Page 13 of Lord of Ruin
“You stole money from the family to the tune of a couple million dollars, let alone a few trade secrets. I don’t think that makes us even. And what I said was once a rat, always a rat.”
“Tit for tat and I’m not a goddamn rat.”
“Then why were you and your brother seen meeting with a guy in a Ferrari?” I moved closer just as Christos finally bounded around the last corner, acting as if he was out of breath. I knew better. He was high on adrenaline, which is why he ran marathons and boxed at a local gym four nights a week, so his body didn’t feed off his heightened level of energy.
“What? You need glasses, buddy.”
“For a man caught red-handed stealing money, you certainly have a way of brushing this off. I don’t think that’s in your best interest.”
Christos was obviously having a good time with me being able to hold back from my usual nasty attitude and quick-to-shoot mentality. Maybe spending time with the sultry woman with copper-colored hair, ice-blue doe eyes that could melt the heart of any man, and a body built for sin had tamed the savage beast.
Or aroused him to the point I’d considered taking more than a single taste of her.
Yeah, I was a bad, bad man.
Christos folded his arms, not even holding his weapon on our rat. There was no need. We both knew that. Whitie died here today. Still, just to be cautious, I closed the distance, yanking the weapon from his hand. Another goddamn Glock. What was it? Did everyone read some assassin novel, reading that’s what all bad guys carried? I huffed in response to my thought.
“Hey, I had no choice,” Whitie finally said. Now we were getting somewhere.
“Go on. But you have about two minutes before I lose my patience.”
“Okay. Okay.” He tried to sit up, groaning as his leg continued to bleed, seeping down to the concrete. Gabriel was going to kick my ass. “Look, some guy offered Frankie and me big bucks for one damn game.”
“Why?’
“He didn’t say and I didn’t ask. It was one score, but the funny thing was that he wanted information. He had us provide him with answers to questions he made us memorize and ask.”
“About what?” I glanced at Christos. It was weird. And it didn’t explain why a couple million dollars had been taken.
“Stuff. You know, corporate stuff. Then he told us to leave and head to New York.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know but he wasn’t the kind of man to be fucked with. You know what I mean?”
“And your brother. Was he also given instructions?”
He was more nervous than before. “I… I don’t know. Frankie didn’t say shit.”
Another lie but the guy was freaking out.
I thought about the people who’d been at the last high dollar poker event. There’d been two CEOs of Fortune 100 companies, one in software for manufacturers and the other in gaming. There’d also been a financial guru and who the hell was the fourth man? No, it had been a woman. The daughter of some state senator. While I couldn’t remember the state, I did remember it seemed odd to see the four of them sitting together.
“So you gave him the goddamn answers.”
“Yep,” he said, stupid enough to try to stand but failing. “Fuck. Why did you have to hit me in the damn calf?”
“Then why steal the money from the freaking safe?”
“Because it was part of the deal. He was supposed to make it look like a robbery. I guess that wasn’t what he did.”
Christos had a difficult time not laughing. When they ran the pieces on the dumbest crooks in the world, both Whitie and Frankie tied in the top five. They definitely weren’t that bright. And his disguise as an eighty-year-old man had been ridiculous this time.
“What did you do with my brother?” Whitie demanded.
“Let’s just saying he’s floating in the Hudson River. I ask the questions. Did you forget I have security systems everywhere?”
“We were wearing masks.”