“Shouldn’t we beef up security at the foundation, then? We don’t want anything happening to the workers there.”
“He has a nasty habit of running over people his target is close to. He might just decide to run over Lizochka and Thomas.” But the little shit will never succeed so long as I’m alive.
“What about Dominic?”
Of course Antoine is worried about him. They’re best friends and in-laws. “This employee has never met him, so the risk is negligible.”
“Still. I’ll increase security for him, too.”
“Suit yourself.”
“You going after this Dealer guy yourself?” Antoine asks, after making some notes on his plan.
“Yes.” Not just him, but his hired thugs too. He might have vowed to kill Angelika himself, but he is too arrogant to grab her himself. He seems to think he’s too good for certain criminal tasks.
“Have you told the employee about the threat?”
“She’s aware, but not the fact that he’s in town. I prefer to keep it that way.” No need to freak her out, have her behave erratically or try to run and tip Roy Wilks off. Plus, if she ever asks me why I failed to inform her, I’ll point out that she quit talking to me. It’ll be petty, but satisfying.
“How come? She’s going to be exposed.”
I give him an “are you kidding me?” look. “I have it under control. No broken bones. No blood. I promise.” I don’t want her hurt. I want her protected and safe, and healthy enough to continue being mad at me, although ideally, she’ll be grateful and let me know in the best way possible. “And she’ll be thrilled once I take care of the threat for her.”
Antoine scrutinizes me. He isn’t an idiot. He probably knows how I take care of threats, even if he wants to pretend what I do is call 911 and wait for the police to apprehend the bad guys. I do that as well, but the police department has too many cases to handle, too many lowlife criminals to process. Regardless of the number of TV shows that would have you believe crimes can be solved with the wrongdoer apprehended in a matter of days, the reality is exhausting, confusing and not as cut and dried.
I, on the other hand, have only a few such problems to solve. It’s only right I get off my ass once in a while and take some of the burden off law enforcement.
“Hope she appreciates that,” Antoine says finally.
My eyebrows pinch. Appreciate… She might’ve done that before.
I realize that once Roy’s gone, she’s going to leave. She has no reason to stay with me and is already uncomfortable—even angry—wit
h my methods.
Normally, I’d shrug and go about my life. I had my fun, and I got a man off my kill list. The woman isn’t clinging or harboring helplessly romantic notions about me. It will be a clean break—something I always prefer.
But I don’t want the little fawn to vanish. I want her to stay. I want to hang on to her with the desperation of a man fighting an apocalyptic battle while clutching the last sword left in the world.
No… That’s too ugly an analogy. She’s like a bright light in my life. The only person who makes me laugh and want to let my guard down a little. Many people think that I’m in love with Lizochka, but what she has is my loyalty.
It’s Angelika who has my heart. It’s a sad, damaged organ, incapable of much of what makes most people human. But what little humanity it’s capable of is hers.
If I eliminate Roy in the most efficient way possible, nobody’ll find his body after tonight. But I’m going to lose Angelika. So I’ll have to use a less efficient method, something more convoluted and time-consuming.
“You’re scaring me.” Antoine’s worried words break my train of thoughts.
I frown. “Why?”
He makes a circle around my face. “Your expression.”
“And you call yourself a man. You’re a disgrace.” As I stand up, my gaze falls on the framed photo on Antoine’s desk.
Events must be carefully engineered, so that even after Roy’s gone, Angelika will want to stay by my side. And be happy, like Antoine’s wife in the picture.
For that, I’m willing to bleed.
Chapter Thirty-Four