Chapter 38 Infiltration #2
I flash my gun and point outside. “Is paused. Master has something important going on. Wait outside until instructed.”
The man pales, and soldiers scurry at my command. No one defies me, especially with the bastard Jasper gone.
The lounge empties.
“How dare you, Elias Kent,” Cornelius mutters, fury clear in his voice. “You march in here, arrogant, disrespectful, and demand that I hand over my best assassin…for nothing?”
A low chuckle travels through the air.
“I amend the statement. Not nothing,” the king of the underworld says. “More like the absence of something.”
“Stop your riddles.”
Click. He’s closing his lighter and going for the kill.
“What do you think your precious Si Shen would do if he learned his parents died because you needed a leash around his neck?”
For one impossible moment, the air vanishes from the hallway.
I didn’t know Elias was going to bluff the bastard. Sebastian was supposed to search for insurance records and other proof, but I’d long given up on understanding the complicated mind of my old friend.
The dealer of secrets is always ten moves ahead.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Cornelius huffs. A chair squeaks.
“What will your people do when they find out their dear leader arranged a secret deal with Igor Ivanov? Colluding with the Bratva, really? Do you think that’ll stay secret for long?”
“Ren!” Cornelius hollers.
Chairs scrape across the floor, guns clicking. I spy Cornelius standing, face red, his bodyguard’s weapon pointed at Elias, who sits across from him seemingly without a care in the world.
My phone buzzes in my pocket. Cornelius. No doubt wanting me to rescue him.
Elias laughs. “You might want to hold off calling your dog. I find pets aren’t that loyal to owners who mistreat them.”
Cornelius leans over his desk. “You have nothing, Kent.”
“Do I?” Elias shrugs. “Maybe not. But I have friends who have many things.”
The old fox snarls. “You’re in cahoots with the Carusos.”
“And I’m giving you a chance to level the playing field.” Elias stands, towering over Cornelius, completely ignoring the gun pointed at his head. “Give me Ren. Your little secret remains safe with me, and he’ll never know he’s obeying the orders of the very man who massacred his parents.”
Red creeps into my vision, my hand reaching for my weapon but stopping halfway.
I need more. I need Cornelius to admit to his crimes.
“He’ll never be loyal to you,” Cornelius says. “I raised him like my own. He’ll never believe you. Ren’s trusting. Not like his meddling dad who was my father’s watchdog.”
“How frustrating it must’ve been for you to be groomed for power but never getting it.” Elias tsks. “Makes sense, though. I too prefer making things happen instead of waiting around. But I have a rule—no innocent women or children. That apparently doesn’t matter to you.”
Cornelius barks out a laugh. “Get off your high horse, Kent. Ren’s mother wasn’t innocent. She knew enough to be a material weakness. In my house, weaknesses get corrected.”
His confession lands like a bullet.
He did it. Killed my parents. Forced Celia and me to submit to him under the guise of taking care of us.
Crimson bleeds into my vision.
Slowly, I push open the door. Cornelius’s eyes widen.
Unflinchingly, I put a bullet in the bodyguard’s forehead before he can blink.
The man drops.
“Ren, it’s not what you think,” Cornelius stammers, backing away. “Tell him, Kent. You want Ren on your team? You got it.”
A slow smile curves Elias’s lips, but murder flashes in his green eyes. He walks up to me and clasps my shoulder. “Took you long enough.”
“The monologue bored me,” I reply.
Cornelius gapes at us, clearly putting everything together.
“See you on the outside. Try not to make a mess.” Elias rolls his beloved lighter over his knuckles. “Hard to clean.”
I don’t answer him and wait for the click of the door closing.
“Y-You planned this,” Cornelius rasps, his back plastered against the wall.
Not answering him, I peel off my gloves and toss them on the table.
I want to relish his life draining from him.
I want to savor the last pulse of his heart before it dies.
“You killed Dad. Set him up with the Russians, didn’t you?”
I take a step toward him.
“And Mom…I should’ve known. She looked too peaceful.” Reaching the bastard in a few steps, I lunge forward and collar his neck tightly in my grip.
His eyes bulge, face reddening. He claws at my fingers to no avail.
“Because I’m good at killing?” I snarl. “Your perfect monster. How twisted…having their blood on your hands to make me spill more.”
I lift him. His feet kick, jabbing into my legs, but I barely feel the hits.
“Elias is right.” My fingers dig in harder. “Sometimes a dog bites back.”
Tendons snap. Wretched gasps tear from the bastard’s mouth.
Then he slackens, his lips curving up.
“Y-You think you know it all,” he rasps.
Something breaks inside his mouth.
He coughs, blood and foam spewing out. A shudder. A half-grunt.
Light vanishes from his eyes.
I drop him.
His body lands with a thud, a sick smile still carved on his face.
The bastard must’ve hidden something in his mouth. Poison capsule probably. Denying me my vengeance, sadistic to the very end.
My ears ring. Bloodlust still claws through me.
Visions of Mom in the pool flash behind my eyes. Celia’s weakened state, trapped in a gilded cage most of her short life. All the lives I’ve taken, my soul blackened beyond recognition.
“We have all the time in the world.” Aria’s sweet voice echoes in my mind.
No amount of time will wash away my sins.
A ruckus rumbles outside the room, dragging me back to the present. I stuff Cornelius and the bodyguard beneath the desk, knowing it’ll only buy me an extra minute or two.
I turn off the lights, close the door behind me, and lock it. Then I straighten my mask, pull my shoulders back, and walk into the fray.
“He’s canceling the consolidation meeting,” I sign and stride past the grumbling crowd toward the nearest exit.
They’ll find the bodies soon. Chaos will descend.
My phone buzzes. Three short pulses. The emergency code.
“What?” I rasp, crossing the central courtyard.
“Ren,” Sofia says, urgent and breathless. “Celia had an episode. Hurry.”
I break into a run.