“Margaret Douglas.” Stan Nicos leaned forward in his office chair, his dark eyes suddenly bright with excitement. “You’re positive, Salva? You have her?”
Yes. Juan Salva had known that Nicos’s response would be this intense, and he felt a corresponding excitement himself. He had been right to take the chance on Lassiter. “Not exactly. But I will soon.”
“Not exactly?” The excitement turned to anger and Nicos’s voice lowered threateningly. “What are you doing? You came in here and said that I’d have her. Now you’re waffling? Don’t play games with me.”
Salva said quickly, “Would I do that? I’m not a fool. I know how much you want her.”
“But you haven’t been able to find her in the last three years. You’ve completely failed me, Salva.” Nicos smiled maliciously. “If you hadn’t been useful to me in other ways, I might have been tempted to replace you. That little Greek girl you just brought me from the house in Bogotá is proving to be interesting. You may be an inadequate fool in many ways, but you know my tastes, and as a pimp, you’re superb.”
Salva kept his face expressionless. “I thought she’d please you.” Arrogant son of a bitch. A pimp? He was the one who kept Nicos’s syndicate running on greased wheels and he received no respect from him. “And I know that I haven’t been totally successful in finding Margaret Douglas, but you don’t know how clever she’s been about hiding from us.”
“I don’t know or care,” Nicos said coldly. “You should have expected that when she managed to get off the island. It should never have been permitted. Do I have to do everything? I almost had her broken. In another few days, she would have been kneeling at my feet. You were there. You saw it.”
“Yes, I saw it. That’s why I never thought she’d have the nerve to try to leave you.” Time to change the subject and veer away from that failure. “But we can put that behind us now. I’m certain within a few weeks you’ll have her back. That’s why I made the deal.”
“Deal?”
“Lassiter.” He paused. “He contacted me about six months ago and said that he’d be willing to make an exchange if you’d meet his terms.”
“Lassiter?” Nicos threw back his head and laughed. “My how the mighty have fallen. It must have made him choke to have to come to me.” He frowned. “But he didn’t come to me. He came to you. And it was six months ago. Why didn’t I hear about it?”
“He said he was on her trail. He didn’t actually have her at the time.” He smiled. “But he just called me and said that he does have her now.”
“You believe him? It could be a trick.”
“I believe him. We both know that if anyone could find her, it would be Lassiter. He has both the experience and motivation.” He paused. “And when he came to me, I took the precaution of sending him certain photos to spur his enthusiasm. I hope that’s what you would have done, Nicos?”
Nicos nodded. “Yes, that’s what I would have done.”
“It evidently worked. She’s practically in your hands.”
Nicos scowled. “Which she should have been three years ago.” Then his face cleared as a thought occurred to him. “But we may get her back just in time. Providing you haven’t fumbled this deal with Lassiter.”
Nicos wouldn’t have even had the deal if I hadn’t seen the advantages and negotiated, Salva thought sourly. Everything about Nicos, from his words to the way he looked to his lack of tact, breathed of arrogance. His tall, powerful body, his heavy, dark features and shining brown eyes. And that ugly tongue that Salva often wanted to cut out. Not yet. “You’re thinking about Montego Bay? Yes, just in time. Don’t worry, he’ll be getting back to me.”
“I can’t wait for weeks. I have to have her on the twenty-third,” Nicos said. “And I’ll need to have a few days to get her back to the place I had her when she left me.”
Salva felt confident enough to jab. “On her knees?” he said softly. “You said you hadn’t quite got her to that point.” Then when he saw Nicos start to frown, he added quickly, “But I’m sure that you’ll get there soon. And I’ll just send Lassiter another photo to hurry him along.”
“Do that.” Nicos got to his feet. “And while you’re at it, start thinking of a way for me not to have Lassiter receive anything in return. It’s been far too entertaining having him scurrying around for the last year and a half for me to give it up.”
“We’ve lost four men to him,” Salva reminded him. “And if you’re not going to go through with the exchange, we’ll lose more.”
“Then they won’t be men I want to have working for me anyway. I’ll just replace them.” Nicos turned toward the French doors. “As I discussed doing with you, but you’ve earned a reprieve. You may even get a bonus if you bring me Margaret Douglas by the deadline I gave you.”
“I’ll get right to work on it. Anything else?”
“No, not right now. I’m playing with the new toy you brought me today. I have her down in the pool.” He glanced at Salva over his shoulder. “She’s never had two men at once. Firsts are always exciting. You’re welcome to join us.”
Salva shook his head. “Twelve is too young for me. But if you like, I’ll send Ricardo down. He might enjoy it.”
“It’s only important that I enjoy it,” Nicos said. “Your loss, Salva. Yes, send Ricardo.”
The door closed behind him.
Salva made the call to Ricardo and then sat down at Nicos’s desk and pulled up the Colombian file. He scrolled down, chose a photo, and marked it for Lassiter. He’d send it when he got back to his own office. But he was in no hurry to leave Nicos’s luxurious digs. He sat back and ran his hands caressingly over the fine leather on the arms of the chair.
This is where he belonged, surrounded by all the fine things that Nicos possessed. He’d have them someday when he managed to get rid of that son of a bitch and take over the syndicate himself. He was on his way. He just had to be careful how he balanced what he gave Nicos and what he took for himself.
And Margaret Douglas was going to be a part of that balance.…
He heard the Greek girl screaming, sobbing, down by the pool. That will please Nicos, he thought as he got to his feet. But it was just noise to Salva, and disturbed the dreams of power and glory to come. He’d go back to own quarters and go over the details of the shipment they were planning from Montego Bay. The more he insinuated himself into the business itself, the more power he took away from Nicos.
Let Nicos have his little girls and his vicious torture games. Salva would give him all he wanted to distract him from what he was losing to Salva every day.
He would even give him Margaret Douglas, who was in a class by herself to Nicos.
As he left Nicos’s house, he realized the Greek girl had stopped screaming.
Careless fools. He hoped that didn’t mean what he thought it did.
Or he might have the bother of going back to Bogotá to get Nicos another girl.