Giving up after several seconds, Yalcin’s eyes switched to me. Accurately read my need to get the fuck on with this.
‘?v?t!So, I was thinking, in spirit of future relations, we renegotiate original price slightly, yes?’
The muscle above my left cheekbone twitched. ‘No. We will not be doing that,’ I replied. ‘The original price stands.’
Yalcin exaggerated a grimace. ‘You have not even heard my counteroffer.’
‘Don’t need to. We had an agreement. There will be no deviation from that. Fifteen million for three consignments of your favourite toys. Renegotiations are not part of the deal. Fresh negotiations, however, I’m always open to.’ I pulled myself out of my lazy sprawl so there would be no mistaking my deadly intent. ‘Fair warning though. If those future negotiations includeyou thinking you can leverage a certain competitor of mine in the hopes of cutting a better deal, I’d save you the trouble and tell you now, you will be cut off without further warning.’
Because our feud was a widely known thing, there were those who thought they could use it to pit us against the Mancinellis. Those idiots soon learned their lesson.
I rose from the chair as Rafa reached for another shot glass and tossed back a second helping of vodka. Setting it down with a click, he rose too.
‘The Turks have been begging for us to cut you off and give them your order. They’re willing to pay 25 per cent more than what you’re paying.’ I leaned over the table, bringing myself into Yalcin’s space, trying not to gag at the fumes of vodka and stale sweat rolling off his body. All around the room, fingers edged closer to belts and holsters. I ignored them all, my eyes drilling into him. ‘Maybe I’ll jump on my plane and head over there after my race on Sunday. Maybe I’ll stop next door, pay your Armenian neighbours a visit, tell them a spot has suddenly opened up on my customer list.’
Barely ten seconds passed before Yalcin waved his fat fingers. The tension eased a layer, but I wasn’t done.
‘The next time you think of threatening me with the Mancinellis, I’ll have my brother deprive you of a few of those rings, with your fingers still attached to them.Capisci?’
Mutinous fury rolled over his face, and his mouth worked in preparation to mouth off some more.
The muffled pop to my right made Yalcin jump in his seat, his eyes widening in shock as his head swung towards the sound a split second before a scream ripped through the warehouse.
The runner closest to Rafaelle who’d made the error of breaching my brother’s personal space clutched at his left knee, babbling in terrified Azerbaijani as blood spilled between hisfingers. All around us, guns cocked in a symphony of impending violence.
‘What is meaning of this?’ Yalcin yelled.
I smiled. ‘That was for wasting my time. Don’t worry, Rafa didn’t hit anything vital. Your man will walk with a small limp for the rest of his life but’ – I shrugged – ‘at least he’ll live to tell stories about it, yeah?’ I nodded to the tablet on his desk. ‘Let’s finish our business, shall we? I have a busy weekend.’
He scrambled to pick up the tablet and activate the screen. Ten seconds later, Rafaelle’s phone pinged. He pulled it out and checked the screen before slotting it back into his pocket.
The Salvatore Organisation had just added fifteen mil to their coffers. That should make Orazio happy for, like, ten seconds.
I finally straightened. ‘Next time, let’s meet in New York. I’ll introduce you to a juicy steak that will blow your mind.’
Lies. I had no intention of ever meeting Yalcin Karimov again. He’d overplayed his hand, revealed his weak underbelly and shown he was nothing more than a figurehead with a bloated ego to go with his bloated body. From now on he’d be dealing with a medium-ranking lieutenant while I went after bigger fish in Turkey.
We exited the warehouse and Sumqayit with zero fuss after our guns were returned.
‘Call the Turks. Arrange a meeting.’
Rafa frowned. ‘You were serious about going over there?’
I shook my head. ‘No. Make it somewhere neutral. A month from now. After the US Grand Prix but before the race weekend in Mexico.’
‘You want to hand Orazio a fat new deal on home soil in addition to a possible race win in Austin or to save being skinned alive in case we don’t.’ He nodded approvingly. ‘I like it.’
But…
I heard the unspoken word loud and clear.
‘What? Spit it out.’
‘But… you know nothing’s gonna save you when he finds out you’re fucking around with Maddelena Mancinelli, right? I mean, nothing short of you telling him all these… secrets meetings you’ve been having are a prelude to you slitting her thr?—’
My gun was in my hand and buried in his throat before he’d blinked. ‘Finish that sentence. I fucking dare you,’ I said with gritted teeth, hugely alarmed by the cold sheets of ice washing over me at the thought of Maddelena being harmed.
Dark caramel eyes he’d inherited from our mother regarded me with zero concern for his safety. ‘You’ve just proven my point,frate,’ he murmured.
