Page 56 of The Devil's Thorn
The conversation has shifted. The tension from earlier—about Paris, about shipments and threats—it’s faded into something lighter now. Surface-level jokes. Low laughter. Liquor-softened voices. But the weight beneath their words hasn’t left.
It just slipped beneath the table. Like a weapon waiting to be drawn again.
I stand still behind Rafael’s chair, letting my posture relax just enough to blend back in. But my senses? They’re still locked in.
One of the older men to his left is talking about a property in Dubai, how the local officials have been “cooperative” since the right hands were greased.
Another laughs too loudly and raises his glass, mumbling something about always doing business where the heat never ends.
Nikolai says little. He rarely does when there’s nothing left to dissect.
But Rafael?
He’s silent.
Still leaning back, fingers slowly turning the same poker chip between his knuckles. It clicks once every few seconds, the sound barely audible over the music and chatter.
But I hear it. Every. Single. Time.
His voice only comes in short responses, low and measured.
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Make sure it’s clean.”
It’s surgical. Controlled. And yet… he hasn’t once looked back at me. Which means he’s thinking. Which means I’m in trouble.
My mind races quietly behind my still expression.
What did that server see?
Will he report it?
Does Rafael already know?
No. If he knew, if he was sure, I wouldn’t be standing here. I’d be gone. Or bleeding.
Or worse.
Still, every second that passes feels like a countdown.
And then—he moves.
Rafael sets the chip down on the table, its soft clink somehow louder than the laughter around us.
He stands. Not abruptly. Not dramatically. Just smooth. Effortless. A predator who never has to rush.
He nods once to the men at the table, murmurs something I don’t catch—something about “following up later.”
And then his eyes shift. Not directly at me. Just past me. And yet—somehow—itburns.
He steps away from the table, adjusting the cuffs of his sleeves like he’s got all the time in the world.
And then— Without looking back, he speaks.
“Come with me.”
