Page 84 of Reckless Woman
“I could use a man like you.”
“Why? I know nothing about cartel business.”
“No.” He leans across the table at me. “But you know about hate and grief, and I can twist that shit to make it hurt less.” His gaze is stripping my face to the bone. “I could also tell you about the billions you’d make, but I know you don’t give a fuck about that…you’re the same as me. You need something more. I saw it in Afghanistan, and it’s true again now.” There’s a long pause. “Last month, I lost my daughter, Grayson. This month, you lost your son. What does that tell you?”
I meet his eyes.
I see my own pain reflected there, somewhere in the darkness.
I think about an empty apartment, a cold Monday morning, and a chance to make it all go away.A tin soldier always gets back up again.
For the first time today, I pick up a glass and drain it dry. Slamming it back down, I hold out my hand to him.
“Turns out, making a deal with the devil is pretty easy.”
He laughs and takes it.
We shake.
“Who needs a soul when it's already compromised?”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Anna
Ican’t open my eyes, but all my other senses seem to be working just fine.
I can hear his words.
I can feel his touch on my skin.
I can taste and smell the bitterness of hospitals.
It’s pulling me back to the time I fell off my bike, aged ten, and broke my wrist. I remember waiting in the hospital reception with an angry heart and a scowl on my face. I didn’t care about the pain. I was just pissed I wouldn’t be able to ride my bike again for weeks and weeks.
Reality.
I didn’t want mine to be dictated to me.
I don’t want to know how badly those bullets hurt me.
* * *
I can hear distant voices.They’re arguing in the hallway right outside my room.
“Help him, Dante.”
“Don’t tell me what to do, Roman. It didn’t end up so well for the last motherfucker who did that.”
The man—Roman—mutters something under his breath. “Vindicta’s End Game is to divide us so we’re easier to overcome. We lost control of New York to Morozov the moment you and Rick split allegiances. If you were to make a stand with Rick now…”
Santiago curses. “You’re being a real pain in my ass today.”
“Do this, and then bitch about me later,” Roman says smoothly. “If everything goes according to plan, Morozov will be staring down the barrel of your gun by nightfall. It won’t be a fatal wound to Vindicta, but it’ll be a start. You owe Grayson. You owe the woman lying in that hospital bed behind us.”
There’s a long pause. “If I do this, you better figure out who’s behind Vindicta, and fast. You’re the fucking FBI agent around here, Roman.”
“What the hell do you think I’m trying to do?” comes the ice-cool response. “But there are trails to Colombia, to Russia…it’s like loosening a ball of razor wire. Maybe with Morozov gone, I’ll be able to unpick it quicker.”