“I have a great memory. I’ll recite the meeting to you if you want.”
What I want is to argue, to demand they let me go with them, but I suspect that’s a battle I’m not going to win.
And honestly, I’m not a fan of the head of the Bratva or the head of the Triads knowing I exist, so I suppose it makes sense, and...
I know for a fact there’s gonna be a lot of battles with Eian I won’t want to sit back from, so I concede with a nod.
“Now tell me, what the hell is this place?” I turn, and once more have to be impressed with the sheer size of this basement. “It looks so little and innocent from the outside.”
“We had it built for Seamus. He has very special needs when it comes to his equipment, and he wanted a colder place, one story, so we had this built. It’s far enough from the house that intruders wouldn’t think to come looking here. It has a built-in safe room too, and he can control all the doors from his office and his bedroom. He also ordered some kind of super internet or some shit,” he sounds like an old man. “That makes him untraceable, which is another way to keep him safe.”
If I’m not mistaken, there’s relief in Eian’s tone, and I don’t know what to think about that.
Should I have pushed to go?
I guess we’ll find out.
“Let’s go. We have a lot of work to do.”
14
EIAN
“Who fucking is this? And what the fuck do you want?”
The suspicion in Cecilia’s voice gives me some peace of mind. She knows to be on guard after someone managed to slip a phone into her purse without her noticing.
“Dempsey,” I tell her shortly. “I prefer this to having to hunt you down, and I would rather you don’t come near any of my businesses again.” The hitch in her breath is satisfying, but not enough to make me relax. With Colby pacing in front of my desk as he listens to the call, I doubt anything could accomplish that. “It’s time to take care of your brother?—”
“Don’t call him that,” she hisses, her reaction so intense I can’t even get mad at the interruption. It’s very interesting, and tells me she hates him.
Does she hate him enough to follow through?
No way to know right now.
“I don’t give two shits about your family trauma, Cecilia. You need to remember who you’re talking to. It’s time to take care of Lucian. We’re on the clock now. If you want me to let you live in peace after your father dies, you either deal with all the men Lucian has peddling flesh and bring him to me in the morning, or tell me how to get to him and all his men.”
I don’t know if she’s stunned or thinking through what I just said, but I count to ten before deciding I’m not wasting any more time.
“If I don’t get a confirmation text from you in two minutes, then you can start planning how to get out of the city before I find you.” With that out of the way, I hang up.
“That didn’t sound good,” Colby says, worrying his bottom lip.
My phone buzzes before I can even stand from my desk chair, and I know what it says without looking, so I intercept Colby on one of his turns to keep pacing and shake him a little by the shoulders.
“It’s fine. She’ll deal with it.” I lean down so we’re eye level and try to smile encouragingly. “I know this is intense, but you need to trust me. This isn’t the first time I’ve taken on a whole family, and if it’s my last, then I’ll be seriously surprised.” I kiss him quickly but firmly, then straighten to my full height. “Stop pacing. Sit.” I push him a little towardthe couch that’s off to the side of the desk. “Just five minutes, and then I’ll find a way to ease your nerves, okay?”
“Sure, fine,” he mumbles.
The calls with Aslanov and Chen go a lot smoother than the previous one. Aslanov doesn’t like talking on the phone, so it lasted less than five seconds after he picked up, and Chen was clearly curious but of course agreed to meet. There’s enough respect between us for me to ask Chen to call Rossi and Di Leo, so they’ll arrive half an hour after us, and he didn’t even ask me why, though I can tell he wanted to.
I have to deal with both of them regularly for business—Aslanov provides me and my men with weapons as he does everyone, and Chen and I have an agreement regarding my casino in Chinatown and his warehouse in Jersey.
I check the text from Cecilia and nod, pleased with the progress we’re making.
Cecilia:
I’ll call tonight with the information.
