Closing the door to my office, I settle back and put him on speaker. “I caught up with him at one of the Dimitrijevic Brothers’ auctions.”
“No surprise. Though landing with those maggots could make him less useful since they’re likely to attempt to blackmail him before he even makes it back to Washington DC.”
“Not the Dimitrijevic Brothers,” I disagree. “Their auctions attract the wealthiest and most dangerous people in our world. Attempting blackmail would destroy them.”
“I see your point,” he says wryly. “What’s the result of your conversion with the gormless prick?”
“I believe I got all the key bullet points in before I lost his attention to the girls that those sick fucks were selling off. I told him to get the contract signed or I’ll release the details of his adventures in human trafficking and bribery right as everyone gathers in the church for his sweet daughter’s wedding.”
There’s a moment of silence, and then Alec howls with laughter. “Please, brother. Please tell me you’re going to do it anyway.”
“Don’t tempt me.”
He hears the conflict in my tone. “How important is this deal?”
I’ve worked on this arms contract for five years, and there are three warehouses in Kent full of high-grade rifles, ammunition, grenades, and handguns ready to go. The assurance of immediate delivery was the biggest selling point of the contract. Once signed, it gives me even more access to government contracts and more importantly, to legitimate manufacturers.
“Very important,” I admit. “Not to mention the existential suffering of dealing with that fucking pervert. I can’t tell you how many times I nearly pulled my gun on him.”
“You’ve put the fear of god into him,” Alec assures me. “He’ll get it signed.”
I hesitate for a moment. Why am I reluctant to tell him about the girl? “There was quite the bidding war at the end.”
“Oh?” I hear him sorting papers as we talk, and I can picture him behind his massive desk at his family’s estate in Kensington.
“Yes.” Why am I so reluctant to say this? “Remember little Sorcha MacTavish? Kidnapped when she was twelve? She’s all grown up.”
The paper shuffling stops. “The Dimitrijevic Brothers managed to poach the girl? Off the MacTavish estate?” He spits that name out like its poison on his tongue.
“She kicked and screamed, as much as the drugs would let her,” I say, “her spirit was impressive after what happened to her.”
“Who bought her?” he snarls.
Drumming my fingers on the desk, I say, “I did.”
While I’m not sure how I’d expected him to react, his harsh laughter is not it. “How much did the bitch cost you?”
“A hundred million pounds,” I admit.
“I’ll pay half,” he says instantly, “we both have a score to settle with the MacTavish clan. What is your plan?”
“As of now, nothing concrete. I did send Cormac MacTavish a few pictures of his dear little sister, chained to the bed in that cheap lingerie they dressed her in and crying. Quite poignant.”
“I’d pay another one hundred million just to see their expressions,” he says.
“There’s no need for you to pay anything,” I say firmly. “We are both invested in the downfall of those Scottish fucks.”
“You could ransom her,” he says, “demand they turn over all their shipping and warehouse properties.”
“They do have several high-end sex clubs,” I grin, “we could insist on those, along with all their restaurants. Every legitimate MacTavish interest, in fact, making them nothing but low-level Mafia thugs again.”
“I want their empire burned to the ground. Then, the earth salted and scorched. I want the MacTavish name to be nothing more than a cautionary tale.”
He has his reasons for hating the family. Excellent reasons. So do I. But the fury in his tone gives me pause. “I don’t mind using the girl, Alec. But I’m not going to hurt her. We don’t hurt women.”
“Do you think she’s ignorant of what her family does?” he demands, “That she is somehow blameless?”
“We don’t punish the women,” I say coldly. “That is how it has always been. I don’t mind using the girl, but I will not harm her.”
