He might be my friend, but in business, especiallythistype of business, he doesn’t give a fuck who his friends are.
He will murder them regardless. The line rings once before he picks up, a telltale sign that he’s been waiting for this call.
Fuck.
“You better have good news for me,” Lorenzo says, sounding more bored than anything.
It’s his MO. Calm and collected until he isn’t. It’s a scare tactic. One that is very efficient.
He’s a crazy motherfucker.
“Well, unfortunately, you might be waiting a while for good news,” I retort, which probably isn’t the best way to deliver bad news to a guy like Lorenzo.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” His voice rises in anger, but I don’t so much as flinch.
He might not be able to see me, but in this industry, you can’t show weakness. Ever.
“There’s an issue, Lorenzo, and out of respect for our friendship”—I throw that in to remind him of the fact that he can’t just go cockeyed and kill me—“I’m going to give it to you straight. There’s been a delay. Your delivery is not in, but I’ll keep you apprised of the situation.”
“You better,” he snaps, and it pisses me off.
Maybe it’s this whole day that sets me off, but I can’t help but react to his veiled threat.
I lean forward, placing my elbows on my knees. “Or what?”
He laughs menacingly. “Don’t fuck with me, Gideon.”
“What other option do you have, Lorenzo? You gonna work with the Russians?”
There’s no way he’s dealing with them, and we both know it.
“You better make this right,” he mutters back, completely ignoring my comment about the Russians. “I’m losing my patience.”
“Don’t I always?”
He grunts. A second passes. No words are exchanged. Then I hear him breathe out. “You going to Cyrus’s this week?”
And just like that…my friend is back.
7
SASHA
I can’t believethis is my life.
Here I am, a few months from my twenty-second birthday, with little to show for it. This should be the prime of my life. I should be living it up in college, hanging out with friends, and studying cello like I always dreamed. Enjoying myself.
Enjoying life.
Instead, I’ve been kidnapped by a criminal. And why? Because he made a promise to my brother?If that’s even true.A brother who had to have gotten himself into something big—dangerous—if more criminals are looking to kill me.
How many years will I be punished for Roman’s failures?
I loved my brother, but since the day my parents died and he took over as legal guardian, it’s been one shit show after another. When I could, I moved out without a backward glance because Roman had brought me nothing but pain.
Even now, my heart hurts from all the hurt. Of course, I mourn his death, but it doesn’t erase all the bad that came along with him. I’ll always miss the big brother I idolized when I was eight years old, but that boy was long gone years before he died.
Turning to my side, I eye the door from the largest, comfiest bed I’ve ever lain on.