Chapter 41 #3
I raised an eyebrow but didn’t signal for Mikhail to stop. His finger hovered over the trigger, the tension in the room thickening.
“Four.”
“It was Valentina! I swear, it was Valentina! She told me the Americans would pay me a lot of money to track the shipments for them.”
Christ. I swear, that woman was in everyone’s goddamn business.
“And how does Valentina know about the opium shipments?”
“Her husband was working with the Americans—that’s how she knew! They’ve been skimming off the top for years.”
No one had noticed, because Cillian was the one who handled business with the Americans. That meant he’d known about the shipments the entire time.
“Do they pay her too?” I asked.
He nodded. “It’s all she has left. Liam has her inheritance.”
No, he doesn’t. I do. When he signed over the marina, he was also signing over problems I didn’t have time to deal with. Like Valentina.
The pieces began to fit together in my mind. Valentina was always manipulating the situation to her advantage. Her connections with the Americans threatened everything I’d built. The entire reason I’d started working for Liam in the first place was to take over the marina.
Mikhail’s gun was still in position, and Mason’s eyes were wild with fire.
“Please—I’m telling you the truth! She’s been undermining you, using the Americans to keep her position safe. She needs the money to pay for her mother’s condition.”
I nodded slowly. I believed him. “But she’s not the one who’s undermining me,” I said coldly. Sure, she couldn’t keep her damn mouth shut, but she wasn’t the one who’d stolen from me.
The room was silent except for the distant hum from outside the door and the occasional creak of the old wood floors.
Every second felt like an eternity as I weighed up my options.
The cold steel of Mikhail’s gun caught the light as he held it still, his finger tensed on the trigger.
He was waiting. I think he enjoyed this.
He was always ready to act impulsively, without hesitation.
Mason’s pleas continued.
Mikhail’s eyes met mine, a silent question hanging between us.
Rosalie’s face flashed in my mind. She’d call me a monster if she knew what I was about to do.
Trying to be a better man for her was starting to make me look weak.
I wanted to be someone she could look up to.
I wanted to be gentle with her, patient—someone worthy of her love and trust. But in this world, my world, being better often translated to being weaker, and Mason wasn’t the only one who’d begun to see it that way.
Mercy, kindness—qualities I thought might redeem me—were seen as a weakness to be exploited. Mason had gambled with his life, betting on my desire to change . . . but change, I was learning, came at a steep price.
Mason’s voice was now desperate. He was sweating profusely, eyes darting between me and Mikhail, searching for any sign of mercy.
He found none.
Mason had made his choice, and now I had to make mine.
“Thank you for your honesty, Mason,” I said. I nodded slightly toward Mikhail, signaling for him to shoot.
Mikhail’s finger tightened on the trigger. There was a sharp crack that echoed off the walls. Mason’s body jerked once, violently, before slumping forward, lifeless.
I stared at the body on the floor, waiting for the wave of remorse that never came. I wanted to feel sorry, to feel something, but the numbness was strong.
Reaching into my pocket, I took out a cigarette and placed it between my lips. The click of the lighter shattered the stillness in the room.
“The Americans will come looking for him,” Mikhail said.
The Americans had had a long-standing—albeit uneasy—relationship with the Clarkes for years.
They’d become a problem ever since they started sharing a bed with the Feds.
It was a mutually beneficial arrangement.
The Outfit would feed the Feds just enough information to keep them off their backs and often gave up smaller players.
Like Ricky, one of Liam’s men, who’d gotten himself clipped.
He was the reason I’d had to deal with the damn Callahan brothers originally.
They weren’t supposed to know about the marina, yet they were controlling it from thousands of miles away.
I took a drag of the cigarette, the glowing embers falling to my shoes. “No need,” I replied, exhaling a cloud of smoke. “I’ll make it very easy to find him.”
It would be far too simple, almost effortless, to have him delivered along with the shipment of opium he’d so blatantly stolen from me. I imagined him wrapped up neatly, with a note pinned to his chest that read “delivery.” That would send a clear message to the Americans, wouldn’t it?
Dealing with the Callahan brothers was like asking to play cat and mouse.
They controlled politics and would blame anyone for their crimes before taking accountability for themselves.
They were barnacles along for the ride, avoiding the consequences without even trying.
They had a vast network—one that had found its way to Washington.
They had judges, senators, and even a couple of governors in their pockets.
They didn’t just control the politics; they had their claws in construction, real estate, and even a few tech startups. They were everywhere.
Attention from them wasn’t good. And I had it.
“And what about this Valentina girl?” Mikhail asked.
My eyes fell, and I rubbed my forehead. I explained to Mikhail that Valentina had lost her assets to Liam when Cillian died a year ago. Since Liam had given me everything he had, I also had control of Valentina’s money. She could only reclaim the money by remarrying.
She was desperate to get it back—that much was obvious—but I couldn’t marry her off in her current state.
She was a chronic alcoholic who skipped her AA meetings.
No one would want to marry her. Valentina was a loose cannon.
I needed someone to keep her in check. If she wanted her money, she needed to take this seriously.
I didn’t want to wait long for her to get her act together.
Valentina was dangerous when she was alone. I never knew what she was up to, and I had no idea how close she was to the Americans. She knew too much to be alone, drunk, and vulnerable all the time.
“So she’s a liability.”
“A huge one,” I confirmed. “And the Callahan brothers know it. The last thing I need is for her to run her mouth too much and then have to deal with them at the marina.”
“Right, so kill her. Problem solved.”
I shook my head. “It’s not that simple. She’s connected, and her disappearance would raise too many questions. Besides, she’s family, in a twisted, scheming kind of way.”
Mikhail frowned, clearly not convinced. He was always practical, always looking for the most straightforward solution. “She’s a loose cannon—you said so yourself. What’s the plan?”
Valentina was going to be difficult to deal with. I couldn’t threaten her with a gun like I had Mason. She was too smart, too cunning, and she had too many connections.
I stood there for a moment processing what I needed to do. Valentina’s manipulations were a ticking time bomb—one I didn’t need to blow up in my face. I’d have to have a conversation with her in a language she understood clearly.
Money.