Page 66 of Red Retaliation
“It would have been more appropriate had you approached me regarding this... association with my daughter,” Emiliano Galvatore continues, his dark, bushy eyebrows a sharp contrast with his silvery hair. “What occurred has proved somewhat awkward and, as I’m sure you’re aware, not a choice I would sanction.”
“Hmm,” I murmur, making no effort to hide my indifference. “But, like you said, it would not be sanctioned, therefore there was little point in approaching you to discuss it.” Placing my hands flat on my desk, I lean forward. I’ve listened to enough of this flowery bullshit.
We both know he’s skirting around the issue, so why doesn’t he justget on with what he’sreallyhere for? To accuse me of killing Roberto and taking his daughter. He wants Arianna back, but he’s not having her. She’sminenow. “Mr Galvatore, I’m well aware we are what others would class as ‘enemies’, so why don’t you get to the point.”
Galvatore’s thin lips inch into a cold smile. “Perhaps I should respect your directness, Mr Bateman, but I do not. In your pretentious newspaper article, you went to significant efforts to underline there is no bad blood between us. I do not understand why you would do this.”
“Because I have no personal issues with you, Mr Galvatore,” I lie, returning his icy smile. “Although I am aware of the history between your business and mine during my father’s time, that doesn’t mean any feuds need to continue.”Oh, but it does because I’m going to finish you and your fucking sidekick, Bristoni, for what I’m sure you both did.
“Yes... it was a shame about your parents.” Galvatore raises an eyebrow. “A most unfortunate incident. My sincere condolences.”
My nails draw blood in my palms underneath the cover of the desk. I need the pain to keep me from killing this man. It’s not like he doesn’t knowexactlywhat happened to my parents, but I won’t rise to the bait. I will not bite. My family is not up for discussion and never has been. “Shall we get to the point of what you actually want, Mr Galvatore?” My voice is as icy as my smile. “We’re both busy men.”
Why hasn’t he demanded Arianna back yet? I’d expected a gun to my head by now. There would be no conversation if the boot was on the other foot, so when will this cunt get around to accusing me of Roberto’s murder and snatching his daughter?
That’s what he thinks, so it’s what I’ll let him believe. However, I’m getting bored now. Bored that he’s laying ridiculous demands on my table, underlining he’s even more of a mercenary bastard than I thought.
In all truth, this only exacerbates my hatred for this creature who Arianna blindly believes has her best interests at heart.
Regardless, I will not expose my opinion. I’ll play this exactly as he expects.
Emiliano Galvatore pulls a thick cigar from the breast pocket of his exquisitely tailored suit and bites the end off. “The bottom line, Mr Bateman, is that you helped yourself to my daughter the second she ‘conveniently’ became available, yet you brought nothing to the table for that transaction.”
I watch in disgust as he spits the end of his cigar onto my clean floor. Is the dig about Arianna’s “availability” the closest he’ll get in pulling meup for murdering the Bristoni prick? And where is Edoardo Bristoni? Surely they’ve schemed my demise between them, or is this part of it?
Galvatore smooths his hand over his impeccably neat hair. “My daughter is worth vast amounts, yet you have her for free. With this in mind, I expect generous recompense.”
I take a swig of my whiskey to stop myself from laughing at this joker’s front. Taking Arianna for free? If only he knew the only reason she’s here is to save his ungrateful ass. It’s also painfully obvious he doesn’t realize I’ve worked out his connection to Lorna and what they did.
That I must honor what I’ve promised Arianna is the sole reason this cunt still has his head attached.
My teeth grate and my veins bubble, the sensation fueling my hatred. I’m already regretting the promise I’ve made. “You’ve already sold your daughter once.” I raise an eyebrow myself, enjoying the resentment flitting across the old man’s ravaged face, and decide Arianna inherited her looks from her mother because she certainly didn’t get her beauty fromhim.
But now I get it. Now I understand why he’s playing this hand. Why didn’t I work it out sooner?
Oh, the sad, sad fuck!
The Bristonis have turned against him! What a classic!
I fold my arms across my chest and smile coldly. “Mr Galvatore - that you’re here at all andalone,shows me your allegiance with the Bristonis is over.”
To my surprise, Galvatore laughs and blows a thick plume of pungent cigar smoke in my direction. It smells disgusting and makes me feel sick, but I don’t bat an eyelid. I won’t give him the satisfaction. I have to play the game.
“Mr Bateman, we Italians have different ways of doing things than you do in...” Galvatore theatrically sweeps his arm around the room, “...your culture. You see our way of a marriage as ‘meat trade’, whereas we see it as ‘business’. The business union between my daughter and Roberto is now no longer an ongoing concern, for reasons I suspect you’re well aware of, therefore the arranged tie with the Bristonis is no longer apparent. This is of substantial loss to me, both financially and significantly.”
He pauses, letting the acknowledgement of my alleged part in Roberto’s murder bounce around the room. “I’m an experienced man, Mr Bateman, and like I said, marriage is a ‘business’, so like all matters in business, we move on whencontracts end.”
Galvatore leans forward, his red silk tie slithering across the glass of my desk. “With that in mind, I strongly suggest you agree to my more than generous offer: provide a relevant recompense, plus a cut of your business going forward. In return, you will be left alone to enjoy my daughter.”
“Are you threatening me?” I say, my eyes dark enough with fury to kill a saint on sight.
“Not a threat, Mr Bateman. Merely an observation...”
“What if I don’t agree?” The twitch in Galvatore’s left cheek increases in intensity. He wasn’t expecting that.
“Then I’m afraid I cannot guarantee anything, Mr Bateman. Notalllinks have been severed between my business and Bristoni. Others can be quickly reinstated by returning the ‘goods’ you have been testing out, freeing them up for new interested parties.”
Galavatore watches me with cold interest. I have testednothingout, and that he should have so little respect for his own daughter, not only boils my blood, but riles me that he still commands Arianna’s guilt and loyalty.
