Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath before blowing it out.
As the sharp smell of burnt wicker and candle wax tickles my nose, I make a wish.
I wish to remember.
Chapter
Thirty-Six
Dante
* * *
The preparations for the party are giving Penelope a stomach ulcer. She reminds me so for the tenth time that week when I swing by the office to meet with Lexi.
On the way home, I make a stop. A few men accompany me. Teszner’s rented house isn’t in a better state than during my first visit. I suppose he never had to pick up after himself or learn cleaning skills. Or maybe he got so used to the stench of rot and shit that he doesn’t register the filth he’s living in any longer.
Teszner isn’t in a better condition either. I find him in the lounge, lying on the sofa with bruises on his face. The angle of his nose tells me it’s been broken. Dried blood is caked on his upper lip and in his hair.
His body goes rigid when I walk inside and let the door slam shut.
Cradling the arm with the bandaged hand against his chest, he sits up with difficulty.
“What happened?” A cruel laugh escapes my lips. “Loan sharks got to you?”
He sneers, his nostrils flaring. Grabbing a notepad and a pen that lies next to him, he scribbles words in a messy handwriting askew over the page.
Come to gloat?
I step over empty takeout containers and go closer. “What do you think?”
He writes again.
Just kill me. Get it over with.
I bend down until I’m in his face. “Oh, that’ll be way too easy, Teszner.”
He jerks and leans away.
At this point, he doesn’t even own a gun he could’ve used to end his miserable life. Bennet’s men took everything of value, including his weapons, before Teszner’s macabre financial situation forced him to move into this shithole.
His lip curls as he flips the page and writes on the back.
What do you want?
“I have news.”
The pen flies over the page.
Not interested.
“I think you’ll be interested in this tidbit I came to share with you.” I straighten. “As of today, Teszner Agglomerate belongs to your sister.” I still can’t bring myself to say her name in his insulting presence.
He freezes. If he weren’t wearing a dirty bandage over his eyes, he probably would’ve glared at me.
“All the profits are hers.”
More scribbling.
