Chapter 20 #2
“Soren, how good to see you.” His smile contradicted his malicious gaze. “My men have been looking everywhere for you.”
“Soren?” Nicholas snapped his mouth shut, offering Gabriel an apologetic stare. Gabriel didn’t so much as blink in his direction, his attention fixed on the clear threat at their table.
The wolf laughed low and dark, raising goosebumps along Nicholas’s skin.
“This night is full of surprises,” he mused before turning to Nicholas. “Where are my manners? I’m Kyrin. And you are?”
“He’s no one.” Gabriel’s words were so dismissive that Nicholas almost believed him. “What do you want, Kyrin?”
Kyrin’s gaze flicked to Gabriel, seeming irritated by his bored tone.
“How about my men, for starters? I’ve lost too many of them to this war because of you.”
“If your men are dead, it’s because of you. Your weakness and your incompetence are not my problem.”
Gabriel avoided Nicholas’s wide gaze, but Kyrin latched onto his shock.
“I can see you are unaware of the company you keep, mi amor. A pity, because your ignorance won’t save you.”
Gabriel’s expression remained neutral, but the air around them grew suffocating. Nicholas wasn’t sure if it was the term of endearment that set him off or the blatant threat made on his life. Either way, it was clear that more than one predator sat at their table.
“Allow me to educate you.” Kyrin either didn’t notice the shift in the atmosphere, or he was too stupid to care. “The man I know as Soren made a commitment to me and my organization. A promise that I paid him handsomely for, one he never fulfilled.”
His tone was grave, vengeful. Nicholas wrung his hands around the napkin in his lap.
“His failure has cost me greatly, leaving me to wonder if I’ve been betrayed by him. Maybe he’s the reason my product has been taken, and my men slaughtered. Perhaps he’s working with my enemies.”
Nicholas waited for Gabriel to deny it, to push back against Kyrin’s false claims. But he just sat there watching, something brutal churning in his stare.
“I told you he’s no one. None of this means anything to him. You and I can agree to meet later to discuss further.”
Kyrin grunted, narrowed gaze moving between Nicholas and Gabriel. He gained nothing from the latter. It was clear Gabriel knew how to play this game. Nicholas, on the other hand, wasn’t a master at subterfuge.
“No. I think we’ll settle this right here.” Kyrin stared Nicholas down. “The appropriation of my firearms could’ve been overlooked, even the torching of my warehouses.”
Somehow, Nicholas didn’t believe that to be true. Kyrin seemed like the kind of man who’d kill for even the tiniest infraction.
“But my people…” He shot Gabriel a glare that promised death. “Not all of them were expendable. Many of their lives were cherished. Erano la mia famiglia.”
They were my family.
“Many of them are still missing.”
The pain in his gaze would’ve been heartbreaking had the threat of violence not overridden it.
“Is that true?” What Kyrin said went against everything Nicholas believed in. He couldn’t hold back his need to know.
Gabriel didn’t respond and didn’t seem affected by the crushing pain in Nicholas’s tone. Did Nicholas know him at all?
“Seems you’ve been lied to as well, mi amor. Maybe you aren’t important to him after all. Not important enough for the truth.”
Was that the case? He flinched at the feel of Gabriel’s foot brushing up against his. He held on to that touch, using it as reassurance.
“He wouldn’t do that.” He’d meant to say that to himself.
“Your words convey an intimate knowledge of Soren.” He cocked his head at Gabriel, and Nicholas closed his eyes, realizing the mistake he’d made.
“I’m curious as to what you believe him incapable of. Betraying me, or murdering my men?”
Neither, Nicholas wanted to say, but he didn’t want to make matters worse. And he wasn’t completely sure about the latter. Not anymore.
“If he didn’t have a hand in this, then at the very least, his incompetence is the cause. You gave me your word,” he snarled at Gabriel.
“Don’t look so sad, mi amor.” He dragged his gaze over Nicholas. “You really are striking. Maybe I’ll spare his life if you beg sweetly, Soren. I’ll shackle him to my bed as repayment for your sins. I’ll fuck him over your bloodied corpse.”
Bile bubbled up Nicholas’s throat from the casual way Kyrin discussed his rape and Gabriel’s murder.
Gabriel regarded him as nothing more than a minor annoyance, a piece of meat caught between his teeth. Kyrin tried a new tactic, reaching a hand toward Nicholas.
“You lay a hand on him, and I’ll kill you where you sit.”
