Levi #2
“The one guy kept looking at me like I was a cut of rare beef and he was starving,” Will said, looking disgusted and uncomfortable as he fidgeted.
“That would be Luis,” I said with a snort. “Of course they brought him along...good.”
Will’s eyes darted around before dropping his voice. “Sir, I know you’ve kept me in the dark for a lot—”
“For good reason,” I told him patiently.
“I get it, you’ve got your reasons, I know. But...I’m gonna be honest here. I’ve got a bad feeling. I’ve had one all day, and I can’t get rid of it.”
“There’s a lot going on, so I understand,” I said, putting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing it.
“But you can shake it off. You’re in no danger.
Follow the orders I gave you, and let me deal with the rest. After today, everything will be taken care of.
And maybe you’ll even find yourself in a better position than you’ve been in the past few months. ”
Will’s shoulders slumped. “I wasn’t worried about me. You’ve always taken care of me, even when you didn’t need to...and probably shouldn’t have.”
“Stop selling yourself short,” I told him.
“If you’re going to continue in The Family, then you need to find out what your strengths are and play to them.
The only time you should worry about your weaknesses is if someone can take advantage.
And that’s true even if you do find a way to have a normal life, you hear me? ”
“Yes...sir,” he said, his mouth turning down at the corners like a flower pushed too close to a flame.
“Good,” I said. “I’ll deal with them, you do what I told you, and your phone is ringing.”
“Right,” he said, pulling out his phone as he stepped out of the way. There was a hesitation before he answered the call nervously.
I imagined it was probably Augustine trying to reach him, since I was no longer taking his calls.
Will had already been instructed not to take Augustine’s calls and to avoid him at all costs.
I couldn’t say for certain as I hadn’t devoted resources to it, but I was pretty sure Augustine had come to Cresson Point, or he would soon make an appearance.
Not that it mattered much; everything was going to be settled soon, so he could deal with the mess I was going to leave him.
If anyone could fix it and make something good out of it, it was him.
Ignoring what was probably my father’s repeated attempts to get hold of me, I opened the door to the meeting room and stepped in.
There were three, two more than there were of me, but at least they had left the guards somewhere else.
I had arranged for it to be just us in the meeting, and I was pleased they had honored the arrangement, but I was sure if it had been left up to Luis and Reg, they wouldn’t have agreed.
..or shown up with a platoon of men armed to the teeth anyway.
“And there he is,” Luis said with a wide grin that would have been right at home on a shark. “We were waitin’ for you.”
“I’m glad you were willing to wait so patiently,” I said as I walked up to the far end of the table and looked at the three men appraising me in turn.
Luis was practically vibrating with excitement; I was sure that in his head, he was about to have some fun, perhaps even been promised it.
The arrogance that had hung around Reg before like a stink cloud was gone, replaced by a sour glare and a nervous flick of his fingers against the table.
The other man, though, was calmer, more composed, filling out his large suit, but his wide eyes were watching me carefully.
“These two I’m well acquainted with. Which would make you Leo, or do you prefer Leonardo? ”
“This is business, but since three of you seem to know each other, we can stick with Leo,” he said, his voice rough but his words clear with only a faint accent.
“We don’t know each other as much as I’d wanna,” Luis said, and his accent was thicker.
“I don’t know about that,” I said, raising a brow. “I think you and Reg have become acquainted with me over the past couple of weeks. That is, unless I failed to make a strong enough point, which would be...disappointing.”
“I told you he was a smug son of a bitch,” Reg muttered to Leo, a scowl on his face.
“And why wouldn’t I feel self-satisfied?
” I wondered with a smile. “For all your talk, for the underhanded way you tried to deal with me at what should have been a peaceful meeting, you have found yourself with your backs against the wall, scrambling to keep control of what was never yours in the first place. I decided to play the game your way, and you’ve found that I’m the better player.
Yes, I think that calls for a bit of smugness, don’t you? ”
“You…” Reg began, but froze when Luis chuckled.
“He really shoulda let me have my fun with you,” Luis said, his hand gliding along the top of the table as he wound his way around to where I stood.
