Nestor walks over to his desk and slides a document towards him. He picks up a pen from a glass cup on Ali’s desk and sets it down on the document. “You’ll have to sign this.”
“What is it?” he huffs, glaring at the document.
“A treaty. An agreement that states you will cease all business with Faiz Ilyin and will not enter into any new business with the man. You will pull out of any and all dealings you have with him. Once that is done, you will be allied with us and our interests. It also states that should you make any moves, even a hint of it, against us, the alliance ends, and you will face the full consequences of that action,” Nestor states.
“I guess that’s clear enough,” Ali mutters bitterly, picking up the pen.
He stares at the document for a moment. His Adam’s apple shifts as he swallows hard. Then, with a twitch of his lip, curling up at the top, he scrawls his signature onto the document and pushes it away from himself.
“There. Done. Now get out of my office,” he snaps.
“Interesting way to speak to your new allies,” Ardalion taunts him.
I stand up, moving away from his desk. “You won’t come near Georgie again,” I warn him. “If you even glance in her direction….”
He looks up at me, a defeated man. “Don’t worry, Kristopher. You’ve made yourselves clear. If I breathe too loudly, there will be consequences. I understand everything. Now, will youpleaseleave my office?” He snarls.
I cock my head to the side, letting my eyes burn one last warning into him. Then I gesture towards the door.
“We have what we came for,” I say to the other men.
Nestor nods, and with one last glance at Ali, he picks up the document and heads for the door, followed by the rest of us.
I can’t believe how easy that was.
All this time, all this stress, and my alliance didn’t even have to put themselves in danger to face it. We just had to make a stand together.
In the parking lot outside Ali’s building, we stand by our cars.
“We can deal with your father next,” Emmanuil says, tugging his car door open. “Ali will contact him to withdraw from the businesses soon, so he should be expecting us.”
“A rat like Ali might even pull out silently, not warning my father of anything.”
“True. Well, we’ll find out soon enough,” Emmanuil says.
“Thank you,” I say, holding my hand out towards him.
He shakes my hand, his grip firm. “It’s no problem, man, I wish you’d called sooner.”
“So do I.” I chuckle. “Let’s talk tomorrow. I hope you have a good evening.”
He nods, and we wave to the other guys as they climb into their own cars.
I drive home feeling as though someone has lifted an insurmountable weight off my shoulders. I am light as air. I can’t believe the heavy responsibility I’ve been carrying alone foryears.And suddenly it’s gone. It’s weightless. A simple solution was right there for me to use all this time, and I was just too stubborn to do so.
I park outside the mansion and climb out, eager to see Georgie, to thank her, to hold her.
Pushing the front door open, I’m already smiling. “Georgie?” I call into the house.
“I’m in here,” her voice carries from the living room.
I drop my phone and car keys onto the small table in the foyer and hurry towards her.
But when I see her, I stop in my tracks.
She’s standing next to the sofa, her hands knotting and unknotting in front of her. She’s shifting her weight from one foot to the other, and her face is pale with worry.
My stomach churns with anxiety.
