Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 77126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“You know about it?”
He exhales sharply. “Jared and I don’t have any secrets. Though he came to us through Falcon’s friend Leif Ramsey, I’m the one paying his bills. So when he found out about the safe house that Falcon and Hawk had constructed after Falcon went to prison, I found out as well.”
I scratch the side of my head. “What the hell is your game, Bellamy?”
We walk out of the hotel, where Bellamy’s car waits for us. His driver opens the back seat, and Bellamy gestures me to get in.
Though I don’t trust this man as far as I can throw him, I don’t feel that I’m in any imminent danger. The skin on the back of my neck isn’t icy cold, and my heart isn’t racing.
He slides in the seat next to me and grabs a bottle of amber liquid from the console. “Bourbon?”
I nod.
He pours me a finger as the car begins to roll.
He gestures to the partition dividing us from his chauffeur. “We can speak freely. This is soundproofed, though I trust my driver without question.”
I take a sip of the bourbon. It’s good, smooth stuff. Only the best for the Cooper Steel heir, of course.
Just like only the best for Mario Bianchi.
And his son.
“So where do I start?” he asks, more to himself than to me.
“At the beginning. Start at the beginning, Austin.”
He raises his eyebrows at my use of his first name. “Good enough, Vinnie.” He clicks his glass to mine. “Cheers.”
I don’t return his toast. Hardly seems like a cheers moment.
“You told me the last time we talked, at my office at home, that you had found information on me on the dark web. Records that were expunged when I turned eighteen.”
“Yes. But I don’t hold that against you.”
“I didn’t think you would. Just like I don’t hold against you the fact that you’ve killed. Twice.”
I let out a dull laugh. “So we both do our research. I wouldn’t expect anything less from either of us.”
Bellamy chuckles lightly. “It’s a shame, Vinnie. If you weren’t the grandson of Mario Bianchi, I’d really like you.”
I glare at him. “I can’t say the same, Austin. Anyone who does business with drugs—and God knows what else—isn’t someone I respect.”
This time he chuckles louder. “But isn’t that what you’re doing? You weren’t down in Colombia for your health.”
“No, I was down in Colombia to set a plan in motion.”
He doesn’t need to know that I didn’t come up with the plan until I actually got there and found Serena and Daniela.
“So you think you can take out your grandfather?”
“It’s not a matter of whether I think I can do it,” I reply. “It’s necessary. I can’t let this go on. It cost me my brother, my father, and now my mother. It nearly cost me my sister. The woman your son loves.”
“Savannah is a lovely young lady.”
“She is.” I look down. “I should’ve been here for her. I should’ve been here for my brother too. He’d be alive today if I had been. But I ran.”
He lays a tentative hand on my shoulder. “You were a kid, Vinnie. You had your reasons.”
I cock my head. Exactly how much does Bellamy know? Clearly he knows about my run-in with Misha. That I killed him. And he knows about Puzo.
“I was eighteen, Austin. A man in the eyes of the law. But I was a selfish little bastard.”
“You returned. You returned to save your sister.”
“Yeah.” I scoff. “Seventeen short years later. That’s hardly heroic.”
“Hell, none of us are heroes, Vinnie.” He gazes out the window of the car. “You think I haven’t bent the rules in my day?”
This time I chuckle. “I know you have. I’d love to know why you allowed your son to go to prison. And, Austin, I’d love to know something else.”
“Yes.” He clasps his hands together. “Why I decided to excavate under the old barn near the Mexican border that’s on my property. And why it was stopped.”
“For what it’s worth, I wasn’t going to let that happen.”
“Interesting. Why not?”
“I’m not going to tell you that. Besides, I think you probably already know why.”
He rubs at his forehead. “My children are smart. Especially Falcon and Raven. All five of them are brilliant, but those two have an emotional intelligence as well. I know Falcon didn’t kill that young cop.” The muscles in his neck tighten. “I know damned well it was my youngest.”
“Why didn’t you tell Falcon that?”
“Because I love my children. And that’s why I keep them on a need-to-know basis.”
“Just how long has your family been involved with the cartels?” I ask.
“Not as long as you might think,” he says. “But I had to make a choice when my father died. Our money comes from my mother’s side of the family, as you know. She was the only child of Broderick Cooper of Cooper Steel.”