Slipping into the cold, calculated man I'd become known as was easy now. It gave me the shield I needed to wield my power and control my foes, allowing me room to flex my muscles and dive into the darker urges coursing through me.
"Ah, it seems you recognize the face."
"Of course, I do, asshole. That's my wife."
"Oh, are we at the lying stage of our show already? I was under the impression she was your girlfriend, your mistress. The one you don't want your wife to know about."
Simeon Santos gritted his teeth, spit flying from the corners as he spoke, no longer remaining quiet. The picture was of a young waitress he'd been seeing for six months now. Based on his lie to protect her, I think he actually cared about this one.
As I kept watching him, another picture, this one of his wife, flashed up, showing her home making dinner, the image clearly taken from outside. Interesting. His reaction to her wasn't as terrified as it had been to the younger waitress; perhaps he did love her. It clicked a few details in my mind, offering me the angle to take for the leverage I needed.
Leaning forward on my arms, I stared at him as he sweated under the lights. His leg gently shook as he waited for me to make my demands. Simeon knew he'd been beaten but was hoping to still leave here with some level of control. He wouldn't. I'd take what I needed. His opportunity to barter had long passed.
"I asked you before if you knew how Delgado was cleaning his money. Or I should say, my money? You had a bit of a memory block back then. Perhaps now that you've had some time to shift things loose, is anything coming to mind?"
I flipped the screen back to the pretty waitress, knowing it was my best bet now. I zoomed in on her face, and he swallowed, unable to take his eyes off her as he kept flicking them up there. Simeon visibly sweated, pulling his collar as he attempted to find a way out of this.
The only way out was with the truth. If he didn’t give it, there wasn't a way out for him.
Over the past few months, it had become evident that not only had my father and Uncle Sean been stealing, but using someone else to clean their money, or more likely, cleaning it themselves, taking our footing in this city away. If Delgado no longer needed the resources we provided, he would take us out one by one, leaving no one behind. It was the fear of this massacre that had kept us sequestered in the suburbs. If I knew where to start, I'd be able to regain my stronghold.
"I, uh, I may remember something now that you mention it."
Grinning, I leaned back in my chair, crossing my feet at the ankle, and cocked an eyebrow at him, dropping all formalities now. "Oh? Please, Simeon, I'm all ears."
"I'd forgotten until you said something."
"Of course, memory loss does take time." It was bullshit, but I'd play his game until he was no longer useful.
"But I do remember hearing something about a new club opening."
My anger boiled to the surface at this news, but I held it at bay. Clubs were also our territory. Everyone was well aware, whether it be sex, dance, gambling, or even fighting, we owned it. If Delgado was brave enough to step outside of us for cleaning and stepped into our lane with new venues, then he had grown way too cocky. I needed to bring him down a peg.
It had Dayton written all over it, and for the first time, I wondered how long he'd planned this power takeover with Delgado. If Darren—because Austin had to be dead at this point—was able to deceive us this well, for this long, my father had to have been involved longer than I suspected. The memory of shooting him flashed through my mind reminding me he was gone, calming me even as his ghost continued to haunt me.
"Anything else you can offer, Simeon? Maybe the name of this club, where or who?"
"Um, nothing I can recall."
His leg began to bounce, and he gulped. His earlier stoic behavior had fled him the moment I'd flashed the pictures. It was time to hit him a little lower.
"Hmm, okay. Well, thanks, old chap. If you don't mind, could I borrow your phone?"
"My phone?"
"Yeah. Mine's out of juice," I deadpanned, offering him nothing.
"Um, yeah, I guess. Am I free to go afterward?"
"Absolutely. Let me make this call, and then you can head home to your wife or girlfriend. Whichever it is."
He watched me cautiously and slid it across the table. Lifting it, I wanted to roll my eyes at his gullibility. Not to mention he had no password protection on his device. If he knew anything else, it was amazing it hadn't been leaked yet with his inability to lock his phone.
Finding the number I wanted, I put it on speaker as it rang. The screen switched to a video, and Simeon's eyes jumped up as his eyes watched the woman. Almost simultaneously, someone picked up on the call I made, the screen showing the same.
"Hey baby, you headed home from the office? Can you pick up some milk on your way home?” she asked. When I didn’t say anything, she stopped what she was doing to look at the phone. “Hello?"
"Oh, apologies, ma'am. This phone was left at—"