“It would be my pleasure, my friend. Those bastards have lived too long already, and we are the idiots who allowed it.”
“It’s not that easy.” Dimitri looks worried. “He has Flynn’s friend and we both know he will guard her well. It won’t be easy to set her free. Then there’s Wesley. I’m guessing Massimo won’t be so friendly when he learns what his closest friend did to him all those years ago. No, I’ve been thinking about this, and we have a golden opportunity to set them against one another and step back and watch the show.”
“You think it’s that easy?” Pedro spits on the ground. “I have no doubt Massimo will deal with Wesley. That will be the easy part but bringinghimdown is a different thing entirely.”
Pedro looks thoughtful. “We need an enemy within.”
My ears prick up and I say roughly, “Then you’re looking at him.”
Their eyes swing my way and I growl. “My entire life, I’ve been that enemy within my uncle’s house. Watching and waiting for the opportune moment to rid me of him forever. If I must, I will do the same with Massimo. Gain his trust and bring him down inside his own walls.”
I don’t miss the look the two men share, which makes me strangely uneasy, and then Pedro leans forward and says in a disgusted voice. “The only way you will get inside Massimo’s fortress is chained to his wall while he fucks you to death.”
Dimitri looks sick and nods. “I’m sorry, Flynn, we’ve known for some time the details of my brother’s perverted hobby. He takes young men and ruins them for fun and for all your skills, you will be exposed to that risk.”
Pedro leans back and grabs his glass of whiskey, taking a long drag while wrestling with something on his mind.
“I have another idea that may work better. It will buy us some time and that is all, but will start the, how you say it, ball rolling.”
“What do you have in mind?” I’m keen to hear the facts and he looks at Dimitri and smiles.
“We know something the great Massimo does not. His best friend betrayed him, and he has a daughter. Flynn will arrange a meeting with his uncle’s best friend somewhere public, promising him his loyalty and, as a gift, he will deliver him a new toy to play with.”
Dimitri looks worried. “How will that work?”
Pedro looks at me and, for the first time, I sense his acceptance and he smiles when I nod and say darkly, “I can do that.”
Dimitri still looks confused, and I fix Pedro with a twisted smile. “The enemy within you say. I’ve been training for that role all my life. Leave it with me. I’ll arrange everything and all I need to know is that I have your back up at my disposal when needed.”
Pedro nods and then leans forward, staring me straight in the eye. “All the time you treat my Louisa properly, you have my loyalty. If you don’t, you become my biggest enemy and I will end your life in the cruelest way possible. Do we have a deal?”
“We have a deal.” I hold out my hand and as we shake on it, I see the promise in his eyes. I know he loves his goddaughter like one of his own and it’s just a good thing I love her far more. He will be my ally until the end of time because I will never do anything to hurt Louisa and if I did, I would welcome death, anyway.