Dark Vengeance, Kristi Belcamino [i read books txt] 📗

hard to make a move at dinner so I might as well enjoy the meal while I told my tangled web of lies.

“Let’s hear your idea, then,” he said.

Fifteen minutes later, he’d handed me his cell phone. I held it to my ear. It was ringing.

“We already told you. Bring the girl. Midnight.” I didn’t recognize the voice. It was very high-pitched. It didn’t sound like I imagined the Sultan sounded. More like a young man going through his voice changing. Then, it struck me. A girl. Eva had said the Sultan brainwashed young girls.

“Plans have changed,” I said.

There were a few seconds of silence. I’d thrown off her game.

“Who is this?”

“Gia Santella.”

Then it sounded like the receiver was covered, and I heard whispering.

I waited to see if the name meant anything. Across from me, X narrowed his eyes. I saw one of the brother bodyguards tighten his grip on the gun he had pointed at me.

I realized then that if my plan didn’t work, I was dead.

I swallowed a lump of dread that was clogging my throat.

Then, the girl spoke.

“What do you want?”

“I want to meet with the Sultan first. If he meets me in person, we can discuss the next step.”

“Impossible.”

“Nothing is impossible.”

I hung up.

“You hung up,” X said, his voice full of irritation.

“No shit.”

“What did he say.”

“She will call back. The Sultan wants me almost as much as he wants Rose.”

“Really?” He raised an eyebrow and then took a sip of wine.

“Really.” I rolled my eyes.

“A she?” he asked.

“A little fucking girl. The Sultan brainwashes them, makes them kill for him, and if they don’t die for him he sacrifices their little bodies,” I said. “That’s the kind of monster you’re dealing with.”

I saw X’s Adam’s apple bob, and his face grew white.

Serves him right. If he wants to play with the big boys, he better be ready.

A half hour later, while we were sitting at the table drinking a second bottle of wine and still trying not to stare at the phone, it rang. X nodded for me to pick it up.

“The Sultan will meet you at the marina at midnight,” the voice said. This time the caller was using a voice disguiser that distorted his or her voice.

“Fanfuckingtastic.”

I waited to see if anything else would be said, but the line went dead.

“I need to call my contact,” I said to X.

While we’d waited for the Sultan to call back, I’d told him my plan.

I’d said I had a contact who could round up some unsavory militia types to surround the island if we talked the Sultan into coming here. That way, even if I failed, they could take him out if he tried to leave the island. “They can be here within the hour,” I lied. “That way if the Sultan tries anything, we’ll know. They will act just like regular fishermen in their boats, but inside, they have enough firepower to blow up the entire harbor.”

I smiled but was holding my breath, hoping he would bite my incredibly farfetched tale.

X chewed on his lip for a second. “Don’t fuck with me.”

 “I won’t,” I said in a cheery voice as one of his big ass bodyguards handed me my phone. I dialed up Ryder’s number.

As soon as he picked up, I spoke.

“Hey, the Sultan has agreed to meet with me. My new friend here says if I kill him, he’ll leave Rose alone. And me. The meeting is at the marina at midnight. Can you get your boys here surrounding the island in case the Sultan tries to escape? We need him dead.”

Ryder didn’t miss a fucking beat. Which was good because he was on speaker phone.

“I’m on it.”

“Thanks.” I quickly hung up.

I wondered what Ryder would make of the information I’d just given him and what he would do? It was my only hope to get some sort of message to him, letting him know I was a captive and that the Sultan was involved. He knew my “new friend” was no friend at all.

Just then Keiki wandered into the dining room. I hadn’t even realized she was there. She scowled when she saw me. She looked like she was fucked up. Her eyes were glazed, her movements languid.

“What are you doing here?” she said in a slurred tongue, her voice thick.

“Eating dinner,” I said casually and plucked a piece of shrimp from my plate, sticking it in my mouth.

“Ew,” she said.

Then she gave me something to be grossed out about when she walked over to X, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him on the lips. To my surprise, I caught a look of distaste on his face as he gently pushed her away and gave a fake smile.

“There, there, darling,” he said. “Go pack your bags. I have a new home for you.”

“What?” Her nose scrunched up in confusion.

“Just do as I say.”

She scowled but walked out, bumping into the wall once as she did.

“What new home?”

“If your plan doesn’t work, I’ll offer up Keiki as a peace offering. She looks a little like Rose.”

I glared and stood.

“Where are you going? Khan is about to bring our dessert.”

I gave a tight smile. “I’m watching my figure.”

“You know, Gia,” he said. “It’s been nice having you here. It’s not often I meet someone who has my same level of intelligence. I didn’t realize until tonight how much I missed that. I usually am far superior to everyone else and, frankly, it gets a little boring. Even my enemies are never any match for me in any way. It’s so blasé. They piss me off, I kill them, end of story. But you? You are a challenge to me.”

“Goodie for you,” I said. “Are you done now? I need to go get ready.”

He gave me a tight smile, so I turned and left.

What a fucking megalomaniac.

27

The marina was lit up by one high street light casting a yellow glow on the parking lot and small shack where you could buy tickets to