Page 91 of Redemption

“Look, I thought it would be a big move for The Partners. I met him in my club a few months ago. I’ve gotten to know him. He has a shipping business out of South America. You know we could—”

“Who the fuck was it?” I yell, grit in my voice. Tomas looks up at me for the first time since I started talking to Roland.

“I’m sorry, Kilian. I know I shouldn’t have stepped into your part of the business. But I didn’t want to lose—”

“Just tell me who the hell it is?” I growl as I step toward Tomas so he can hear whatever name Roland gives me.

“His name is Sergio Rojas.”

Tomas nods at me and mouths “on it.”

“Look, Kilian, I didn’t think anything would happen. After Ezio, I figured the threat was over.”

“That was four days ago. You can’t believe he was the only man working for the Renzettis. Or that he didn’t figure something out and feed it to them before he died.”

“I made a mistake.”

I laugh. “A mistake would be telling someone the wrong time for a delivery. You lost us four hundred million dollars!” I shake my head as I walk over to the window and look out toward the water a few blocks away. “Have you told your father?”

“You know he already knows.”

“Did you tell him why you weren’t here? I am positive he knows about the stolen weapons but he needs to hear the mistake you made that cost us millions from your mouth.”

“I was hoping we could get the weapons back.”

I scoff. “Really?”

“If it’s the Renzettis then maybe we can strike a deal or kill the rest of them.”

“You’re a fool, Roland.” I pace back across the room. “We can’t just call in a favor to them. We already killed Giancarlo’s nephew. We have a target on our backs. This isn’t going to be some walk in the park. This isn’t one of the weak businessmen I get to launder our money. This is one of the most powerful mafia families in Italy and they would do anything to tear us apart.”

“Why? Why are they so invested in destroying us?”

I know one big reason but I am not about to let this motherfucker know. “That’s what I am trying to figure out.”

Tomas turns the screen to me. And I want nothing more than to shoot Roland in the head. I don’t care how far back we go. “You are an even bigger fool than I thought you could be.” I can hear him swallow hard on the other side of the phone but he remains silent. “Your Mr. Rojas that you thought would be a great business deal? That isn’t a South American businessman. That man is Luca Renzetti. You fucking idiot.”

“I didn’t know,” he mutters into the phone. He sounds pathetic.

“Why the hell didn’t you look into the Renzettis when you knew they were a threat?”

“I don’t know.”

“You need to know who every man is in this business. Threat or not.”

He starts talking fast. “I vetted him. I swear. I had the man I use look into him.”

“Who the hell are you using?” I snap. “A kid that graduated from college yesterday? Tomas figured out who he was in five minutes.”

“I should have been more thorough,” Roland says with a bit more edge in his voice.

“You should have done a lot of things.”

“I’m not you, Kilian. I don’t take my anger and rage about my father out on everyone like you do.”

I ignore his jab. “Who organized your meeting last night, you or him?”

“He did. Over a week ago.”

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