“Roman?” Andrew says, his expression worried.
“Warren suffers,” I say. “No one kills him until he’s as penniless as he made our family.”
“How?” Andrew throws his arms in the air. “Our plan is fucked. Evie is already married.”
“Remember that mine you mentioned?” Mateo says. “The one in which Warren invested that’s running empty?” He grins. “Well, guess what? There’s word that one of Warren’s good friends stole the diamond deposit and framed the man who discovered it for theft.”
“Which friend?” I ask, my curiosity piqued.
Mateo dips his face and holds my gaze. “Harold Dalton.”
Interesting. “From Dalton Diamonds?”
Mateo smiles. “The one and only.”
He’s a diamond magnate, one of the biggest players in the industry. “So, Dalton stole the discovery. Who’s the unlucky man he framed?”
“A man called Damian Hart,” Mateo says.
“I’ve never heard of him.”
“He’s doing time in the Johannesburg prison, and from what our inside info says, he’s made a name for himself with his fists. He’s made friends with the right people on the inside, and he’s taking payment on the outside.”
Narrowing my eyes, I ask, “What are you suggesting?”
“Warren is one of the stakeholders in that mine.” Mateo adds with meaning, “Apparently, Hart wants the same thing we do.”
“Revenge,” I muse.
“If we get word of the fact that the mine isn’t turning up a good yield to Hart, we let him take care of the action.” Mateo takes a beer from the fridge and unscrews the cap. “We strike a deal. Warren’s failed investment in the mine weakened him financially. We put our money at Hart’s disposal, and when he gets out, which will be soon, he takes his revenge.”
“Ruining Warren,” Andrew says.
Mateo takes a swig of the beer. “As well as Dalton and the other shareholders.”
“How?” I ask.
“My informant says Hart has evidence of the theft and other information at his disposal. This is where it gets interesting. The other shareholder is Stone. Go figure. Warren and Stone have been in cahoots for some time. If Hart takes care of both Warren and Stone, Stone won’t be able to come to Warren’s rescue. They’ll both be ruined.”
“Do it,” I say. “Pay him as much money as he needs, but make sure he understands that Warren goes down with Dalton. I don’t care what happens to Stone. As long as Warren is left with nothing but the clothes on his back, we have a deal.”
Mateo grins. “It shouldn’t be too difficult to organize.”
I think about it. I’ll keep tabs on this Hart person, this Damian. If he fails to meet his end of the bargain, I’ll go after him and Warren and personally torture them to death. I’ll lock Warren in my basement and keep him alive for years while slowly carving him to pieces. The only reason I’m not doing it now is the woman I have locked up in my house. I don’t want to cultivate such filth in the foundation of the house if there’s a chance she’ll stay.
Fuck.
I came inside her. There’s a possibility she may have conceived. It’s slight, but even if the odds are less than one percent, it’s still a chance to consider.
I turn to Andrew. “Fetch Warren’s man from the cell and bring him here.”
“There’s still one?” he asks. “I thought Mateo said you let them go.”
“He refused to leave.”
Mateo raises a brow. “Why?”
“That’s what I’m planning on finding out.”
Andrew leaves to execute the order.
Finishing his beer, Mateo dumps the bottle in the recycling bin. “I’ll go set up a visit with Hart.”
I nod, my mind already elsewhere. Upstairs. “Let me know how it goes.”
When my brother walks from the room, I grab the gun I keep behind the bar and take a seat by the counter. A moment later, Andrew leads Warren’s man inside.
“Leave us,” I say, making sure the man sees the gun resting on my thigh.
I wait until Andrew has closed the door behind him. “What’s your name?” I chuckle. “I’m not going to call you Number Two. It’s too cumbersome to pronounce.”
“Tom,” he says, glaring. “Is she dead?”
“No.” I grab a packet of cigarettes that lie on the counter. One of my men must’ve left it there. I haven’t smoked since I was eighteen, but I light one now and drag the nicotine into my lungs. Blowing the smoke in his face, I say, “You stayed.”
His eyes water, but he doesn’t blink. “If she’s alive, there are things you need to know about her.”
I narrow my eyes. “Is that why you stayed? To protect her?”
“It’s not my job to protect her.”
“Then why do it?” If he says he feels something for her, I’ll fucking crush him right here and now.
“Because she negotiated. Her life for ours. Telling you is the least I owe her.”
I take another drag. “Telling me what?”
“The truth.”
“Then talk.”
He shuffles, getting as comfortable as he can with his hands tied behind his back. “I was there from the start, right from when Mr. Warren acquired her.”