Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 35602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
Chapter 5
XAVIER
Saul walks into my office with a worried look.
“You remember that woman Selena we talked about a few weeks ago?” he asks. I look up from the papers I’m going through and stare at him, demanding an answer. I don’t speak. It’s better for him not to know what’s going through my mind.
That I haven’t thought about Selena once since the last time we talked about her. My mind is still preoccupied by Tallulah.
The dogs have only been a slight consolation this month and a half. A month and a half without having her by my side. Without getting to control every move she makes.
“Looks like there’s something going on with her,” Saul tells me, slamming a black-and-white photograph on the desk before me. I glance at the picture. Selena is in it for sure. Even without the red color, I can recognize her voluminous hair.
She’s being led somewhere, and there are handcuffs on her wrists. It looks more like she’s being forced into a building than walking into it by herself.
“What’s this all about?” I ask my partner. “Why are you bringing me this?”
“We’ve heard talk of a new cartel in town,” Saul explains. “The one we’re making a hit on tonight.”
“The kiddie lovers?” I growl, and he nods.
“We believe they’re forcing women to work for them. Kidnapping them. The ones with no family and no ties. The ones they think nobody will miss. Apparently, they have hundreds of women they’ve taken this way.”
“And you think Selena is one of them,” I mutter. “What’s that got to do with me?”
He raises his eyebrows at me. “Well, I thought you’d want to know since you used to be fuck buddies and all that.”
“What Selena does is neither of concern nor worry to me.” I push the photograph away and it flutters from my desk onto the floor. “Get these pictures out of my face. Can’t you see I’m dealing with enough?”
“If you’re talking about Tallulah again, I’m here to tell you - you are an idiot.”
“What the fuck did you just call me?”
“Don’t pretend you didn’t hear it. I’m getting tired of these warnings I have to keep giving you because you keep slacking on the job. You always say you run this cartel by yourself, Xavier. But we both know the truth is, it would have crumbled a long time ago if it weren’t for me holding it up. I hire all the men. I schedule all the operations. I make the hits. I do it all. And you... you’re just the silent figure who lives above us like a hawk god.”
“Well, that fucking silent figure brought you to where you are today and gave you the money you use to pay for your whores,” I sputter, slamming a fist down on my desk. “When are you going to give me some good news about my ward?”
“Tallulah again?” Saul laughs at me, shaking his head. “I can’t believe we’re right back where we began. You’re just obsessively asking over this dead girl as if we can make her appear back here by some miracle. No, if you must know, there hasn’t been any news. But there is another thing.”
He pulls out an envelope and places it on the desk before me. “This arrived today.”
I don’t even need to open the envelope to know what’s inside. I already know it’s going to be another death threat sent by my brother Xander. Absentmindedly, I tear into the paper and read the note inside. It’s just another generic threat, but it’s under-laced with the kind of crazy I know only my brother’s capable of.
This makes me think...
If Xander is still sending these death threats, he doesn’t know Tallulah doesn’t live with me anymore. That she escaped after betraying me in the worst possible way. Which means he doesn’t have her. He hasn’t gotten his twisted, fucked up fingers on her yet, which means she’s still innocent. Still mine. Hopefully still thinking about me and all the ways she can serve me.
“Deep in thought again, I see,” Saul interrupts. “I hope you haven’t forgotten. We have a hit to make today.”
“I’m well aware we need to make a hit,” I murmur. “Maybe if you didn’t keep bringing this shit to my desk, I could actually focus on working in peace.”
Saul smirks at me. “We both know that’s not the real problem here. Once your obsession over Tallulah is broken, we’ll finally be able to carry on with work as normal. Until then... I’ll watch you crumble from the man I used to know. But I believe you, Xavier. If you say you’re going to get better once we get her back here and once you get to hurt her the way she hurt you... I’m going to believe you. You’re the same man I went into business with all those years ago… right?”