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25

KILIAN

I hate leaving Bella and Aria the way I did but business is business. As soon as my plane lands in Montpellier, I am met by Dimitri limping to the stairs of the plane.

“What the fuck happened?”

“We were ambushed,” Dimitri tells me as we crawl in the waiting SUV. “There wasn’t even a trade. We had a shipment of weapons coming in from our supplier. A large one.”

I nod my head. “I know. It was the one to close off on six different deals. How the hell did the Renzettis know what we were doing?”

“I have no idea. Everything was going smooth. We had almost all the weapons loaded into the trucks when it happened. Four men were killed, another two injured.”

“And you?”

He shrugs. “Just a nick in my thigh and a clean shot through my arm.”

“This shouldn’t have happened.”

“No. This was an easy delivery. All that needed to be done was load the crates into the truck. They waited until we were almost done. When one truck was loaded, I was confused why he wasn’t driving off. I found him dead in the driver’s seat. That’s when I got shot in the arm and then chaos happened.”

“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath. “Is anything left?”

“A few million dollars’ worth,” Dimitri says quietly. “There has to be a mole.”

“I need you to get me a list of every person you’ve had working the docks with you over the last six months.” I send a text to Roland, who was supposed to be handling this. “Fuck,” I yell as I slam my hand into the window of the SUV. “Why wasn’t Roland here?”

“He said he had something to take care of. I promised him it would be fine.”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.” I run my hand through my hair. “Why didn’t you call me?”

“Roland said not to get you involved.” Dimitri studies me. “He probably knew you would be pissed.”

“He violated protocol.”

“I know.”

“There will be consequences for you. Your rank will drop. And The Partners will not be happy. Consequences may be worse than your rank. You lost nearly four hundred million dollars in weapons.”

He nods. “I know. I know I fucked up. But things had been fine. Nothing happened in the last month and I figured with Ezio being out of the picture we would be okay.”

I clench my jaw. “It was a foolish mistake.”

“I accept my punishment.”

“Fuck!” I yell again as we pull up to the hotel outside Montpellier in Sete. My father will find a way to take this out on me even though he knows this was Roland’s responsibility.

I jump out of the SUV and slam the door behind me. Dimitri rushes to keep up with me. He meets me at the elevators and swipes his key card and hits the button for the fourth floor.

I keep quiet. My thoughts stewing. Roland knew better than to fuck this up. But I have no doubt he did something stupid in his desperate attempt to take over his father’s seat.

I follow Dimitri off the elevator. He swipes the key card and we enter the suite.

“There is an office there.” He nods to a set of double doors.

I open the doors and face him. “Get me that list.” I shut the door and pace back and forth, trying to piece together anything and everything I have heard since Nicolas Di Masio started causing problems for us.

I dial Tomas as I wait. I need him to dig, to find out everything he can when Dimitri gets me that list.

“Kilian, to what do I owe this pleasure?”

“I’m in Sete. I need you to meet me at my hotel.”

He’s quiet for a moment. “You know I don’t usually make house calls.”

“I know.”

“I expect dinner.”

“We can have a ten-course meal and a fucking ten-thousand-dollar bottle of champagne.”

He clicks his tongue. “I can be there in fifteen minutes.”

I hang up the phone without another word. I’m glad he lives just outside this port city. I have no idea why he chooses to. To me, it is nothing special.

I gather my thoughts for a few moments, then sit in the chair and dial my father.

“Kilian.” His voice was gruff. “I am assuming you are in Sete.”

“Yes.”

“What the fuck happened?”

I drum my fingers along the desk. “You know this was not my job.”

“I understand.” His voice is surprisingly calm.

“Roland didn’t show up. He told Dimitri he had things to take care of. Dimitri said everything was running smoothly until they were ambushed by a group of masked men. Men that were yelling in Italian.”

“Giancarlo Renzetti.”

“That’s what I believe. I have Tomas on the way ready to dig into the men working the docks for us the last six months.”

“Good. Call Roland. I want you to hear his side of the story before we bring in his father.”

