“Well,” I drawled. “Someone has to clean up the messes that people like you make, Sylvia.” My face hardened. “I wouldn’t talk about Jenny if I were you.”
Sylvia had never seen this side of me. I’d played the indulgent billionaire and the adoring boyfriend. I’d bought her expensive jewelry and took her to trendy restaurants to eat. She had no idea what I was capable of.
“This is it, Sylvia. This is the end of the road.” I opened the laptop screen. “I thought I’d share something with you first.” I smiled. “You will humour me, of course.”
She looked around, assessing her options, but she didn’t have any. She wasn’t a trained fighter. The door was closed and there were guards posted outside. I had a gun but she wasn’t going to be fast enough or strong enough to overpower me and get to it. Little did she know I was going to give her the weapon in a few minutes.
“What is this?” Her voice was infused with hate as she stared at the computer.
“This,” my voice was rich with satisfaction, “is your empire crumbling down on you.” I punched in a few letters. “Swiss bank accounts? You should check the balances.”
She looked and her face went pale. “There are others,” she finally spat defiantly.
“Indeed.” I hit a few more keys and turned the screen back to her. “Do you mean these?” I sneered at her. “Oh, Sylvia. My dear. Did you really think it was your charm that kept me at your side?”
She inhaled sharply as she saw the screen with its damning numbers. “That’s right, darling,” I taunted. “Every single Swiss bank account. Every single Cayman Island shelter. Those overflow accounts in Singapore. If I haven’t managed to strip it to zero, I’ve arranged for your assets to be frozen.” I steepled my fingers. “I did find it rather satisfying work.”
“Why? Is it because of the girl?”
My face darkened. I contemplated telling her who Ellie really was, but after years of lying, revealing the truth, especially to an enemy, did not come easy. “I did tell you not to mention Jenny again, didn’t I?” There was a bottle of water on the table. I opened it and drank nearly half the contents. “You will find that disobedience comes with consequences.” I exhaled, fighting for calm. I needed to be cold here, not hot with anger. “She is far more important than you’d ever realize, but you brought your own troubles on yourself. Did you really think you could get away with everything?”
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” she tried.
I rolled my eyes. “Oh come on, Sylvia. If I could find each and every bank account, did you really think you could hide how the money was made?” My voice grew icy. “Did you think it would all remain a secret? The young boys you took from Tunisia to the Emirates? The girls you took from the war zones in the Central African Republic and sent to Spain? Did you think you could get away with it? Did you think your money would render you immune? Did you think people would cower in fear and no one would act?”
“Why?” she whispered. “Do you think you aren’t tainted by this? You are Dylan’s…”
“Stop.” The tone in my voice left no doubt that I meant business. “I have news for you, Sylvia. I’m richer than you. I’m better connected than you and above all,” I met her eyes, “I am far, far more ruthless than you.”
I took the gun out from the holster in my jacket and set it on the table. Her eyes dilated in terror when she saw the weapon, but her expression became confused when I pushed the gun towards her. I eyed her coldly and once again took a deep breath. “You once tied up a young, uncooperative girl in a square in Africa, didn’t you, Sylvia?”
Her entire body stiffened. She had clearly hoped that no one would ever find out about this particular occurrence, but this wasn’t a story that could ever be kept quiet. “You posted your guards with guns on the perimeter. You warned that anyone who came near this girl with water or food would be shot, didn’t you Sylvia? You were teaching them all an object lesson, I believe?”
That fourteen-year old had died of thirst in the heat. I took another deliberate sip of water. There was only a sip or two left in the bottle. “Thankfully,” I said, “I am more merciful than you ever were.” I fished a bullet out of my pocket and held it between my fingers. “There’s one bullet. You can take your chances. Can you load it into the magazine and pull the trigger before I walk out of the room? Think carefully. Because this bullet is a gift.”
“Gifts can be squandered, or gifts can be used. Your choice.” I gestured to the water. “The door won’t open. This is your water. There’s no food. There’s no way out.” I rested the bullet at the edge of the table. “Except this bullet. One bullet to the brain, or you can die of thirst, just like that little girl did.”
I got to my feet. “This is where we part ways, darling. I’d like to say it’s been fun, but it really hasn’t.”