Page 25 of The Devil of London

“You’ve been in love with him since the moment you met the bastard. I know you and have held you through the nightmares and pain he’s caused you. Knowing he’s willingly chosen to wed another is hurting you. You won’t convince me otherwise.”

Her skinny arms wrapped around me as I awkwardly hugged her back. “I love you, Mabel. But right now, I need to focus on bringing his empire down around his head. He can marry the blonde bombshell, but she isn’t getting the empire I helped him build. I may have been out of the fold for the last fifty years, but I have been a part of it since the 1600s. Khaos thinks I’m weak, but I’ve spent the past fifty years working to put holes in his world. It is almost time to watch it topple.”

“And he will not be any wiser about who destroyed it, either. You were with him last night when they seized all three trucks.”

“Indeed, I was,” I concurred as a smug smile played on my lips.

I’d planned on being in his domain when the first truck was stolen. They removed the entire crew and sent them walking back toward Tophet. Once we’d finished emptying the truck of guns, drugs, and state-of-the-art recording equipment, the men were spelled to deliver it to the storage unit facility I’d purchased using a shell company, owned by a different shell company, that was owned by yet another shell company that a very wonderful gentleman who died thirty years ago had owned.

“He intends for me to return to the club tonight. I’ve no intention of doing so, but on Friday evening at five, I will be at his estate. I intend to pack supplies to brew everything I’d have brewed here, there. Can you prepare the bottles, herbs, crystals, moon water, and other ingredients if I give you a detailed list? I need to go home and see what they’ve done to my house. Plus, Cameron has a picture of me naked in my bed. I’ve never told him my address, let alone invited him inside, so at some point today, I need to figure out how that happened.”

Arabella had been using a dating site, which I had joined after her attack. I’d spent countless weeks trying to find her assailant, but the number of sleezy men on the app made it difficult. I’d actually met Cameron on the app, which had blindsided me with how much we’d actually had in common. The hunt for Arabella’s date rapist had gone awry from there. No one took the bait I’d laid out for them, but I’d come away with Cameron. He’d somehow matched me one hundred percent for likes, dislikes, and had seemed like a genuinely good guy. Huge mistake, obviously. But then, most people tried to see only the good in people. I wasn’t any different.

Cameron had fooled me since I’d been on edge about the site to start with. I hadn’t expected him to be some peeping Tom, or pervert. You’d think, since I’d actually been looking for one, I’d have noticed the red flags.

“How the fuck did he accomplish that?” she demanded in outrage. “Your house is a veritable safe house.”

“I’m aware,” I stated as I leaned forward and typed in the route for the trucks leaving the countryside. “Khaos mentioned more shipments coming in for the gathering. I need to know what supplies he is bringing in to get ahead of him. Plus, we need to ensure they do not reach Tophet.” Firing off a message on the computer to the D’yavol of Vegas, I waited for his reply.

A: Report, D’yavol.

D’yavol: You know, A, this would be much easier if I knew who the fuck you were. I might not take offense to your orders if I knew I could trust you.

A: Do you honestly think I care if you trust me? You either want to work with me, or you don’t. I’ve made you a fuck ton of money and haven’t asked for dick in return. Have I?

D’yavol: I have more money than I can spend in one lifetime. Loyal friends? Those I value much more than mysterious benefactors.

A: I’m not your benefactor. I am your employer. You work for me unless you want me to tell Daddy how naughty you’ve been? I’m sure he’d love to learn how you’ve been lining your pockets with his cash.

D’yavol: If it helps you sleep at night to think you’re in control of the devil, who am I to say otherwise?

A: Keep fucking around, and you will find out I’m worse than any devil you’ve encountered before. Where the fuck is the information, that I asked you for?

D’yavol: The trucks were intercepted before they hit the interstate as promised. I’m heading there now. My men are already there guarding the trucks. I am a very busy man, A. You’re not the only one issuing orders out this week. My father is in town for some event up north.

Biting my lip, I scanned the screen with Khaos’s shipment logs. Something wasn’t right because there was definitely a large shipment en route to Tophet from Las Vegas. Two trucks had left Vegas heading up Interstate 15 from Nevada to the Rocky Mountains. Three had vanished into the desert, but one had made it past D’yavol’s men. That was a problem. If they did not have the third truck, then who did?

A: You’re sure they didn’t intercept three trucks?

D’yavol: Positive. I can send you the picture of the trucks if you need me to once I’ve reached their location. I’m about to head north with my old man for some Gathering of Lords or some shit, which means my time working for you ends after this job. I am done.

A: Fine. Send me the coordinates for the trucks, then send confirmation of possession once you get there.

D’yavol: As you wish. It has been pleasure doing business with you, A.

Once D’yavol sent me the coordinates, I forwarded them to MS-13. I’d pitted both warring factions against one another, intending to have them take each other out for me. If they stuck to the plan, they’d assume the other group was me double-crossing them. Honestly, they were all cold-blooded murderers who made most of their money trafficking children in the United States. I would not miss them. Neither would anyone else.

MS-13: You’re late.

C: I’m never late, gentlemen. I told you I’d be tracking shipments for you. All three deliveries will be at the meeting place in the Mohave. I expect cash this time. Don’t be late. You know I hate it when you fuck around with me.

MS-13: Careful, gringo. We outnumber you, remember? You must prove that you can be trusted. Though, the cargo you’ve offered for this deal has intrigued me. The heads-up about the mafia intending to sabotage our venture was welcomed. We’ve come ready for their treachery and theft of our shipments.

C: I promised to prove my loyalty, didn’t I? The mafia is trying to push everyone else out of the area. Make sure you teach them the desert belongs to no one but us.

MS-13: I’ll send them your best right after we blow their heads off and feed them to the vultures.

“You’re having them fight in the desert?” Mabel asked softly before chuckling as I clicked out of the messaging system on the dark website. “You’re one cold-blooded bitch,ma chérie.”

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