I lean back in my chair. “Dean Arrington does not have the ruthlessness to punish his son.”

“I will worry about Dean. You get this shit figured out.”

I clench my jaw. “And if I can’t find the weapons?”

“Then you forfeit your position with The Partners and that death certificate will become very real.”

“This wasn’t my job,” I growl into the phone.

“No. But you knew to keep an eye on Roland. He is cocky, careless. You knew he was a loose cannon.”

I clench my hand into a fist on the desk. “I’ll find those weapons.”

“And get rid of Dimitri.”

I scoff into the phone. “This is not his fault.”

“Your weakness is showing again, son. That weakness will get you killed.”

He hangs up the phone and I slam mine on the desk. It’s days like this when I question everything I have worked for. I want my father’s seat. I want to control The Partners. But I worry that I don’t have the cruelty and callousness to take that power.

“Come in,” I say as someone knocks on the door.

Dimitri walks in with a list of every man that has worked for him over the last six months. “This is everyone. All vetted by Baker,” he says, referring to the man directly above him.

“Thank you.”

I watch him as he walks out, a look of dread on his face. He is a good man, loyal. He has never fucked up once in his time working for us. I know my father says I am weak, that I carry too much emotion for certain people. But Dimitri is an asset to us. His connections to the Bratva and the Odessa mafia have proven useful over the years. He doesn’t deserve death.

I flip through the file he gave me as Tomas walks into the office without knocking.

“This better be important,” he says with a disgruntled look on his face.

“I wouldn’t call you here if it wasn’t.”

He huffs as he opens the black hard roller case he dragged in behind him. “I need the desk.”

“Of course,” I say as I stand. He starts to set up multiple laptops on the desk. I’ve seen him work before. He is a master at finding information. But the guy is scary as fuck. He’s probably six foot seven with nothing but muscle on him. An ex-mercenary, although I think he does contract jobs still if the money is right. He has long golden-blond hair pulled into a bun on top of his head with light-gray eyes that almost glow they are so clear. A large, thick scar runs down his face from the edge of the hairline down to his neck and across his throat. He has never told me how he got it and I don’t dare ask. He scares the shit out of me. I understand why most men don’t want to owe him a favor. But over the years I’ve gotten to know him and I am the only one he likes to work with. Maybe it’s because I am the only one that knows his delight in eating caviar and champagne.

He doesn’t speak as he gets to work, flipping through the file Dimitri gave me. I pace the room again, needing something to do. All I can think about right now is the consequences if I fail my father’s orders. What it will mean for Bella and Aria. Who would I put in charge of their safety?

My mind is spinning when my phone starts ringing. Roland’s name flashing across the screen.

“Where the fuck were you?” I say as I hit accept on my phone.

“Kilian, calm down.”

If he was in front of me, I would punch him right now. “Don’t fucking tell me to calm down. You lost nearly four hundred million dollars in weapons. Four men were killed. Luckily Dimitri was only wounded.”

“I had business to take care of.”

“Your business was here. In Sete.”

“This was important.” His voice stern.

I run my hand through my hair. “No business is as important as The Partners business, Roland. I know your father has taught you that.”

“Why do you even care? This has nothing to do with you.” His voice harsh as it comes across the line.

“If it’s Partners business, it has everything to do with me.”

“I thought you didn’t want this.”

I don’t miss the accusatory tone in his voice. “I have my reasons for everything I do. And I never said I didn’t want it. I said it wasn’t as appealing as before but that doesn’t mean I can just walk away.”

He sighs. “I was closing a deal.”

“Closing a deal?” I ask with malice. “That’s not your job. I close deals. Who the fuck were you closing a deal with?”

“Look, I thought it would be a big move for The Partners. I met him in my club a few months ago. I’ve gotten to know him. He has a shipping business out of South America. You know we could—”

“Who the fuck was it?” I yell, grit in my voice. Tomas looks up at me for the first time since I started talking to Roland.

“I’m sorry, Kilian. I know I shouldn’t have stepped into your part of the business. But I didn’t want to lose—”

“Just tell me who the hell it is?” I growl as I step toward Tomas so he can hear whatever name Roland gives me.

