“Claudius Morientz,” Corey stated. His voice had a quiver in it. “Been a while.”
“Long time. You know you were one of the last people I saw before my wife was killed.” I leaned in, looming over his face and sneering.
He blinked several times. “You know that wasn’t me, right? I had nothing to do with that.”
“Right. You could be telling the truth, but you could also be lying. So much happened that day. Remember what you said to me when I came to you for help?” Asshole. He’d known Goliath took Marissa. He’d known and never said anything to me. It wasn’t like he hadn’t known what the ultimate outcome was. Death.
“Yes, and I’m sorry.”
“Sorry?” Sorry never worked at any point on a guy like me. “You told me it wasn’t your problem.” I sent a jab straight to his face, and he fell backwards.
“Please, stop, what do you want?” He crawled back on his hands.
“Where’s Joe?”
“Joe?” The fool looked like he didn’t know who I was talking about.
“Cousin Joe, you prick.”
Corey shook his head. “Haven’t seen him in years.”
I took out both my guns and pointed them at him. “The thing is, no one’s seen you in years either. What brought you back?”
“Oh, I’ve been here the whole time. Backwards and forwards. You know how big Chicago is. You could come and go unseen.”
Fool.I didn’t know who he thought I was. “This is my place. Like a grand extension of my fucking house. Nothing happens here without me knowing. So, what is it, Corey? What really brought you back?”
His jaw clenched, and the muscles in his thick neck tensed. When his eyes darted from me to my men, I knew I had him. I’d cornered him, but would he talk? These types of people would rather die than talk if they were up to something big.
But he knew tradition. He knew it wouldn’t matter who I was. I wouldn’t just kill him and start a war between the biggest crime families on this side of the globe. That would be asking to get myself and everyone I knew assassinated before the sun could come up. Everyone I knew would have a hit on them.
That, however, didn’t stop me from doing some form of damage.
“Well!” I yelled, stepping closer to him.
He shuffled back, right into the wall. Beads of sweat formed on his upper lip, and his skin flushed.
“Nothing brought me back. Nothing. I’m just here.”
Liar.
All I did was stare at him. Long and hard. He knew I meant business, but still he chose to fuck with me and tell lies. Time to take this up a notch.
“Knife, please, Jude.” I snapped my fingers, and Jude handed me my blade. It was a mean-looking knife that would gut him like a fish. “You know there’s a lot I could do to you. Killing you is just one thing. I’d piss a lot of people off, but then, do I care? Do I really care? I have the world at my fingertips. Your people try something, and I’d simply retaliate. I don’t have to remind you how things work here, do I?” I lowered myself, crouching, and pointed the knife at him.
He pulled in a quick, shallow breath. “No, Claudius.” His voice elevated in pitch and volume.
Without warning, I threw the knife, and he screamed. I made him think I was going to lodge it in his head, but it went just above and pierced through the wall.
“Knife,” I cried.
Jude handed me another, which again I threw. This time, I made Dear Corey think I was going to land it straight in his dick, but it lodged in the ground between his legs, cutting through the gray carpet.
“Please stop, stop,” he begged.
“Ta-lk,” I enunciated.
The door opened behind us. I knew we’d have company soon, and behold, it was the associate, but he brought some friends. Five of them. Some mean-looking meatheads who looked like they’d just rolled out of a comic book.
