29. Zane
TWENTY-NINE
ZANE
It had taken longer than expected for clean-up, but then, that wasn’t terribly surprising given that Bill had bled out onto my floor.
A traitor in life, an inconvenience in death.
I’m losing control of this organization, and I’m not sure how I’m going to put the pieces back together. Coming out seems like a terrible idea, given everything that’s happening, but staying in the closet might be worse.
It isn’t like I don’t have allies in the city. I do. But too many of them are paid off or blackmailed, and I don’t have the kind of loyalty that my father had commanded.
Not for the first time, I miss him with the desperation of a lost child.
He would’ve known what to do to get everything back on track.
I allow myself to have a moment to feel sorry for myself, then mentally slap myself for needing it to begin with. It’s been a decade.
It’s time to let it go.
It’s time to step into my own.
“Let’s get to the airport,” I tell Stefan, casting one more glance around my office.
I’ll have to have the flooring replaced completely, but that’s a problem for another day.
I check the app for Hyacinth’s airline, noting that it’s landing now.
We’re going to be at least half an hour late.
I send a text as I step out of my office.
Zane
Had an emergency. On our way now. ETA 30 min?
Sin
I’ll take a cab.
Zane
Wait for me. I’ll explain when we arrive.
I need someone to listen to me, to obey me, and if I can’t even get Hyacinth to do as I say, what hope do I have for the rest of the organization?
Once he falls in line, I’ll focus on Richard. From there…
My mind remains occupied for the entirety of the drive to the airport, planning and scheming.
Zane
I’m here. Zone B3. We’ll circle around.
I wait for a response.
Nothing comes.
Frowning, I call him instead.
No answer.
Had his phone died? He hadn’t mentioned having a low battery.
“Something isn’t right,” I say aloud.
Call it a hunch, but I know Hyacinth wouldn’t ignore me unless something was wrong.
“I’m going in. Find parking.”
“I’m going with you, boss,” Stefan says, turning the car in the direction of the short term parking lot. “You’re still not out of the woods yet.” He pauses. “And if something is wrong, you don’t need to be tangled up in it by yourself.”
“Stefan…” He isn’t wrong. I shouldn’t be going anywhere by myself. But I don’t trust him much more than I trust the others. “Who’s bribing the others?”
Stefan doesn’t say anything for a few seconds. His hands clench on the steering wheel. Then he exhales and says, “Probably the same person who hired them.”
My blood freezes in my veins.
Richard.
Richard had hired all of them. He’d vetted them, he’d vouched for them, and he’d scheduled them for me. The only one he hadn’t hired had been Stefan.
Suddenly, Hyacinth’s text makes more sense.
Fucking autocorrect.
Don’t trust Moore.
“How much is he offering for you to do a sloppy job?” I ask, my voice distant to my ears.
Stefan turns and scowls at me. “You think I look bribable? Richard never approached me. But I started looking into some of their finances, and… yeah.”
“When were you going to tell me?” My hands clench into fists. “Or did you think…”
He’d probably thought I wouldn’t believe him.
“Never mind,” I say. “We’re going to fix all of this.” I’m not as convinced as I sound, but at least I seem confident. “Let’s get Hyacinth, arrange a meeting with Dante Cuore, then I’ll go from there.”
But the unease in my gut only grows stronger as we walk to the airport entrance. No Hyacinth anywhere in sight. I would have expected him to fling himself at me and demand some sort of public display.
He hasn’t called back, either.
I head to the gate with Stefan on my heels, noting the way he’s keeping a sharp eye out around us.
Nothing.
Hyacinth is nowhere to be found.
We scour the area, but at this late hour, it should be easy to find him.
He’s not here.
Maybe he’d decided to take a taxi anyway.
Zane
Where are you?
I don’t expect to get an answer to my text, and I’m right: nothing comes.
“Fuck.” I scrub my hand across my face, then glance at Stefan. “All right. Change of plans. Back to the office. Richard has a lot to answer for.”
How long have I been sleepwalking through all of this?
It’s my business, and I’m not going to fuck this up.
Richard has been on my ass not to destroy my father’s legacy, and he’s right: I need to do things differently.
Starting with dealing with him.
Once we’re about halfway to the office, I call Richard. He picks up immediately.
“Hi, Zane. What’s up?”
“I have another issue to discuss. Can you round up the men again?” I say, completely calm.
“Another issue?” Richard asks hesitantly. “Can it wait until tomorrow? The men are getting ready to head home.”
“No. It’s about the new policies for dealing with outstanding debts. I know a few of them will be collecting tomorrow morning.” Plausible, and with a time constraint.
Richard sighs. “Yeah, all right.”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” I say.
Which gives me ten minutes to plan out exactly how I’m going to play this.
The large rec room isn’t the usual meeting room, but it holds more people than my office—and my office is already in need of cleaning. The hard, ceramic tiles of the rec room will be a lot easier to scrub clean.
“Thanks for staying so late,” I say to the men.
I assess each of them here. Johnny and Pete’s comments from earlier circle in my mind, but I’ve known Johnny forever. He’d watched me drip acid onto Di Palazzo’s stomach and hold him down while he slowly died.
It isn’t only him I know. Luca, Big Dickie, Gerry. They’ve all been with me since the start. I know all of their names.
They fear my violence.
They appreciate my generosity.
I have been building this empire.
It’s not just Richard’s work.
“So what’s all this about?” Richard asks. I glare at him, and after a beat, he adds, “Boss. What’s all this about, Boss?”
I almost say something dramatic, like I think you already know, but it feels plebian. It’s better to be decisive and clear.
