Page 109 of Rio
Raquel.
Telling me about how that asshole made her feel.“You blackmailed him.”
“I offered him a choice.Give her the case, or deal with the fallout.”
I stiffen, hatred seizing every inch of me.He’s talking about her as if she’s just another pawn.Another tool in his twisted game.“You bribed Roth, to put pressure on Tovey?”
“I did whatever it took for the case to end up on her desk.Her boss doesn’t like her doing pro bono work, so I pulled some strings to make it happen.”
My stomach turns as I try to get to grips with the scale of the old man’s manipulation.
“I have people everywhere.People who can do things for me.When you have more money than you know what to do with, you can do anything, be anything, get anything.People will do as you command.”
This man is dangerous.He’s a fucking monster.For all his wealth and finesse, this man has morals no better than a barbarian.
“Once she was dealing with the case it was easy.Pierce thought it would be over after the legal review.It should have been, but the woman heading up the NGO is smart, and didn’t let it go.She’s like a territorial Doberman and she wanted to file an injunction.Pierce didn’t want Raquel to have any skin in the fight.He needed her to come back.I placed pressure.Told Roth to let him see it through.Let Raquel do what she thought she could do.Give her enough rope to hang herself with, and she did.”
I swallow, my insides are in upheaval, trying to absorb everything the old man is telling me, calmly and quietly, like a bedtime story, only, it’s nothing that will let me sleep.This is the stuff of nightmares.
“You went to all that trouble?”My sarcasm is caustic.
“These things require attention to detail.They require finesse and strategy.”He speaks with pride, as if manipulating people’s lives is like a game of chess.
“And me?”I ask, hollow.
“You were supposed to go to Verona, something to do with the Cazale hotels, but I needed you in Belize.It all came together so easily.It was perfect.You deal with hotels and real estate, but if you hadn’t, I would have found a way to put you in Belize.”
The fucker would have.He absolutely would have.I feel like we’re all just puppets in his little show, and he’s the grand master pulling our strings.
“And if I hadn’t given her the file?”I demand.“If I hadn’t played into your hands?”
The old man returns to his desk, and sits back down.“There were other failsafes.Other weak points.I never rely on one play.I could’ve planted a third-party study.Bribed land registry clerks.It’s all about pressure.But your move was perfect.She trusted you.You were the fire.”He chuckles to himself and leans forward, looking proud.“And it worked.”
“What the fuck were you hoping to gain?”
He leans across the table.Eyes glinting like a serpent.His smile drops.“No one outplays me.Do you understand, boy?”
My stomach knots.My blood boils.I feel like I might explode.I suddenly get what this is all about.
“You gang up against me?You get Matteo and Enzo, and help Dex?Against me?”he says quietly.I would prefer it if he raised his voice, or showed some semblance of losing control, but he’s still, and deathly quiet.Not losing his shit.He’s an absolute fucking psycho.
The only thing that goes through my mind?How did Mama ever fall for him?
“I need you to understand,” he says slowly, “that every time you fight me, you lose something more than you realize.”
My breath catches.My pulse roars in my eyes.What.The.Fuck.He made it happen.He gave me the match, and I handed it to Raquel.This man didn’t just sabotage Raquel’s career—he burned it to the ground.Everything she was proud of, her name, standing up for marginalized communities.Everything that mattered to her, is gone.
And he used me to do it.This fucker was the architect of that.He lined up the dominoes and played the long game.He watched and waited.“You’re sick.”This was about revenge.About wanting to punish us, and make us get back in line.
He couldn’t punish Dex, because Dex is in love and engaged, and doing his thing.
But he could punish me, and he did.
“I’m effective.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“So that you never forget what you’re up against.”
