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CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

~ Nelson Mandela

Saros

“Could it be possible Ramsey is crazy?” Cosmo asked after I ended my conversation with the governor.

“There’s no question he is, but even crazy people can be dangerous.”

Benny snorted. “How’d he think this plan was going to work?”

“Oh, it totally could have worked.” I noticed RJ was sitting silently, head down. He’d been privy to the conversation I’d had with the governor and understood not only what his father was up to but how it was about to fail epically.

“Ten minutes until the hour mark,” Gino announced.

I sighed and sat on one of the chairs. “I guess he’s not gonna return Em to me easily, huh?”

Cosmo chuckled. “When you’re done with him, he might just wrap your guy in a bow for you.”

“Tell me something, RJ.” At the sound of his name RJ popped his head up. “Do you think your father kept his hands off my Em?”

The way he swallowed and the slight flash in his eyes told me he was sure his father hadn’t abided by my warning. “Sure.”

“You sound really confident about that.” Benny’s sarcasm was thick.

At the one-hour deadline, I motioned for Cosmo to call Ramsey. Contacting him was never the issue; finding him was. I wondered if he questioned how I got his number.

Cos handed me the phone, and there was Ramsey’s stupid face. “I’m looking to my left and my right, and guess what I don’t see?”

“I’m not afraid of you, Saros. What made you think I was going to give him to you?”

“ Hmm …yeah, you’re right. For some reason, I thought you might have some spark of intelligence. Apparently not.”

“You seem to think you have the upper hand.”

I grinned slowly. “And you don’t realize that I do.”

There was a beat of silence. Long enough that I saw doubt flicker across Ramsey’s face.

“Let me see Em, and hopefully you didn’t touch him.”

Ramsey’s eyes narrowed briefly, but he brought the phone over to Em. He didn’t appear any worse than an hour ago.

“Hey, baby. Did he touch you?”

Em’s eyes darted up, likely looking at Ramsey when he said, “Just grabbed my chin, that’s all.”

RJ’s whispered, “Fuck,” almost made me laugh.

“I see.”

He whipped the phone around, returning back to himself. “I didn’t hurt him.”

“I was clear, Ramsey.” I stood and walked to RJ. “I explained that anything you did to Em, I’d do double to RJ. Anything. Cos, hold this.”

Cosmo took my phone, I shrugged at RJ. “I guess your daddy doesn’t love you as much as you hoped.”

I wasn’t sure how to do this exactly, but I could improvise. I gripped RJ’s jaw, he was lashing about so Benny held his head. I squeezed just enough to get leverage on his teeth and then?—

“Fuck!” RJ shouted and I released him. Blood trickled from his mouth.

I took the phone from Cosmo. “Teeth can be replaced. Now, are you going to continue to test me?”

“You’re going to kill him anyway.” He pulled out a gun and pressed it to Em’s head. I could admit I had a moment of panic, but something in me said he wasn’t going to do it.

“You pull that trigger, and your dreams of a political future die with him.”

Ahh, yeah, that surprised him. “What?”

“Let’s talk about that part where you claimed I didn’t have the upper hand again, shall we?”

He removed the gun from Em’s head, my guy who had simply closed his eyes as if accepting whatever outcome he was about to get.

“Go ahead, Saros, tell me what you think you know.”

I chuckled and returned to my chair. From the corner of my eye, I saw Gino shoving gauze into RJ’s mouth.

“There’s no ‘think’ about it.” I jerked my chin. “I know you have Andre Hopper there. I also know what you intend to leverage him for.”

“Is that right?”

“Here’s the thing. It won’t work. Sure, the governor could step down, say he wasn’t running for re-election. Endorse you, and you’ll have stars in your eyes, thinking you’re on your way to a greater power.” I shook my head. “Not how this works. Politicians only have as much power as the underworld allows. What makes you think anyone is going to elect you once they know what you’ve done here today? Or how news of a son you kept as a slave all these years was treated? What are you going to do when I decide you don’t win, pool my resources, and watch you come out of this even less of a man than you already are?”

“Do you know how many bosses and political figures are sick of you?”

I rolled my eyes; I couldn’t help it. “None. I make them all very rich and very powerful. All these allies you think you have, did you promise them an equal split of my territory once you take me out? Probably not; you promised them money. They were like, ‘Yes that’s a great deal.’ Well, you know what’s better than your deal, Ramsey?” He was silent, so I continued. “Mine.”

“You have no idea?—”

I held up my hand. “Shush, please. You have one more hour to get Em back to me, or I show you why I’m everything you’ll never be.” I disconnected the call.

“What’s the order, Boss?” Cosmo asked as he tucked his phone into his pocket.

“The governor is going to call Ramsey in the next twenty minutes. Make him believe he will be stepping down and not seeking re-election. Ramsey won’t let Dre go just because of that; he’ll wait for the announcement.”

“What’s stopping the governor from not endorsing Ramsey once the time is right?” Benny leaned against the metal table, hands in pockets.

“Ramsey will likely tell him he will keep Dre until then. I could see Ramsey pretending to rescue Dre and building his campaign off that.”

“There are so many holes in his plan.” Cosmo scratched his chin. “Like, so many.”

“Ramsey’s desperation is what will be his end. It’s why he could never be on top, why none of the Frazees could either.”

Benny motioned toward RJ. “What do you want to do with him?”

RJ sat in the chair, tied, gauze soaked red, staring at me not with anger or hate, but fear and the realization that his side wouldn’t win this.

“Cage him for now. Let’s see how this plays out.”

“Got it.”

I left the basement, leaving the guys to handle RJ. I had to change and make sure everything upstairs was in order before I left.

Dafni was the first to approach me. “Em, is he okay? Where is he?”

“Calm down. He’s okay. I’m getting things together, and I’m gonna bring him home.”

“Sar, I’m so sorry.”

I took Dafni’s face in my hands and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “No more apologies, Daf. This isn’t your fault.”

I could see it was tearing her apart, and she needed her mind on something else to occupy her.

“I’m going to get him. I need you to keep everything running smoothly here. No one goes downstairs. I’m leaving guys here. Listen to them—no one leaves, no one goes outside. I need you to help keep things running smoothly.”

“Of course.”

“Thank you.”

After I changed and was armed I met the guys in my study. I had to split my numbers—half at the house and half with me—but if it all went well, by the end of the day everything would be back to rights.

“Ready, Boss?” Benny slipped his .45 into his holster.

“Fuck, yeah. Let’s get my guy and destroy Ramsey Brookes.”