“It seems like not everyone understands the consequences of undermining me,” I say instead. My eyes focus on Richard, and he shifts. I’d have missed it if I hadn’t been paying attention, but he’s nervous.
Good.
“So I thought we’d have a little meeting and make sure we’re all on the same page,” I continue. “I’ve been too lax. Too… trusting.”
I don’t look away from Richard.
Richard straightens his shoulders. “Too trusting? You’re the most paranoid fucker in town.”
“Not lately. I’ve been allowing myself to get led around by pretty words.” Pretty words, and guilt. My words are flat, at odds with the storm raging inside of me.
I cross the room, getting into Richard’s personal space.
“That ends today.”
I slide the wickedly sharp blade at my side out of its sheath. It’s not ideal to do the dirty work myself, but my men need this lesson.
They need to see that I am the one not to be trifled with.
Before Richard can respond, I slash at his gut with the hunting knife, slicing a deep gash through his shirt and into his skin.
Richard cries out and stumbles back against the wall. “What? What?”
Somebody behind me makes a noise, but Stefan growls, “Shut up or you’re joining him.”
“Did you think I wasn’t going to notice?” I say coldly. “I might be young, but I’m not naive. I’m not stupid.” I reach into my pocket and pull out the vial I prepped just for Richard.
Richard clutches the wound on his stomach. His eyes widen when he sees the vial. “No. No. Zane, you’re crazy. Don’t do this.”
“Crazy? Crazy was trusting you to have my back,” I hiss. “Now, you’re going to tell me where Hyacinth is — and don’t try to tell me you don’t know, because I won’t believe that bullshit.”
Richard shakes his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
I pop the stopper on the vial, and then I wrap my hand around Richard’s neck. He brings a bloodied hand up to try to dislodge me.
That means his open wound is exposed.
I drip the acid onto it.
Richard screams. The smell of corroding flesh joins the copper in the air.
“Fuck,” somebody mutters.
“Let’s try again,” I say to Richard. “Hyacinth. Where is he?”
Richard whimpers, and this time he says, “H-Harrington. He said he’d keep him busy.”
I’ll do worse to Harrington than pour acid into an open wound if he so much as hurts a hair on Hyacinth’s head.
“Where?” I demand.
Why?
“I don’t know!” Richard shouts. “Please, Zane!”
Stefan gets closer to me and places a heavy plastic jug next to me.
Even through his pained haze, Richard can see the warning labels on the jug.
Ideally, I’d have a smock, but I hadn’t come that prepared.
My poor fucking floors.
I pull a pair of gloves out from where I’d shoved them in my pockets and slip them on.
“We’re forgoing most of the usual safety equipment,” I say.
My tone is conversational, but I can hear the threat of violence.
No, the promise of violence. “So this might get messy.” I start to unscrew the cap on the container.
“Do you want to change your answer, Richard?”
“Harrington has him! I don’t know anything else!”
Richard takes a pained step forward, but Stefan grabs him and shoves him to the floor.
Nobody else in the room moves.
Good.
“Watch your limbs,” I tell Stefan. I smile down at Richard. “I really wish you knew the answer. This would be so much less painful for you.”
I’d do it anyway.
He’s the one who’s been risking my legacy, the one who’s been undermining me to my men. If he’d supported me, we both could’ve profited.
I want to know why.
But I’m not having a heart-to-heart with a man I want dead.
That isn’t the point of this lesson.
Stefan steps back, and as soon as he’s out of range, I start to pour the acid onto Richard’s stomach.
Richard screams and thrashes, and I pause long enough to ensure that I’m out of range of easy splashing.
The acid eats away at his clothes and skin. I can’t see beneath the fabric, but his arms instantly become mottled with red and purple sores.
It’s fascinating, really.
The last time I’d seen this, I’d been too emotionally fucked-up to appreciate it.
This time, my rage is cold enough that I can scrutinize every aspect of it.
It’s disgusting.
It’s beautiful.
“Kill him,” I tell Stefan. “I’m tired of hearing him scream.
” I turn to the rest of the room. “The rest of you are going to help me find Hyacinth Cuore — who’s my lover, by the way — and if you have a problem with that, well…
” I smile, a nasty, ugly thing, and hold up the jug of acid.
“There’s plenty left where this came from. ”
Several of the men go pale.
Stefan shoots Richard in the forehead, and the screams finally die.
Johnny stands to attention and says, “Yes, Boss.” He glances down at the mess that is Richard’s body. “I never liked him, anyway.”
I shouldn’t be so amused by that statement, but I laugh. “Right. Now, you all have jobs to do.”
The men quickly disperse—except the two who usually handle cleanup. I see them grimacing, but they get to work.
I should have done this years ago.
But I can’t celebrate getting rid of this weight yet.
I discard my gloves, then call Genevieve. “I need Keith Harrington’s address,” I say as soon as she picks up.
“What? I can’t give you that. He’s still a client,” she says.
“He’s a client who took Hyacinth,” I retort. “And he won’t be a client for much longer. I’ll owe you, and I’m about to have a whole hell of a lot more influence. I’m done fucking around, Gen.”
She pauses, but then says. “Okay. But you probably don’t want his home address. He has a second home he uses for his more private parties.” She gives me an address that’s outside the city, closer to the swamp than most rich people are willing to get.
I get the feeling he doesn’t only host parties there.
His mafia ties have to be stronger than I realized.
All the more reason to get rid of him. Any of the other options for mayor are better than he is, easier to manipulate and bribe.
His disappearance will cause some waves, but I don’t care about that right now.
That’s a problem for another day.
Right now?
I’m going to get Hyacinth back… no matter what.