my head. I spent far too much time watching her on camera.

“You letting her loose anytime soon?”

I huffed, then swallowed the last of my drink. It went down too quickly. Cognac was too smooth for my sudden twist of mood.

“Undecided. What of the Serbs? They sign the new deal?”

Erel tapped against the armrest of his chair. This did not bode well. “Signed and sealed. They were nearly shitting themselves after our little message.”

I frowned. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“We need to talk about Thibault, man.”

“Was I told wrong? Did someone else perform the hit?” I despised liars.

“No, he did it. Quick, precise, exactly what we needed.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

Erel scratched at his hairline. “When it came to hammering the nail with our message, he froze. Couldn’t do it. I took over. The kid ended up chucking up on my boots.”

Unacceptable. If my men saw him as weak, they saw me as weak. That was not going to cut it.

Thibault was only seven years younger than me, but our souls were decades apart. After what happened to Yannick and me, our father refused to involve Thibault in the family businesses until he reached eighteen, but he died before that could happen. Now this was the result.

“He wasn’t ready.”

“Yeah, boss.” Erel heaved a sigh. “You were right.”

“Then he needs to take a more active part. No more sitting on the sidelines.”

“Like you’re doing with your guest?”

My eyes narrowed on him dangerously.

My phone vibrated once. I flipped it over on the desk to find a message from Michel.

‘ She’s on the move. ’

“Speak of the devil,” I muttered as I pocketed the device. I was more than a bit curious to see what she would get up to. After spying on her the last two days, I was ravenous for more.

“See yourself out.”

“Adrien, we still need to talk. There’s some chatter that could be a problem for us.”

“Later.” I crossed the room.

“It’s about our last contract.”

I ground my teeth, my hand on the doorknob. “Not now.”

“Shit, man, this is important. There are rumors about your little bird.” I stared at the grain in the door’s wood as if it were the most fascinating bit of architecture.

“She’s lighting up Endgame’s back channels.

Images of her were posted from the boat and linked to photos in the tabloids of your trip downtown two days ago.

They’re saying she’s one of Bogdani’s. They’re questioning our competence.

Whether or not it’s true, she might need to be taken care of. ”

“I know.”

“What do you mean, you know ? You never log into the chats.”

The door handle was going to break off in my grip if he didn’t drop this.

“You’re not surprised, are you? You knew. It’s true, isn’t it?”

“I’ll handle it.”

“What the fuck do you mean you’ll handle it? Adrien, this is a joint enterprise. This isn’t Milieu business. Your word’s not god on this.”

“I said I’m handling it.”

“Are you?”

“Fuck off.” I was handling it. I just needed to figure out what hold she had on me first and shake it off.

“How long have you known? The boat?” he asked incredulously. “ Putain , Adrien. It’s been almost four weeks. If you can’t kill the whore, I will. And I won’t hesitate.”

I flicked open my pocketknife and vaulted around. A few strides, the blade was at his throat, his dress shirt in my fist. “What the fuck did you just call her?”

His eyes widened, betrayal raging in them. “Is that how it’s going to be? You’d pick her over us.”

“If you were anyone else…”

“But I’m not. And you know she can’t live.”

I refused to acknowledge the truth of what he was saying. Squeezing his neck, I said, “Next time you call her that, my knife will slip.”

“She’s a dead woman walking. What does it matter?”

I despised how right he was, especially now that the New York pakhan knew about her. Just that made me want to sink the knife in. I held back, barely, and shoved him away.

“You don’t go near her.”

“And if Leontyev hears of this?”

“He already has.”

Erel’s eyes went wide. “You can’t even see she’s already got her talons sunk deep into you.”

I did see it. I just thought I was strong enough to resist.