“First, he said he was interested in hosting a dinner at the hotel…then he told me I shouldn’t be married to you.”
I wished I’d killed him a long time ago. None of this would be happening. Maddox was ready to wipe me out, probably waiting years to gather as much information about me as possible. “Anything else?”
“No…you walked over.”
I started to pace the room again, my hand dragging down my face as I tried to figure out my next move. If I didn’t know where Damien was, that I meant I had to play Maddox’s game, regardless of what he was about to ask me.
I just hoped he didn’t ask for the one thing I couldn’t give.
Sofia rose to her feet. “What are you going to do?”
“I have no idea where Maddox is. My men don’t have a location on Damien. That means I have to call him…which is exactly what he wants.”
“He’ll want something from you?” she whispered.
I walked to the window, my hands on my hips as I examined the city below. “Yes.”
“What do you think that will be?”
I didn’t want to tell her my theory…because it would only scare her. “Don’t know. But I’m sure I won’t like it.” I typed in the number then pushed the phone to my ear, letting it ring as I waited for that creepy voice to erupt through the speaker.
“You’ve gotten your wife to a safe location, and you’ve had time to realize you have no idea where your dear friend is. You have no idea where I am. Now you’re playing your one and only card…to listen to my demands.”
My jaw clenched as the rage coursed through my veins. I felt like his little bitch, and that made my teeth grind together so hard that it hurt my roots. If this weren’t about Damien, I would just hang up and leave him to his fate. But that was the difference between Maddox and me. To him, everything was disposable. To me, there were things I could never let go. That gave him the power…and that gave me nothing.
“Ready?” There was so much arrogance in his voice. He was already pissing on my grave even though he had yet to claim my life. I was in the palm of his hand, and he enjoyed squeezing the air out of my lungs.
I didn’t want to answer, didn’t want to play his sick and twisted game, but I couldn’t abandon Damien. I couldn’t let him be tortured until he begged for death. He would never let it happen to me. “Yes.” I hated myself for caving, hated myself for submitting to this fucking tyrant.
“Good. Damien will appreciate it since he’s a bit uncomfortable right now.”
I closed my eyes, pain everywhere.
“Hear. Listen.”
“No—”
“Agh!” Damien screamed when someone struck him.
My hand covered my face because it was torture, picturing him covered in blood and writhing in pain.
Maddox came back to the phone. “I’ve been torturing him all day. I knew it would take a while to crack him. Once he was ready to sing, I paid your wife a visit.”
I’d been going about my day like everything was normal…oblivious to Damien’s demise. “What do you want, Maddox?” I kept my voice steady, refusing to let the emotion in my chest escape into my throat.
“Can I give you some advice?” he asked, smug as ever.
I closed my eyes again.
“Just let me kill him. My demands aren’t worth his life. In a twisted way, I actually respect you, Hades. You didn’t want to kill my brother, but you did because you had to. You didn’t cave… Admirable.”
Disgusting. “You’re an asshole.” How could he say that about his own flesh and blood? His sister-in-law was a widow now, a single mother to two young children. She was abandoned…and all of that could have been avoided.
“Thank you,” he said, a smile in his voice. “You should be an asshole as well. I know you’ve got a soft spot for this man, but he’s not worth it. He shouldn’t have been tailing me, especially when you told him not to. His ambitions are too big for his capabilities. Let him pay his punishment. He deserves it.”
“Don’t you want me to give you what you want?”
“Not necessarily. I’ll get it no matter what, whether it’s now or later.”
I took a deep breath, making sure the air didn’t hit the speaker on the phone.
Maddox sighed in disappointment. “Alright. I’ll return Damien…if you retire.”
It was far too much to ask, but I was actually relieved by the request. I feared he’d want something far more valuable…like my wife.
“I really hope you don’t cave so easily,” Maddox said. “I would much rather have a war than a simple conversation. Far too boring for men like us.”
I’d have to give up my entire business, my billion-dollar empire, to save Damien’s life. It was my life’s work, something I was proud of. I’d built it from the ground up, made a respectable name for myself on the street. It had led to other opportunities. It made men afraid of me. It gave me everything I wanted…including Sofia.