Page 89 of Captured
He eyed me carefully before turning on the water, pressing the soap dispenser and starting to wash his hands. “What do you want, Styx?”
“Oh, just your honesty.” I studied the man carefully as he took his time washing his hands. My father always did say cleanliness was next to godliness. My, the evil thoughts racing through my head were fun as fuck tonight.
“About what? I’m a busy man so get on with your point.” He turned off the faucet, shaking water from his fingers.
“About the fact you were prepared to sell your only child to an Arabian prince.”
The slight twitch on the right side of his face meant he was suddenly very nervous. Everyone had tics whether they believed it or not.
“I would do no such thing.”
“Then where is she?”
Perhaps it was the way I’d asked the question or the fact I chuckled afterwards that drew such an intense reaction. When the idiot dared lunge toward me, wrapping his hand around my throat, I was slightly amused, allowing him to squeeze briefly as his eyes bulged from his head.
“You fucking prick. You killed my men!” he snapped.
“No, you did.” I easily broke his hold and his nose, taking a hard swing into the center of his face. There was something spectacular about the cracking sound. Blood spewed, landing on my jacket. After I shook my head, I slammed his into the mirror, the brutal thud creating a series of cracks fissuring from the top down.
I reached into his jacket, yanking out the contract. When I let him down, he tumbled to the floor in a daze. That allowed me the time to glance over the terms. “Tsk. Tsk. The lovely virtuoso is worth way more than this, especially to me.”
“You… can’t… have her,” he gasped, spitting out blood and bile.
“Oh, not only can I have her, I will enjoy her for many years to come.” I pocketed the folded contract before crouching down in front of him. The sight of the rodent plus the stench truly made me want to put a bullet in his brain, but there was one thing my father had taught me that was true enough. A quick and painless death wasn’t good enough for scum of the earth.
“What the fuck do you want?”
“Well, someone I trust mentioned you were announcing your run for president of the United States tonight. I’m going to give you a piece of advice. Don’t make that announcement.”
“And why is that?”
“Because you’ll need to retract it in the morning and imagine how embarrassed you’ll be.”
“Fuck you.”
He acted as it he was going to try to take a swing at me. I just gave him another look. “Really, Gideon? You think you can best me? Did you forget who my father was or what he taught his sons?”
“Your father was a slime bag.”
“That he was. However, selling your daughter to slide into the back door in the oil business? Bad form. Do you have any idea what those types do with their women?” I placed my hand on my heart, acting appalled.
And as I suspected, he threw a punch, which I caught just centimeters prior to connecting with my jaw. I issued another tsking sound before adding incentive to the situation.
I broke his finger. Just one.
He howled then clamped his mouth shut when I shook my head.
“I suggest you remember who you’re talking to since you know exactly what I’m capable of. You had your wife killed because her father found out that you were planning on overthrowing his company, killing him in the process. Kendall made the mistake of confronting you about it. Of course you denied the allegations, but were forced to silence her. Her father as well. Now, he died in a tragic accident, but it would seem not without leaving evidence of what he’d learned. It doesn’t matter where I found it. What matters is that I have proof that you were responsible for your wife’s murder and I plan on using it unless you cease from making that announcement.”
“You’re threatening me with lies?”
I shook my head again, pretending like I wasn’t enjoying watching him squirm. “I guess I’ll need to provide even more incentive.” I rose to my feet, yanking out a few copies of the photographs and other bits of information I’d pulled together. It was amazing what calling in favors, promising support to my alliances, and generally spreading good will could help provide.
All I’d had to do was make a few phone calls and the trickledown effect had been tremendous. In my dog-eat-dog world where white collar criminals seemed to be a dime a dozen, when you exposed powerful men determined to lay claim to the top positions in the world, their rivals clamored together like flies to honey to hang on the coattails of an ultimate act of revenge.
“Just a little of the evidence I’ve garnered against you and your buddies working together, making it seem like you’re pitting one against the other. You had an excellent plan, but you underestimated me. And my love for your daughter. Now, she belongs to me. By tomorrow, you will have nothing. Unless you do as I say.”
I tossed the items over top of his slumped body, backing away and grabbing a couple of paper towels. I even hummed while I wiped his blood from my jacket, noticing out of the corner of my eye he was shaking as he picked up one scrap of information then another. Now it was my turn to dry my hands, tossing the rags into the trash before heading for the door.