Chapter 37 #2
“I don’t live and die by the rule book. Nothing is black and white, and corruption exists everywhere—judges who can be bought and sold, cops who make evidence disappear, prosecutors who broker deals under the table.
I’m resourceful and clever. That’s how you make money and a name for yourself; not doing what your dad does, toiling away for some greater good.
That shit doesn’t exist. The world is built on darkness.
You either embrace it and thrive or die trying to reach the light. ”
“If you’re so fucking clever and resourceful, how did you end up here?”
Rich smiled. He didn’t seem to grasp his misfortune.
“When I took Philippe on as a client, everyone warned me it was a mistake and that I’d pay for it eventually.”
Richard quieted and stared at a crack in the floor before continuing.
“Philippe was my friend, but I saw him for what he was—a has-been looking to coast into easy retirement. He didn’t care about his business anymore.
He slaughtered the goose that laid the golden egg when he agreed to Liam’s peace deal.
It didn’t matter. He’d already collected his fortune and then closed the door behind him.
It created the perfect opportunity for someone like Ivan to turn the screws of discontent.
“Ivan had connections to a few Velasco captains, those two men in here just a minute ago. He saw the Velascos as force multipliers for dismantling Emory’s empire, and the Velascos seized the chance to achieve parity with the Moriartys, a first for them. So, they made a deal, but Philippe found out.
“The Velascos have kompromat on me. It’ll end my career.
Then there’s Charlotte, the things they’ll do to her.
Ivan wanted Philippe’s whereabouts, so I gave it.
I couldn’t do anything about Burt, though.
Dumb fuck. If it’s any comfort, he did try to protect you.
He refused to tell the Velascos that you’d seen the folder. ”
“How the hell is that supposed to comfort me?” Amelia demanded. It wasn’t a comfort at all, but an absurdity of fate, all the inconsequential decisions that lead to disastrous ends. “If Burt didn’t tell them, how did the Velascos know?”
Bound and beaten, Richard scoffed, scornful even then. “Burt went to Martin Kranski for help. He was worried for himself, but mostly for you. Kranski was a sloppy drunk. The information wasn’t hard for me to wrangle out of him.”
Amelia reeled from a sharp shock of brilliant hatred. “You told them! You sent them after me!”
“Oh, get off it. They would’ve gone after you anyway. Ivan’s interest in you is as much to terrorize your father as it is to eliminate you from the pool of people who knew he’d taken over. And now you’ve given him a third reason.”
Rich’s eyes raked over Amelia. She tugged her shirt up her shoulder to sop up the blood.
“I saw how you hesitated at the gas station. I saw the torment in you, the way Emory’s manipulated you into believing he gives a shit. And worse, you care about him. In fact, I’d say you’re in love with him, aren’t you?”
Amelia refused an answer, though it was obvious to her and anyone else around them and Richard too. He shook his head with a lurid grin.
“God, I’d love to see Cal’s face when he finds out you spread your legs for Emory Holt.
If it weren’t so pathetic, it’d be hilarious.
” Richard tipped his head to the metal door.
“You know Emory’s just as violent and ruthless as them, right?
He came to my party for payment. I’d say he collected, wouldn’t you? ”
At the lewd suggestion, Richard stared at Amelia’s bare thighs pressed together.
“You don’t know him,” she said in a feeble attempt at defense. Emory was brave and strong, and he’d come for her soon. I won’t make it through the night.
“I know him far better than you do. I know the hatred the Holt brothers harbor for one another. I know how it fuels them both, how they’d tear this world apart just to watch the other bleed.”
Richard winced as he shifted against the wall, and his visage darkened with deep unease.
“You were at my party. You saw what Ivan did. He turned my home into his slaughterhouse. That should be a testament to how little he values human life. It was a shot across the bow for Emory to see. Ivan wants his brother to suffer. Like it or not, that agenda of misery now includes you.”
They both sat up as sounds rustled beyond the metal door. Ivan breezed in with three other men Amelia recognized from Richard’s party. Knees pulled to her chest, she coiled into a tight ball to make herself small, as if she might disappear that way.
Ivan snatched her by the forearm and dragged her from the mattress. She squealed and tried to wrestle her arm away, but his fingers only clamped tighter as he hauled her across the room.
With surprising strength, he tossed her at Richard.
Amelia slid across the grimy floor and slammed into the wall.
The impact knocked the wind out of her. On her forearms and knees, she gasped for breaths but still scarcely managed to fill her lungs.
One of the Velasco men pulled a phone from his pocket while another unbound Richard’s hands.
Ivan shoved the phone at Richard. “Call him.”
For what felt like ages, Richard fumbled with the phone and tapped at the screen. He handed it to Ivan just as Emory’s voice, muffled and deep, filtered through.