I didn’t bat an eye, my hands under the table as if I might lift it at any time.
..I couldn’t, of course, the thing would have given Dom problems at full strength.
Of course, he wasn’t at full strength now and wouldn’t be for a long time, and all because of two of the three men in this room.
“I told him that. I told him I thought you were going to end up being trouble.”
“And does being correct taste like victory?” I asked him calmly. “Or do you find it has bitter undertones?”
“You think you’re gonna win, don’t you?” he asked calmly, but I wasn’t fooled. Reg was the more emotional of the two, but Luis was the unstable one. His sanity was a thin line, held in place by self-control and the other two men. “How’s it gonna feel when you find out how wrong you are?”
“Is this what you wanted?” I asked him as he drew near, showing the hand holding my little ‘surprise’ from the office, but maintaining my stance. “To get this close to me? You aren’t my type, I’m afraid.”
“No, I know your type,” he said as he came to a stop, looking at what I was holding, and after apparently deciding it wasn’t an immediate threat, brought his attention back to me as he leaned in closer.
“Big, not very bright. A lot tougher than I thought, though. When I told my boys to take him out, and they told me they got him good, I thought he was done for.”
“He’s tougher than anyone in this room, I’ll give you that,” I said, my free hand tightening.
“Yeah, but he’s not invincible, is he? I think once I get my chance, I’ll make you wish he had died after getting hit,” he said with a grin.
“And he’ll definitely be wishin’ he had.
Maybe I’ll see how tough he is after I’ve worked through some of that family stuff.
You fucked up. All you did was piss us off, and we do not like to get pissed off. ”
“See, the real mistake you made was going for him instead of me,” I said. “A mistake you won’t get to make twice.”
I drew my hand up, drawing his attention to my surprise.
All that meant was he didn’t see my right hand tighten on the knife tucked into a holster under the table.
It had been a while since I’d been forced to be this close to someone to end things, but I found it came easily as it slid from the sheath, and I drove it up into his gut.
His eyes were wide, shock and pain flashing across his face as I stared back, pulling the knife out and driving it into his gut again, feeling warmth splash down my hand and wrist, giving his gut a third stab.
“Is this close enough for you?” I asked, ignoring the roar that came from Reg as he got to his feet, and I yanked the knife out, ignoring the thick splat of something falling out of Luis as I sliced across his throat.
There was resistance, and I vaguely realized I’d hit bone, but I watched Luis crumple backwards, the life spewing from his gut and throat as his hands flopped helplessly on the ground.
Reg let out a spate of furious, garbled Spanish and reached into his coat.
Time for the next step, honey.
She was right, and I turned, holding up my surprise and pushing down on the trigger, holding it tight. “I would be exceptionally careful about pulling that gun and firing, unless you want an express ride to hell with the rest of us.”
Leo was on his feet as well, but he was faster than Reg, who wasn’t listening to a word I said.
He grabbed the gun as Reg fumbled to get it out, yanking it from his hand and to my surprise, smashed it against the side of his face.
Reg gave a cry and stumbled forward, blood splattering on the table as he fell against it, the gash on the side of his head from the butt of the gun leaking.
“Idiot,” Leo said harshly.
“You…” Reg began, but Leo interrupted.
“Dead man trigger?” Leo asked, but I could see the way his eyes were trying not to dart around the room to look for the explosives.
“You can find evidence on the underside of the table, dead center,” I said, nodding at the table.
Leo raised a brow, but crouched to look under the table to find I wasn’t lying. “I see.”
“I learned a little lesson from the last time I dealt with these two lovely gentlemen,” I told him, smelling the sickly scent of copper-laden blood and the foulness of Luis’ punctured guts.
Reg was where he had collapsed, and I could hear a low moan as he undoubtedly watched Luis die. “I never forgot that.”
“Clearly,” Leo said, and I saw a drop of sweat form on his forehead.
“I have a long memory,” I said, walking to the corner of the table opposite where Luis lay, and where Reg was still huddling, his eyes locked on Luis’...well, if he weren’t a body yet, he soon would be. “How does it feel, Reg?”