Chapter Eight #2
Joaquin’s sitting behind the large black desk in his office when we enter. On one of the chairs across from him, his second-in-command Emiliano glances up at me.
The cocky bastard might look like he’s just staring, but I can tell from the way his eyes slowly move all over me that he’s scanning me for weapons.
It’s a waste of time. There’s no way I’d walk into the Mexicans’ den without ensuring our safety.
“Look who we have here,” Joaquin drawls, leaning back in his chair with a glass of whiskey dangling lazily between his fingers. A grin spreads across his face, but it never reaches his eyes. “The great Igor Nazarov and his—”
“Cut the crap,” I say dryly.
The smile slips from Joaquin’s face.
I don’t bother sitting. Neither does Ruslan. We remain standing across from the desk, forcing Joaquin and Emiliano to crane their necks slightly to look at us. A small advantage, but I’ll take every one I can get.
“Five men. That’s how many there were, and they weren’t ordinary assassins. It seemed like they were trained in the armed forces.”
Joaquin’s brows pull together. “I heard.”
“Did you?”
“News travels fast, and I told you I’d do my own investigation. Sadly, I’m not a magician.”
Emiliano shifts in his seat, his gaze flicking briefly toward Joaquin before settling back on me. It’s subtle, almost imperceptible, but I don’t miss it.
“You think we had something to do with it,” Joaquin says at last.
“Does it matter what I think?” My voice remains even. “You called me out to the port, so I think you owe me a fucking explanation.”
“Look, Nazarov.” Joaquin slowly sets his glass on the desk. “If I wanted you dead, you wouldn’t have made it out of your driveway.”
Ruslan lets out a quiet scoff beside me. “Interesting,” he mutters.
Joaquin ignores him. “We’re negotiating an alliance worth hundreds of millions. Why would I start a war the day before we profit from each other?”
He isn’t wrong, and that’s precisely what bothers me. It’s also what makes me truly believe he wouldn’t be dumb enough to pull a move like that on me.
My gaze drifts over both men, studying every twitch of muscle, every hesitation, every breath. Fear has a smell. Lies have tells. So far, I see neither.
“Then tell me how somebody knew I was going to the port, Villalobos.” I lean over his desk and point an accusing finger right in his face.
“You’ve just made quite a bold accusation, Nazarov.” Joaquin’s gaze grows icy, but he doesn’t dare to look away from me. “How do I know you aren’t trying to mess with our alliance?”
I bark a humorless laugh. “My wife was almost killed. You think I’d risk my wife just to fuck with you?”
For the first time since I entered this office, the confidence leaves Joaquin’s face. He frowns while Emiliano straightens up in his chair.
“I didn’t know about that.”
“Of course you didn’t. Now you see why I’m pissed as hell.”
“You know our rules, Nazarov. We don’t attack women and children.”
I watch him closely. His pulse doesn’t accelerate, his breathing stays calm, and he doesn’t look away from my eyes once. Either he’s being completely truthful with me, or he’s one of the best liars I’ve ever met.
Either way, he called me to the port, so if anyone has to sort this shit out, it should be him.
Emiliano clears his throat, drawing my attention. It’s the first time he’s chiming into the conversation.
“In recent weeks, we’ve had several calls regarding shipments, route schedule, security shifts…we found it suspicious at first, but concluded it was about a shipment we were receiving later, and just tightened security.”
I scoff at the silly explanation that I couldn’t give two fucks about. “Well, looks like you were mistaken.”
“So it appears.” Emiliano nods. “Whoever planned this must’ve been keeping tabs on our conversations, either on our end or yours. And while it seemed like you were the target, have you considered that maybe it’s your wife they were after?”
I drum my finger against my temple, putting the pieces of the puzzle together. How didn’t I think of that earlier?
Someone knew that Audrey would be right beside me, and it can’t be a coincidence that they chose to hit us during my first outing with her as my wife. But only Sergei and my men knew she was going with us, and there’s no way any of them could’ve betrayed me.
“Do you have any suspicions from your end?” I ask him.
Joaquin quickly looks at Emiliano, then answers. “There are always those who are eager to take advantage of a good opportunity, but there isn’t any fool who would sabotage an alliance worth this much.”
Before he can say another word, my phone vibrates inside my jacket, and when I take it out, the screen lights up with Sergei's name.
The first thing I think of is Audrey. I wonder if she’s awake now, and shaken by my absence.
I answer. “What?”
“We’ve got something.” His voice is calm, but I’ve known Sergei long enough to recognize the urgency beneath it. “One of our tech guys pulled the call records from the burner phone we recovered from one of the corpses.”
My fingers tighten around the phone. “And?”
“Someone made a call twenty minutes before the attack,” Sergei says. “You were right about this being an inside job.”
Every muscle in my body goes still. “Who did it?”
“I don’t know for certain yet.” He pauses. “What we do know is that it was a call from someone inside the Villalobos organization.”
Slowly, I lift my eyes from the phone and look at Joaquin.
He notices the change in my expression immediately, and even though he tries to hide it, his expression shows the restlessness growing inside him. “What happened?”
I ignore his question. “Send whatever you find to me. I’ll be home soon.”
“Yes, boss.”
Resisting the urge to ask about Audrey, I end the call without another word.
Joaquin takes a sip of his whiskey, still scrutinizing me as if he expects me to take out my gun and shoot him. “Nazarov, what happened?”
I throw my phone back into my pocket. It’s been confirmed that the Mexicans, or at least someone their organization, was behind the attack, which means I can’t fully trust Joaquin. At least not yet. Not until he brings the guilty bastard to my feet.
“One of your men made the call that put a target on my back tonight.”
For a second, nobody speaks.
Emiliano is the first to recover. “That’s impossible.”
“Keep playing dumb and you’ll really piss me the fuck off,” I growl. “You Mexicans act like you’re above betrayal when you can’t even keep your own rats under control.”
Joaquin curses under his breath and slams his palm on the desk, the sound echoing through the office. “Who?”
“That’s up to you to find out.”
His expression darkens as he runs a hand over his jaw. “Someone’s trying to pit us against each other.”
“They already have.” I button my jacket and turn toward the door. Ruslan falls in step behind me. “What happens next depends on what you do with what I just told you.”
“Where are you going?” Joaquin calls after me.
I pause just long enough to glance back over my shoulder.
“To find the son of a bitch who thought he could touch my wife.” My voice is quiet, but the promise behind it is anything but. “When I find him, he’ll wish the bullets had killed him first.”