But he hadn’t gotten as far as he did by letting his emotions get the best of him, so despite what he felt, he swallowed his words back down before he said something that would end with more bloodshed than he intended.
“And now?” Uilleam asked resting his elbows on the table. “What’s stopping you from ending this now? You have the means and opportunity.” A flick of his wrist at the men around them, and the rather empty restaurant.
A cup of tea rested in front of Elias, a small silver spoon resting on the saucer next to it. He picked it up, adding a liberal amount of sugar before stirring, steam billowing with the movement. His smile was patient as he took a sip, reclining back as though he hadn’t a care in the world.
“I’ve always thought you were like an errant child, one that wasn’t quite sure what their place was in the world. Your attempt at playing God didn’t bother me—not until you went too far. You want to know what you did to incur my wrath? You interfered where you shouldn’t have, resulting in the death of the only man I’d ever loved. For that, I returned the favor.” Elias’ expression didn’t shift. “You asked why I haven’t gotten rid of you yet, it’s because I have no need at this current juncture.”
“Then why are we here?”
Something, though he couldn’t be sure what it was, was poking at the back of his subconscious, an errant thought that he couldn’t quite grasp.
Uilleam didn’t much care for the man’s insults—his father had said far worse over the years—but there was something about this exchange that felt … off.
“I’ve come to offer you a deal.”
“A deal?” Uilleam scoffed. “You must be truly desperate seeking aid from me.”
“Desperate?” Elias asked with a laugh. “I’m merely offering you the opportunity to continue as you are without further interruption. I see no reason why we can’t work together.”
“Unless we’re forgetting that you took something from me, yes?”
“An eye for an eye, Uilleam. You mustn’t live in the past—not if you hope to have a future.”
Maybe he would have his eyes removed, Uilleam thought as he studied the other man—have them taken out with a rusted spoon. Perhaps even dangled one of the severed eyeballs in front of his face so he could see what it looked like outside of his skull.
It was with that thought in mind that Uilleam said, “Tell me more of this deal.”
“A truce is a better word, I believe, but that’s neither here nor there. It has come to my attention that a deal was struck with Carmen Rivera. You’ve agreed to dispose of her husband, isn’t that right?”
Uilleam had enough practice schooling his features to ensure that he didn’t betray his emotions, especially when someone took him by surprise.
Very few knew about that arrangement, and fewer than that knew the details. He didn’t make it a habit to speak of the jobs he took to anyone other than the mercenary he assigned to it. He knew with absolute certainty that Luna didn’t know Elias and even if she had, she wouldn’t have spoken to him about it.
And from his understanding, Elias worked for Carmen’s husband, not her—so he would have an interest in keeping his client alive.
That begged the question, how did he know?
“I’m willing to make it easy on you by not informing my client that you’re attempting to kill him. Whatever plan you have in place can come to fruition without any hindrance from me.”
“What would you want in return?”
“The girl.”
“I know many of those.” But Uilleam had a feeling he knew who the other man meant.
“Carmen’s daughter—I believe you’re calling her Calavera these days? You keep a leash on her.”
Now, it was Uilleam’s turn to laugh. “This deal of yours sounds awfully one-sided. I’ve yet to hear how this would benefit me. Your offer to make killing Carmen’s husband easy? I have no need when my mercenaries don’t need easy, or have you forgotten how well they were able to get to you?”
Niklaus had found a name, and Kyrnon had successfully killed a business deal that would have garnered him millions.
That was all done while Uilleam had been uninspired. He was still warming up.
“Karina was a lovely girl, wasn’t she?” Elias asked. “She had to be to hold your interest for so long. Tell me, what did she think of you when you confessed who you were? I imagine she didn’t take it well. Her leaving you had made it all too easy getting to her. Perhaps you should have spent more time preparing her for your legion of enemies instead of—”
“I don’t deal in idle threats, Mr. Harrington, so know that should you finish that statement, I will have him kill everyone here,”—this he said with the slightest nod to a now smiling Skorpion—“before I take you to a room where I will spend the next hour learning what devices will make you scream the most.”