I’m not sure if it’s for dramatic effect, but Devall is about to open his mouth, so Markus quickly pulls his phone from his pocket and scrolls until he finds what he’s looking for.
“It says, ‘Devall will fall.It starts now.This blood is on your hands.And the next to be spilled will be the blood of your heir.’”
Fuck.
“The Castros think we shot Robert,” Devall says.
“It certainly looks that way.”
“But we didn’t,” he confirms.“I never made such a call.”
“No, but I’m not sure how we’re going to convince the Castros that this wasn’t us.Not after Tyrone Miller’s death six months ago.And we can’t forget Morris Hamlin several months prior.”
Devall raises his eyebrows.“Hamlin was in a brawl outside a nightclub,” he says.“There was no evidence to suggest it was gang related.”
“No, but no one was ever found responsible for his death, despite how hard the Castros looked.Add his death to Tyrone Miller’s, and we have three members of the Castro gang all dead within a year of each other.You have to admit, it looks suspicious.”
Markus waits as Devall appears to be thinking.When it’s clear he isn’t going to say anything, Markus takes up the thread.
“There’s more, sir.”
Devall’s eyebrow arches.
“We lost surveillance on the cameras in the Premier Suite at the Amalfi around seven o’clock this evening.The security team down there headed to the suite to see what had happened and found every single person with their throats cut.They’re all dead, including the staff.This was just before the email came through.”
Silence clings to the heat in the room, making it feel sickly and claustrophobic.
For the first time, the gang lord looks uncomfortable behind his desk.Finally, he speaks.“Are you suggesting we’re all in danger?”he asks Markus.
“I would say yes—it certainly appears that way, sir.The Castros have launched a very open and violent attack on us, which is understandable considering Robert Castro is dead.”
Devall nods.“Vincent will want heads on fucking platters.”
“He’s made that clear, sir, with a direct threat to Hayami,” Markus replies.
“Then we leave for one of the safe houses tonight.”Devall slaps his hand on the desk, making Junko jump.
“If I may, sir, from a security angle, I wouldn’t recommend the family moving together.It’ll only make you more of a target and more vulnerable,” Markus points out.
Devall surveys the room, and I wonder if he’s weighing up the odds, working out just how much the safety of his family means to him.“Then what do you suggest?”
“I suggest you all leave for one of the secure houses, but separately.Vincent will send his best recruit from outside if he has to, so we need to make it as difficult as possible for his men to find you.I suggest some of the more remote locations you have.”
Pursing his lips, the gang lord responds, “Fine, Junko can leave tonight and go to Hanover House.Her team leaves with her.I’ll stay here.I’m not going to be threatened out of my own home by Castro’s men.”
“And Hayami, sir?”Markus enquires.
Devall looks to Willa and then to me before replying.“You two will take her to Belial House.”
The air crackles as Junko sits up as if she’s just been electrocuted with a cattle prod.She hasn’t reacted to anything she’s heard in this room.Not the threat on her family, not the throat-slashing of some of their employees, nothing.Only now does she sit up and take notice.
“Belial, sir?”Markus asks, his face changing from very sure of himself to suddenly being thrown into the ring.
“Yes, you heard me.Belial.She’s the target, after all—the email explicitly said ‘the blood of your heir.’If it were me, I’d go for Vincent’s children first and make him suffer their deaths before having to face his own.She needs to be somewhere that no one will find her.There’s nowhere safer and more remote than Belial House.”
“No.”The word is so quiet, so small, we barely hear it, but Junko stands.Devall shoots her a look that would put anyone back in their place.“You can’t send her to Belial House.”Junko shakes her head and puts her hands out towards her husband, pleading with him.“Anywhere but Belial.”
“Enough,” Devall snaps, then nods at Markus, who moves towards Junko and rests a nonthreatening but very commanding hand on her shoulder.“There’s nothing to discuss.She’ll be safe at Belial House.”
