Page 70 of Sweet Possession
“You know, I heard about the raid at the Duke’s warehouse,”he said, leaning forward to rest his arms on the table separating us.“And one of their workers, Dwayne, I believe his name was, hasn’t been seen since. Wouldthathave anything to do with you two, by any chance?”
His eyes darted between Nash and me, waiting for a confession ora denial.
“Funny, we heard the rumors too,”I replied, drumming my fingers onthe table.
Silence descended as tension began to build between the three of us.The ball was in Diaz’s court as to what happened next.
“Hmm. I’ll admit, I was curious about what happened to Freddy’spretty daughter. The raid happened before the auction took place, but when the police searched the cells, there was no one there. Yet, somehow, I got the money Freddy owed me.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Nash’s fists clench, evidently notliking Diaz’s curiosity about Cora’s whereabouts as much as me.
“Let’s stop fucking around, Arnold,”I said, beginning to lose mytemper with his game-playing. It was obvious he’d figured out exactly who’d bought Cora.“Do we have a deal?”
He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest as hislips tugged into an amused smirk.“You sly old fox. You bought her, didn’t you? I have to say, I didn’t seethatcoming at all. Have you fucked her yet? Was she as innocent as Freddy claimed?”
My face contorted into a snarl, but before I could leap over the tableand pound Diaz’s face in like I wanted to, Nash spoke.
“Watch your mouth, Diaz,”he growled, his own features twistinginto a fierce snarl.“We’ve had a decent relationship up ’til now, don’t fuck it up by disrespecting Fox or his woman.”
Diaz chuckled, annoying the fuck out of meevenmore.“Let me getthis straight, you bought the girl, andthen, what? Fell in love with her?”
I glowered at him from across the table, imagining how fucking good itwould be to feel his bones cracking under my fists.
Amusement danced across his face as he once again looked fromme to Nash as if he was waiting for one of us to say this wasjusta joke.
“Do we have a deal or not?”I gritted out, my temper hanging on by athread.
“Alright, alright,”he eventually said, the grin sliding off his slimy faceas he held his hand up and clicked his fingers. Seconds later, the same waitress returned and filled his drink before sashaying away again.“I want more than double.”
“How much?”I said without hesitation. He could ask for every cent inmy bank account if it meant he wouldn’t try to take Cora as payment for Freddy’s debt.
He paused for a second.“Five million.”
“Done.”
“And I want something else.”
Fuck. Of course the greedy prick wouldn’t be content with just the money.
Dread churned in my gut fearing what Diaz was going to ask. I’d betanything I ownedthathe was going to demand his men a free pass to our casinos so they could sell his product, something Nash and I couldneveragree to.
I turned to Nash who was staring at Diaz. Slowly, he twisted to faceme. To anyone else, his expression would appear neutral, but I knew Nash like the back of my hand. He was seconds away from losing control and was going through the steps in his head to keep calm.
“Go on,”I said reluctantly, my mind already running ten steps aheadwith how we would counter any proposition he would come up with.
“Your wife has recently launched a fashion company, isthatcorrect,Nash?”
“What the fuck has my wife got to do this,”Nash barked, anychance of keeping a cool head long gone at the mention of Savannah.
Diaz chuckled.“Calm yourself. I’m not interested in your wife. I wanther to help my daughter is all. She wants to be a model or some bullshit likethat, and all I get from her is an earache about how she doesn’t know how to get a shot at the industry. Your wife must have a few contactsthatcan point her in the right direction?”
He paused, looking between mine and Nash’s shocked faces. Of allthe things I expected him to say,thatwasn’t it.
Diaz tutted.“Honestly, you two portray me as such a villain because Isell drugs and occasionally have to order a few bones to be broken. Believe it or not, I’m not all bad. Like you, I’ll do anything to make my family happy.”
I refrained from snorting. He’d do anything to make his family happy,except stop dicking around on his wife.
“So, now do we have a deal?”
