Page 59 of Hostile Devil
“Come on.” I offer him a tight smile and push on, even though his acceptance hits me hard. Fuck, emotions are a bitch to deal with. Maybe I was better off dead inside. “We’ll go to the control room, and I’ll fill you guys in on The Covenant. I’ve got a few bottles of whiskey in there.”
“The Covenant?” Matheus’s eyebrows pop up. “They even have a name?”
“Are they here?” Tomás’ dress shoes clip the stone underfoot, the sound echoing as he walks with me. “Your team.”
“Yeah. They’re staying here for a while to train. It’s safe and out of the way.” I lead them through the cavernous cave and into the yawning mouth of another shadowy tunnel. “It helps me to keep an eye on them.”
“You’re certain they’re loyal.”
“Ninety-nine percent of them are.”
“It only takes one percent to kill a man.” Tomás instinctively pulls his gun out and checks the clip. “Why do you think they can’t be trusted?”
“Because the one percent works for Carlos Blanco.”
“Jesus fuck!” André’s voice barks over my shoulder. “You’re training his men? Did I hear that right?”
“There’s only one standing. I shot the other one dead, because he pissed me off. I’m training the whole team to work for us. If they are defective, it’ll be lights out. No matter what, they take orders from me and only me. No one else. Blanco’s main goal was having access to sicarios fully trained to my standard.”
“Blanco headhunted you to train people who’d turn on us?” Matheus frowns. “And you agreed?”
“They won’t. Anyway, it was either that, or India would be targeted for the rest of her life. I’d happily kill for the woman on repeat, but I’m not invincible. One of these days, I’ll end up in that family crypt next to Papá. And she’d be vulnerable. All of you would.”
“I don’t believe this,” André growls, directly behind me. “You sold your soul to our enemy, dragged us into this cold, underground shithole to meet a bunch of fuckers who’d stab us in the back.”
“Blanco made a deal with me.Hisenemy.” I laugh darkly and unlock the door, moving inside without saying another word.
When I close the door behind us, Tomás just stands there, his arms folded and that calculating brain of his ticking. “I’m trying to understand what the fuck is happening here, Giovanni.” His forehead creases as he considers me. “We’ve been waiting for the right time to wipe out Blanco’s entire organization, and you’re telling me you’re working for him? Why the fuck are you only telling me this now?”
“I’m not working for him.” I correct. “The Covenant works for me. For us. He only gets to them through me.”
“And the soldier from his side.” Tomás twists his diamond cufflinks. “I bet they have plenty of conversations with Blanco.”
“Which is why I’ve been monitoring their every move and listening in on their calls. I gave them all satellite phones that were tapped. Every conversation they have is recorded.”
I stroll over to a hand carved table where a few bottles of liquor are stashed. They help ease the aches and pains following physical fights. I’m not getting any younger and although I’m fit, some of these guys have youth on their side. The fuckers bounce back quicker. “I want them ready for your big wedding day, Tommy.” I add.
“And once you’re certain you have their allegiance, you’d have direct access to Blanco, right? Through the soldier you’re training.” Tomás states, not actually asking, more thinking out loud.
“Precisely.”
“I’m sure Blanco has thought of that already,” Matheus points out.
“And that's why I’m keeping my enemies close. Isn’t that what Mama always told us to do?” I pour a drink and hand it to him. “He got to us the night of India’s prom—”
“Yeah, fuck,youwent to prom. Giovanni, the recluse, stepped back into society after years of hibernation. That was a shocker.” Matheus interrupts, smiling.
“I’d do anything for her,” I say truthfully. “She wanted to go to prom, so that’s exactly where I took her.”
André appears beside me, grabs one of the bottles, unscrews the cap and drinks. He doesn’t say a word as I continue.
“Blanco’s guys ran us off the road. They injected India with some shit that knocked her out.” My blood boils, even now. “I broke my own fucking rules to make her happy.”
André takes another drink and stares at me. “The bastard did what no one else could. He got to you… through her.”
I nod. “And even though I don’t trust him, he said he didn’t have anything to do with Uncle Angelo’s assassination or Papá’s murder. He told me to look closer to home for the answer. The fucker could have cut my throat while India watched and sent her to Sicily with the message. But he didn’t. So why would he lie about Papá?”
“Maybe he’d rather you train the guy who’s going to be your replacement.” Tomás shakes his head. “Blanco wants what Papá had. Who better to give him a hitman of your caliber than you?”
