Page 19 of The Devil

Santiago keeps snooping around, and leaving him be, I take a seat on the couch and lock eyes with Dominik. “I paid them a visit yesterday. A couple of bullets flew, and I gave them a warning to stay away from my factory and trucks.”

“Do you think they’ll listen?” he asks.

I shake my head. “That’s why I put in the order for the men. I expect them to retaliate.”

“This place is pretty remote,” Santiago mentions. “You should join us at the motel. We’re stronger together.”

“Let me think about it,” I reply.

“How are things at the factory?” Dominik asks.

“Good. The workers feel safer with the guards there to protect them, so manufacturing is well underway. The first few trucks should go out for deliveries next week.”

“What are you making at the factory?” Santiago asks.

“The usual. Tech products. Watches. Electronics. Branded goods.”

Dominik gives me an impressed look. “I hear there are trillions to be made here in the US.”

“You heard right.”

“Are you still a one-man operation?” Santiago asks.

“I have people in Lisbon and Africa,” I tell them.

“We know you have people who work for you, but you have no one you trust by your side,” Dominik says. “I have Evinka. Santiago has Pedro. Leo has Massimo, and Cassia has Knight. It’s been years, and you’re still alone. It makes you an easy target.”

I lock eyes with him as I reply, “I have the alliance. It’s all I need.”

“No man is an island,” Santiago sighs. “All you do is work, kill, work, kill. You never take time off to rest.”

“Stop worrying about me,” I mutter a little too harshly. “I like being on my own.”

“What about John?” Dominik asks. “He’s been with you for years.”

“I trust that man as far as I can throw him.”

Santiago raises an eyebrow at me. “Why keep him then?”

I shrug. “He gets shit done.” Wanting them to stop worrying, I mention, “I got some rest the past week.”

Jenna’s pops into my mind, and remembering how terrified she was when I stopped at the gas station has me clenching my jaw.

Both men’s eyes narrow on me, and Santiago asks, “And?”

“And…” I let out a sigh as I lean forward, resting my forearms on my thighs. “There’s a woman.”

“Ooooh.” Instantly, a grin spreads over Santiago’s face. “Now we’re getting to the good stuff. Is it the woman you had the team do a search on? Jenna… Jenna Dotson.”

“Yes. She works in Aurora.”

When I don’t continue, Dominik asks, “But?”

“She doesn’t speak.” I look at the Slovakian, who’s one hell of a brilliant man. “She isn’t mute, and she’s very anxious and shy, so it’s going to take me some time to make her comfortable with me.”

Santiago finally sits down and glances at me. “So, you plan on staying here for a while?”

“As long as it takes to get her to trust me. She lives alone in a dump, and I’ve thought about kidnapping her, but if I just take her, I’m afraid it will do irrevocable harm to her fragile mental state.”