CHAPTER 4 - RED
CHAPTER
Red
“AFTER THE WAY YOU spoke to me, as well as reneging on our deal, you’re lucky to get the time of day, Mr Bateman! Perhaps it is morbid curiosity that tempts me to admit you in here, or perhaps I want an apology?”
Emiliano Galvatore eyes me coldly from behind his large mahogany desk. The way it’s raised on a dais higher than the rest of his office is a distinct statement of his supposed authority.
“Maybe it’s merely that I have an unknown wish to know that you’ve located your errant wife, otherwise known as the girl who I once saw as my daughter,” he continues.
I allow Galvatore to rant. He’s obviously been waiting to unload this diatribe onto me since the night I phoned him, accusing him of sending those threatening notes and kidnapping Arianna.
In all its rawness, what we faced back then was simpler compared to now.
While I, and all of us, believed Emiliano Galvatore and Edoardo Bristoni worked together, fueled by the age-old feud from back in my father’s time and were the ones behind my parents’ murder, the bomb threats and the notes. .. things made sense.
Well, it made sense inasmuch as I knew who my enemies were and, more importantly, where they were.
But since my once trusted friend and colleague revealed himself to be in league with the Galvatore son and the youngest Bristoni and it was them who were behind everything, the world tilted on its axis.
That Del Carter - the man I’d loved more than my own brothers, had betrayed me, planned for my downfall for years and helped murder my parents to further his twisted ambitions, still burns me to the marrow every single minute of every day.
However, I’m not here for that. Neither am I here because of Del’s betrayal.
I’m here for something ten thousand times more important.
I’m here for Arianna: the daughter of this asshole who believed it acceptable to sell her to the highest bidder in the first place.
Galvatore loudly clears his throat. “Like I just said, Mr Bateman, I’m a busy man, so say what you’ve come to say, and then get the fuck out of my property!”
Bristling, I shift my weight onto my other foot, keeping the gun sitting on Galvatore’s desk firmly in my sights. He hasn’t attempted to use it yet, but I’m half-expecting the fucker to blast me.
Neither has he offered me to sit down. That alone is the epitome of bad manners. “I’m here about Arianna, nothing else,” I say, my voice level as I lock eyes with Galvatore. Despite his age, his steely gaze commands a formidable presence.
“It’s not my problem if you cannot control your wife.
” Galvatore flaps his hand as if batting away a fly.
“You backed out of our arrangement and paid nothing for my daughter, so if she’s not up to the job, which doesn’t surprise me knowing her disobedience and lack of respect, then, Sir, that is your problem, not mine.
I have enough to contend with without your marital issues. ”
Folding my arms, I eye Galvatore coldly. It’s taken all of my strength to come here today knowing I must ask for this man’s help. I want nothing to do with him and certainly do not want to have to ask anything of him.
It’s almost impossible after all these years of despising and blaming him not to shoot the bastard dead. Especially as he’s determined to rile me.
But that’s why I’m unarmed. I don’t trust my temper enough to maintain control and not use a gun on this man at the moment. Whichever way I look at things, there is no choice about being here. He’s my only hope of locating Arianna.
I take a deep breath and begin to speak.