Irrevocable (Evan Arden 5)

“Who?” He looks at me and narrows his eyes. “Who wants me dead?”

“You’re intimately tied to the Russians through Milena, Nick. Did you really think that wasn’t going to be an issue? You were safe as a member of Rinaldo’s family, but I can’t protect you here in the middle of a power transition. You have to leave. Rinaldo knew it. I know it. You need to accept it, and do what I’m telling you.”

“Where are we supposed to go?”

“It’s all in there.” I reach down and wrap his fingers around the key. “Don’t contact anyone here again. If I need you, I will know how to reach you.”

“This is what it comes down to?” Nick suddenly laughs. “Exile?”

“Permanent vacation,” I say, correcting him. “It’s either that or a hole in the ground for both of you. You really think there’s a choice here?”

“I didn’t tell anyone,” he says as he narrows his eyes. “No one knows about Felisa, not even Milena. I’m not going to rat you out, Evan. Do you think I’m stupid?”

“Stupid, no,” I say, “but you obviously aren’t seeing the big picture. I’m not asking you to leave, and it has nothing to do with what you think you know. If I thought you would dare accuse me of anything, you would already be dead.”

“You’re serious,” he says quietly. “You are kicking me out of town.”

“Shit’s about to go down, Nicolas. Get your ass out of Chicago. Now.”

He stares at me for a moment and nods once. Without another word, he turns and walks out of the office.

I’ll probably never see him again.

Jonathan arrives before anyone else.

“Are we all set?” I ask.

“I am,” Jonathan says. “Got some clean up arranged, anyway.”

“Still no sign of Joshua Taylor?”

“Nothing.”

“Fuck. I would have preferred to bring him in for this.”

“Can’t have everything, boss.”

“You going to keep calling me that?”

“Does it annoy ya, boss?” He grins at me.

“Yes, it does.”

“Then, yeah, I’ll probably keep it up.”

I shake my head.

A short time later, people begin to file in and take their seats. Paulie comes in with his four hired hands to make sure things don’t get further out of control than I’ve already planned. They each take a corner of the room and try to look threatening. Paulie has no idea why I really want them here, but he’ll find out soon enough. I think he knows I still don’t trust him, and I’ll have to keep a close eye on him. I’ve spoken privately with every one of the people he hired, and they know what’s about to go down. They all expect to profit from it.

I also doubled Paulie’s salary. It’s the best way to keep him off guard.

With everyone in attendance, I sit down at the head of the table and start the meeting.

“By now you have all heard,” I say, “that Rinaldo has left his businesses to me. We talked about it extensively once we knew how much time he had left. There is no disputing this. Your loyalty now belongs to me.”

Beni glares down at his hands on the table. I know he is going to be my biggest concern, and I keep a close watch on him as I continue.

“Here’s the thing,” I say as I stand. “I was gone for a short while—you all know that—and when I returned, there were a lot of new faces.”