17. Dax #3
“She has a point,” Tommaso interjected. “They didn’t tell me about this exercise either until this morning because they knew I wasn’t going to like it.
If I’d come into that break room and found you truly ready to slit her throat, I would have intervened.
Instead, you were using your blade to get her attention and make a point, then you offered her a way out if she wanted it.
That interaction told me everything I personally needed to know about who you are as a person, Dax. ”
My gaze drifted over to Betta, needing her to tell me the truth. “Why? Why were you willing to do as these men asked, knowing who and what I was.”
“As you said, we women are allowed to be badasses in the world. While I might work here in an office, I have a position of respect as the treasurer of the whole organization. Yeah, I don’t rule an empire or know how to fight like you.
I still demanded my respect from these men,” she answered, her tone cool and confident, nothing like the woman she was pretending to be moments ago.
“Who knows, one day, I might be hitting you up for a job if we become as good of friends as these men want.”
I sighed, slouching in my chair. “They sure have a fucked-up way of showing their intentions. God, I feel like I’m back in grade school where the kid who pulls your pigtails is in love with you.”
Betta and Tommaso chuckled at that, along with my guys, but the older men didn’t at all seem amused.
“So what now? Do you need me to bleed on something? Offer up my firstborn child?” I asked, feeling the energy drain out of me at all these games they insisted on playing.
“That would do us no good since you lost your firstborn, then ensured it couldn’t happen again,” Sergio muttered.
Cold shock slammed into me at his words. “What—”
My words were cut short as Cam vaulted out of his seat, grabbed Sergio by the back of his collar, and slammed him to the floor.
“How dare you.” Cam snarled, shoving his gun into the man’s chest. “Do not speak of things you don’t understand, or you’ll never live long enough to meet any future grandchildren.”
My body shook with rage and panic. No one knew about that.
With Wes’s help, I made sure we wiped all my records when I started building the Hidden Empire.
Dax Blackmore needed to be a ghost. There shouldn't have been a spec of evidence regarding that left in the world.
Reaching down to my boot, I pulled the gun I had tucked there, stood, and aimed it at Valter.
“How does he know,” I demanded. “No one should have been able to find that information.”
Void was right behind me, the warmth of his body telling me he was protecting my back as I focused on this.
If they wanted to see what would make me snap, give up caring about my morals—well, good for them, they’d done it.
Now they were going to suffer the consequences because I wouldn’t let anyone use that information against me.
“I don’t know how that information was discovered, but I do know it was one of my moles in the De León Cartel,” Valter informed me.
“If you’d tried to make a move to take over by proposing a marriage where no heir could have been produced, it was useful information to know.
” Valter glanced at the man Cam was currently choking out, watching Sergio’s face turn purple, fighting to free himself.
“Truly, I don’t know why he even brought it up.
You’ve made it clear that was the last thing you wanted from us. ”
Not believing a word that came out of his mouth, I shook my head slowly.
“It’s obvious to me you wanted to push me to the brink.
Your stunt with Betta didn’t work, nor did lying and manipulating me, then throwing it in my face.
So here we are. How does it look to stare into the eyes of the person who will be your death?
” I asked. Even to my ears, my voice sounded emotionless, empty of any humanity that I’d had.
“This isn’t what I had planned, Dax,” Valter said, his tone urging me to understand.
“Tommaso and I are on the same page with him taking over the De León Cartel, some not so much. You have to understand, he acted on his own. Take his life if that’s what you feel will make us even for the mess he’s made. ”
I let out a bitter laugh, dropping the gun to my side.
“Whatever deal you wanted to make with me is over. I won’t work with a bastard who feels the need to drudge up the past that has nothing to fucking do with anything.
As you said, I wanted nothing to do with merging our empires together.
It was a low malicious blow, and if I ever see your face or Serio’s again, I will kill you instantly.
Cam, let the man go. I won’t be the one to give them a reason to start a war when we’re already in the middle of another one. ”
Shoving the gun down the front of my pants so I could get to it easily, I charged out of the conference room.
I threw the glass door open so hard it shattered into a million pieces on the floor.
Fucking bastard was lucky that’s all he had to suffer.
The only reason any of them were still alive was that it would create more complications that I didn’t need before taking down Diego.
Let’s hope they know I keep my promise no matter the fallout it could cause.