Page 125 of Savage Roses
“How many times do I have to tell you not to watch my family!?” he snarls in a sudden bloom of anger. No more than a second later, he remembers his location, and throws a furtive look at the front door of his house. His wife could hear if we remain where we are.
Mr. Adams does not wish to involve his family in any way.
He beckons me to follow with a sharp pivot of his heel. I do so with the intention of getting the answers I seek.
We do not stop until we reach the gate that leads to his terrace. He promptly unlocks it and then mentions we will talk in his pool house.
“You have been ignoring my calls,” I say. He has closed the door and I am only footsteps into the smaller, yet luxurious space. Only Americans would have a separate house designated for the logistics of their private pool.
“I have been ignoring your calls because I have nothing else to say.”
“I have told you. That is not acceptable.”
He grimaces. “What’s not acceptable, Volchok? That I no longer wish to speak to you, or that you’ve served your purpose? Because they are one in the same.”
“We agreed. We would be allied for this. It is not over.”
“As far as I’m concerned, it is,” he answers, setting down his briefcase. “This was never a real allyship. You are not trustworthy.”
“I believe you are speaking of yourself when you say that.”
“Believe what you want. You are no longer needed. Your loyalty is to him, not us.”
“What did she tell you?” I snap, stepping closer. “She has turned you against me.”
“She has paid the price. You have not. It is that simple.”
“Are you in love with her?”
Ernest Adams is not a man who often loses the capability to speak. My accusation is enough to render him without words. His face contorts into another grimace and he breathes as though he will exhale fumes.
“No,” he answers with clenched teeth, “I am not in love with Lena. You betrayed her and allowed her to be sold. You then kept from me your family ties. You are not trustworthy. If there are no further questions, get the hell off my property.”
“He is going to win if you do not proceed forward! Do you not see how foolish you are being?”
“We have made our decision. This is not a cause we wish to pursue anymore.”
“You have decided you are comfortable where you are. You are content to remain a member of the society you claimed to detest. You are like all of the rest. And she is the whore that I have always suspected she is—”
Ernest’s fist collides with the side of my head. I fall a couple of footsteps back from the power of his punch, though I am not affected for long. Any pain I tune out. I go into a reactionary mode that results in me demonstrating I am not to be trifled with.
I dodge his attempt at a second hit, then swing my knee up to collide with his stomach. With the wind knocked out of him, I throw an elbow out and smash his face. He releases a howl of pain as he falls over.
Ernest Adams is a tall and well-built man, but he is not a fighter.
I am.
It was not in his best interest to make the situation physical.
“You are making a grave mistake,” I warn him. “You are the law. If you wanted to, you would destroy him with the evidence that you have.”
He lifts himself up onto one of his knees and glares at me, blood on his lips. “And you’re his brother. If you wanted to, you would’ve destroyed him a long time ago. Nobody’s hands are clean. Most of all,yours.”
* * *
I have known Lucius Mancino longer than any human alive; I have known him so well, he is not, and never will he be, Lucius Mancino to me. He ismladshiy brat. Though he does not want me sharing that piece of information with anyone. He would not want any of the information I know shared. The people from our past who have known him are no more.
Either dead of natural causes, or at the hands of his men.