Then gripped it with both hands and straightened it out with an audible snap.
I had to turn away. I wretched but nothing came out.
He grunted and took a deep breath.
“Better,” he said. “You nearly got me.”
I steadied myself with a hand against the wall. “You’re insane.”
“And you’re god damned stupid.” He stepped up behind me and grabbed my hair, pulling me away from the wall. “Don’t you understand what I’m trying to do here yet?”
“Get off me.”
He let me go. I stumbled and steadied myself on table.
“I’m trying to give you a chance. You think anyone else in my crew would think twice about killing you? After this, you’d be more than dead, little diamond. You’d be wishing you were dead. But you can’t see that, can you?”
“Oh, yeah, you’re a saint for using me to sell your drugs and launder your money. What a fucking great guy.”
He laughed, deep and honest.
“I don’t need you to like it, but I need you to accept it.”
I stared at his handsome face and said nothing.
He sighed and dabbed at the cuts with his handkerchief. It came away bloody. He dabbed it again then tossed it onto a table.
“Maybe I’ve taken the wrong tact with you.” He leaned against the door and looked tired. “Maybe you need more incentive.”
“What the hell could you offer me?”
He smiled. It looked deadly and terrifying. “I could offer you a lot. What do you want? Money? Power? I could give you that, if you wanted it.”
“You don’t have enough money to buy me.”
“Oh, don’t be so sure.” He tilted his head. “How about this. I’ll cut you into the sales. I’ll give you ten percent of the profits.”
“Ten percent?” I snorted. “No, thanks.”
“Ten percent of around twenty million dollars.”
That got my attention. I stared at him. “Two… million?”
“Around there. Might be more, might be less.” He made a vague gesture with his hands. “Depends on how many pills we have. I don’t have good numbers just yet. My men aren’t great at counting, believe it or not.”
“Two million.” I almost laughed. “You’re seriously going to give me two million?”
“I promise you on my life. Ten percent of the profits will go in your pockets. Two million is the potential, if you work hard and sell it all.”
“Fuck.” I turned away from him and stalked across the room. “You’re crazy.”
“And now you’re tempted.” He laughed, soft and low. “I knew you would be. It’s a good offer.”
“It’s dirty money. It’s drug money.” I turned back to face him. “I just tried to kill you.”
He shrugged. “You failed. It was a good try though.”
“Two million.” I looked down at the floor. I could do so much with that kind of money. I could start over somewhere and take care of my mother the way she deserved. She could quit her part time job at the diner and never work another day in her life. She could do whatever she wanted, and I’d have enough money left over to build another business.
“But here’s the deal. If you so much as lift a finger to mess with all of this again, it’s over. I gave you two chances just now. Two chances to try and kill me, and you failed both times. You didn’t go far enough, little diamond.” He pointed at the online orders boxes. “There are scissors in there sharp enough to sink deep into my throat. You might’ve gotten me, if you tried.”
I refused to take the bait. “How do I know you’re not lying?”
“Because I have no reason to. I could keep blackmailing you into working for me. I’d rather you did it for the right reasons, though, and perhaps money is enough. Life-changing money.” He stepped toward me, eyes narrowed and intense. “But I won’t give you a third chance. You make things hard on me on more time, and this is finished. Do you understand?”
“I understand.” I felt a trickle of rage, like the dying embers of a fire. Maybe, if I wanted, I could ignite it again and burn at him.
But I didn’t think I had it in me.
No, the fire was cooling, dying.
Replaced by something else.
Desire. Greed.
Two million dollars… and him.
“What do you say, little diamond?” He walked toward me. Blood trickled from his nose but his eyes were bright and gorgeous and almost manic. “What od you say? Be my partner. We’ll make you rich.”
“I don’t know.”
He stopped just in front of me. I breathed deep picturing his hand around my throat. He reached out and I managed not to flinch away as he touched my cheek with his palm.
“I can give you so much.”
“I don’t… I don’t know.” I kept looking into his eyes. “How can I come back from there?”
“There’s no coming back. But it’s better on the other side.”
I chewed my lip. “Okay.”