“His name is Sergio Rojas.”

Tomas nods at me and mouths “on it.”

“Look, Kilian, I didn’t think anything would happen. After Ezio, I figured the threat was over.”

“That was four days ago. You can’t believe he was the only man working for the Renzettis. Or that he didn’t figure something out and feed it to them before he died.”

“I made a mistake.”

I laugh. “A mistake would be telling someone the wrong time for a delivery. You lost us four hundred million dollars!” I shake my head as I walk over to the window and look out toward the water a few blocks away. “Have you told your father?”

“You know he already knows.”

“Did you tell him why you weren’t here? I am positive he knows about the stolen weapons but he needs to hear the mistake you made that cost us millions from your mouth.”

“I was hoping we could get the weapons back.”

I scoff. “Really?”

“If it’s the Renzettis then maybe we can strike a deal or kill the rest of them.”

“You’re a fool, Roland.” I pace back across the room. “We can’t just call in a favor to them. We already killed Giancarlo’s nephew. We have a target on our backs. This isn’t going to be some walk in the park. This isn’t one of the weak businessmen I get to launder our money. This is one of the most powerful mafia families in Italy and they would do anything to tear us apart.”

“Why? Why are they so invested in destroying us?”

I know one big reason but I am not about to let this motherfucker know. “That’s what I am trying to figure out.”

Tomas turns the screen to me. And I want nothing more than to shoot Roland in the head. I don’t care how far back we go. “You are an even bigger fool than I thought you could be.” I can hear him swallow hard on the other side of the phone but he remains silent. “Your Mr. Rojas that you thought would be a great business deal? That isn’t a South American businessman. That man is Luca Renzetti. You fucking idiot.”

“I didn’t know,” he mutters into the phone. He sounds pathetic.

“Why the hell didn’t you look into the Renzettis when you knew they were a threat?”

“I don’t know.”

“You need to know who every man is in this business. Threat or not.”

He starts talking fast. “I vetted him. I swear. I had the man I use look into him.”

“Who the hell are you using?” I snap. “A kid that graduated from college yesterday? Tomas figured out who he was in five minutes.”

“I should have been more thorough,” Roland says with a bit more edge in his voice.

“You should have done a lot of things.”

“I’m not you, Kilian. I don’t take my anger and rage about my father out on everyone like you do.”

I ignore his jab. “Who organized your meeting last night, you or him?”

“He did. Over a week ago.”

Fuck. There is no doubt in my mind it was the Renzettis that stole our weapons. And Luca knew about this delivery long before last week. “And you didn’t think to tell him you were busy.”

“I already told you I thought this would be beneficial for The Partners. He said he was only in town one day and I needed to get his commitment to join us.”

Fire burns through my veins. I have nothing else to say to him, nothing that will get through his thick skull that he might have just destroyed us. “Call your father. I have a mess to clean up.”

I shove my phone in my pocket and pace the room, anger fuming from every single one of my pores.

“You could give him the benefit of the doubt. Luca had quite an identity change. He is barely recognizable.”

I hold up my hand to Tomas. “And you know if I was in Roland’s shoes, I would have sent that video footage from the club directly to you. You would have used your recognition software to figure it out.”

“I do have the best there is.”

I slam my hands on the desk in front of him. “And would poorer software determine the same thing?”

Tomas looks at me in a way I feel like he looked at his targets before the final blow. “Yes.”

I walk away from him. I know he was only trying to prove a point, but it doesn’t do anything to settle the rage inside of me. Roland’s mistake could cost me not just my life but Bella and Aria’s too.

I storm out of the office and find Dimitri sitting on the sofa sipping a glass of vodka.

“You here to take me somewhere and kill me?”

I stare at him in shock. “What makes you think that?”

“I told you earlier I accepted my punishment. I know how The Partners work. I’ve said my goodbyes.”

I walk over to the bar and pour myself a glass of whiskey. “I’m not going to kill you. Roland, maybe. But not you. This had absolutely nothing to do with you.”