Nicholas recoiled, and Kyrin’s eyes shone with triumph.
“Yes… It seems I have stumbled upon something you hold dear.”
He ran a pointed fingernail along the gold trimming of Nicholas’s plate. The screeching magnified Nicholas’s fear. “I wonder if it tastes as good as it looks.” He wasn’t staring at the food.
Gabriel’s cheekbones seemed to sharpen as he watched Kyrin like a starved, wild animal would.
“Easy, Soren. You wouldn’t want to cause a scene, now would you?”
“I’d tear through every occupant in this room to protect him.”
Kyrin tsked. “Death to innocent bystanders. Who knew you were capable of such things?” He turned to Nicholas as if to say, “See, I told you.”
Gabriel’s stare spoke of cold-blooded murder and thirst, as if he wanted to drain Kyrin dry and strip his carcass of skin and bone. Gone was the man trying to get them out of this unscathed. Gabriel appeared ready to set the world on fire.
“How does it feel, mi amor? To know that he’d gun down women and children to save you. Does it warm your heart? Hmm?”
“Ga—”
Gabriel’s foot pressed down on his, silencing him. He felt dizzy, dangerously close to passing out from the anxiety.
Kyrin’s gaze drifted to the men at his table. They waited on the edge of their seats.
“Your men don’t frighten me. Touch him, and I’ll cut you down before they ever make it over here.”
“Threats before dessert.” Kyrin clicked his tongue in admonishment, but his jaw twitched, betraying his cool facade.
Gabriel leaned in, his voice as dark as shadows. “It isn’t a threat. You and your men are already dead.”
Kyrin held a hand up over his shoulder, and Nicholas glanced over in time to see his men retake their seats.
“Such arrogant words from a man who’s been cornered. You speak as if you are unfazed by me or my men here, as if you believe it would take greater numbers to bring harm to you and your lover. Well, would my small army of men outside do? I wouldn’t want to deny you a challenge.”
Nicholas’s breath hitched, his gaze landing on every window and exit.
“Where is your army, Soren? Your lone man won’t be enough to save you. You will pay for all I’ve lost.” Kyrin stood, buttoning his suit jacket. “Enjoy your meal. It will be your last.”
He turned away like a man confident in the outcome of his best-laid plans. Gabriel’s next words stopped him; the chilling calmness in his tone terrifying Nicholas.
“There’s a village in Brazil that sits at the mouth of the Ribeira do Iguape River, near where it flows into the Atlantic Ocean.”
For the first time since he sat at their table uninvited, Kyrin’s eyes flashed with fear.
“I see you’ve heard of it.” Gabriel flicked a piece of lint off his sleeve.
“Legend says it was originally founded by the Spanish and named after a regional plant. French pirates came upon it years later and destroyed all accounts of this, though.”
The candlelight flickered, as if it too felt the chill surrounding the table.
“It isn’t a rich town by any means. The economy struggles, but it has its charms. It’s also a good place to hide.” Gabriel waited a beat before continuing, his voice dropping an octave.
“There’s an unassuming blue house at the edge of town where a young girl plays outside in her favorite yellow dress. Her name is Francesca. Yellow is her favorite color, you see, because her father favors the soft hue.”
Kyrin swallowed, peering down at the bright silk square tucked into his breast pocket.
“She waits in the front yard every morning in her pretty yellow dress, praying that today will be the day her papà fulfills his promise. Praying that they can finally be together forever.”
He spoke as if retelling a bedtime story, one that would end in tragedy.
“Her nonna, who wishes they could live a better life, even though they want for nothing, doesn’t have the heart to tell her the truth.
That her father’s enemies will never be a thing of the past, and that each rare visit could potentially be his last. Her older brother curses the color yellow, but his father loves him still. ”
Nicholas wanted to stop him, but he couldn’t form the words, not when Gabriel’s calm cruelty wrapped around his throat like a garrote.
“Pay?” Gabriel asked incredulously. “You don’t know the meaning of the word. But if you make me an enemy, you will soon learn.”
Gabriel placed his phone on the table, as if to say it would only take one phone call.
Kyrin vibrated with rage, and patrons from neighboring tables began to take notice of their confrontation. Nicholas looked between the dangerous men before him, his cowering heart skipping a beat. For the first time in several minutes, Gabriel glanced over at him.
“You wouldn’t,” Kyrin rasped.
“I would kill them all, Kyrin. I have done far worse for far less. Now, tell your men outside to stand down.”