Cristian eyed the papers and furrowed his brow. “It depends on what you’re about to hand me.”
“It would appear one of my contacts in Peru has learned of an event hosted by a man out of Columbia.”
“And?” Cristian cocked a brow. His patience growing thin.
“And…” Matias handed him the document. “His name is Darby Conteh.”
“Fuck,” Katya grumbled as she stepped next to Cristian. “That’s our guy.”
“It would appear so. It gets worse.”
Cristian skimmed the contents of what he held in his hand. This man, Darby, was holding an auction in five days. “He’s auctioning off women.” Cristian fisted the paper in his palm. His gut churning with bile as he read over the guest list.
“That’s my guess. According to my contact, there are supposed to be twenty women for sale. One of them could be your girl, Cristian.”
“Do we know where it’s being held?”
“No. But…” Matias picked up another folder. “I have a way to find out—if you're willing to get your hands dirty.”
“What do you mean?”
“I have a buyer out of Ecuador who is on the guest list for the auction. Maybe with a paltry force we can convince him to let you take his place at the event.”
“Why not just ask him? You said he was a client of ours.”
“This guy can be difficult, and we didn’t have the best transaction last time. I’m not sure he’ll be willing to cooperate with us—except for a price.”
“Pay it. Whatever he wants. This is more important than a little lithium, Brother.”
“It’s not about the lithium, Cristian. Alessandro, wanted a portion of our mines for himself.”
“Fuck.”
“Exactly. Now you see why force may be needed. Instead of flying to Brazil, you’ll be taking the jet to Ecuador. Here is his info. Take Marco and Benji with you. I know you’ll be able to get what you want out of him. The last time he gave me shit, I threatened to let you handle the business deal with him. He didn’t like that idea.”
Cristian had earned a reputation for being heartless when it came to handling the family business. He had cleaned up more problems than he could count, leaving a trail of broken and bloodied people in his wake.
“Katya and I will try to find more information about this auction while you're gone. And, Cristian?”
“What is it?”
“When you find her.” He brushed his hand down Katya’s back. “What will you do with her?”
“I haven’t figured that out, Brother.”
Cristian left the two of them in the warehouse and headed to the car. He smiled when he found Marco and Benji waiting for him. “Are you two ready to get dirty?”
“Absolutely, Boss.”
Cristian grinned as the three of them climbed inside and headed toward the awaiting plane. Alessandro would help them or die.Cristian would not waste any more time trying to find this woman, or any of them being held captive. One man’s death would be worth the twenty he could save.
AlessandroJuárezlaidina bloody heap on the floor. As suspected, he wasn’t willing to help Cristian without a hefty price—a price Cristian wasn’t willing to pay.
“I told you I wasn’t here to negotiate, Alessandro. Our family doesn’t operate that way—not now, not ever. The way I look at it, you can either help me with what I need, or I can kill you. Your choice.”
Marco stood beside Cristian. He shifted his weight and pressed down on Alessandro’s hand with the heel of his shoe, causing the man to cry out in pain. Cristian squatted on the floor beside him and gripped his hair in his fist, jerking his head up.
“I don’t have the luxury of time.”