“I was there. It doesn’t matter if it had anything to do with me.”

“I’m not like those above me. I know when I need someone in the ranks.”

“You don’t have to break the rules for me,” he says as he looks down into his empty glass.

I throw back my drink, knowing I need to call my father. “I’m not. You are an asset to us. And as far as I’m concerned, you saved us from losing all the weapons.”

He nods as he grabs the vodka bottle and pours more into his glass.

“Don’t blame yourself for this.”

“I just wish I had… I don’t know.”

I pour more whiskey into my glass, not sure what to say to him when my phone rings again. “I need to take this.”

I push open the office doors and answer my father’s call.

“I’m assuming you talked to Roland,” he says.

“I just got off the phone with him ten minutes ago.”

“His father texted me.” He clears his throat as I hear him settle into a chair. “What did you find out?”

“He was meeting with a man, trying to close a deal. The man arranged for a meeting last night. He thought it was some businessman from South America named Sergio Rojas. It was Luca Renzetti.”

He is silent for a few moments. “And what is your plan?”

I roll my eyes, knowing he can’t see my face. “I’m working on it. Like I said, I just got confirmation that it was Renzetti.”

“Fine.” His tone is short.

“Something needs to be done about Roland.”

“I know.” He pauses. “I am putting Dean through on the call now.”

I wait for my father to connect Dean Arrington to the call. I clench my jaw, already knowing how this conversation will go. Dean will come up with some excuse for his kid and refrain from punishing him.

“Dean,” my father says when he connects the call. “Kilian is on the line with us.”

“I just talked to Roland,” Dean says, his tone neutral.

“And?” My answer is clipped.

“He told me that he made a mistake in not being at the delivery.”

“And did he tell you that he was meeting someone at his club last night to secure a deal? A job that does not fall under him. Nor did he bring it up with Alistair.”

Dean sighs into the phone. “Yes, he told me he met with a man with a shipping business from South America.”

I scoff into the phone. “That’s what he told you? He didn’t tell you that I had that man looked into. And that man was actually Luca Renzetti.”

“What?” Dean asks in shock.

My father talks before I can take my anger out on Dean. “Dean, you know Kilian uses Tomas Eriksson. The man that everyone should be using.”

“That man is a threat to our business. He can undermine us at any time. I’ve told you before, Alistair, that he is not to be trusted.”

I look over at Tomas who has his nose buried in computer screens, oblivious to this conversation. At least he isn’t making any mention of being able to hear the phone call.

“Kilian trusts him. He’s worked with him for years. If my son trusts the man, then I trust him. He has saved our asses multiple times.”

“I am not here to argue about the people we use to gather information,” Dean says. “What else did you find out, Kilian?”

I lean against the doors to the office as I watch Tomas work. “Luca Renzetti knew about the delivery last night. Maybe Ezio figured it out but since he is dead, he wasn’t the one to lead the ambush. So someone else did. Tomas is working on that right now. What I need to know is who else knew about the shipment?”

“It was only us and Roland besides the men assigned to the job.”

“Dean, this falls under your umbrella. It was Roland’s job. You should have been paying closer attention to him.”

“You are not to tell me what to do, Kilian.”

I hear my father click his tongue and I know he is as pissed off as I am. There was a reason he was having me keep an eye on Roland. And I am wondering if he was keeping an eye on Dean. If they were working together to undermine the rest of The Partners.

“I am sick of cleaning up his messes,” I snap. “First in New York. Then in Dubai. Now this. He needs to learn his place. And it’s not in onboarding businessmen into our claws. He is to close deals on weapons sales. And now this is the third time he stuck his head where it doesn’t belong. He needs repercussions for his actions. And they need to come from you.”

“Don’t worry, Kilian, my son will pay for his mistakes. But you haven’t taken your father’s seat yet, so do not order me around, or I will make sure you never have it.”

“He’s a liability.”

“He’s still my son.”

I sneer at his words. My father has never had that mentality. He’s already threatened my life once today.

“Dean,” my father cuts in. “Kilian is right. This is the third strike against Roland. You know what that means.”

“I will not execute my own son.” His voice was defensive.

“Drop his rank.” My father’s tone was stark.

“I’m ready to retire,” Dean says quietly.

“Then we find someone else to take your seat,” my father snaps.

“There is no one else ready for this responsibility.”

“Then I’ll take over both seats,” my father growls at Dean.

“You can’t do that,” Dean replies.

“I have enough power to convince the others it’s our only choice.”

I rest my head against the back of the door while the two of them argue. There is no way I am letting my father take majority of The Partners.

Tomas gestures for me and I head over to the desk, muting my phone. “What did you find?”

“Looks like one of the men that worked a job a few months ago is a soldier for the Renzettis.”

“Was he there last night?”

“I looked into some grainy CCTV footage and I think he was the one that led the ambush.”

I nod at him and unmute the phone.

“What about Baker?” I ask, cutting off their argument.

They both seem startled from my interruption. “What about him?” Dean asks.

“Have you looked into him recently?”

“Baker has never had any problems,” Dean answers.

“What did you find, Kilian?” my father asks.

“Baker vetted all the dockworkers?”

Dean answers. “That is his job. What is the point of all this?”

“One of them worked for Renzetti. A foot soldier for them.”

“That’s not possible. Baker has never had any issues.”

My father is the one that speaks. “Roland was talking to a Renzetti.”

“It could have been a mistake. Baker might have let him slip through the cracks,” Dean counters.

“Possibly. But Baker doesn’t have millions to fall back on like Roland. He could have planned this. Could have been paid off,” I reply.

“You should have a conversation with him,” my father instructs Dean and I know he means to have someone interrogate him.

“I will,” Dean answers.

“And Roland?” my father asks.

“I’ll deal with him,” Dean snaps before hanging up the phone.

My father disconnects our call and then calls me back.

“It could have been Roland’s loose mouth,” I tell my father as I answer the phone. “I’ve seen what happens when he has had one too many drinks at his clubs.”

“I know he’s a cocky asshole, but I don’t think he would have let something like that slip, not to a potential client. He’s not that dumb that he would tell a client where and when weapons are being brought in.”

My father has a point. “Do you think Dean is acting against The Partners?”

“No,” he says flatly.

“Did you at one point?”

He sighs. “Yes, at one point I did. But nothing came from it. I think he just cares too much about his son.”

“Must be nice,” I retort

“Don’t get that tone with me,” my father snaps back.

Tomas must feel the tension from me because he walks out of the room. “What would you do if the tables were turned?”

“If you did everything Roland did?” he contemplates the question. “You know I would put a bullet through your head without a second thought.”

“And what if it wasn’t me? What if Liam or Grayson were in that position?”

“Don’t ask me that question,” he answers with gravel in his voice.

“Because you wouldn’t do the same to them.” The words are solemn.

“Kilian,” he sighs into the phone.

“It would be nice if just once you thought of me like your son.”

“You are my son.”

“But not like them.”

“They aren’t ruthless like you. They never would have made it on this side of the business world. You were always different. Daring, a risk-taker.”

I slump into the desk chair. “Maybe if you trained them since they were young.”

“Don’t start this with me, Kilian.” His rage growing. “You knew your role since you were sixteen. You knew what you were to do.”

“Because you knew I would never have a wife and family?” I ask.

“Look at you, to everyone you are dead.”

I clench my fist around an empty glass. He is the reason I’m technically dead. “And if I wasn’t?”

“You could never settle down. You aren’t family material. Never have been and never will be.”

“That’s what I thought,” I say with disdain.

“Kilian,” he sighs into the phone again.

“I’ll do what I have to do to get those weapons from the Renzettis.”

I hang up. I know there are no words he would say to comfort me. It’s the same thing every time. I was groomed for this role. And he sees me as no one but the ruthless man he made me to take his seat at the table.

I know I am family material. I never thought I was. But three days with Bella and Aria proved it. And now I need to find a way to save them. Even if it means taking a hundred bullets from Giancarlo Renzetti.