Black Swan

by London Miller

  That was exactly what Uilleam wanted.

  How long had he waited now just to learn the man’s name, and even then, it had taken one of his mercenaries to find that out. But once he had it, there was much that could be done with a name.

  Elias was good at covering his tracks, only allowing a few deals to be linked to him, but those Uilleam had found, he had made it a point to get the other man’s attention.

  And once he grew tired of playing, Uilleam was going to have him killed viciously.

  “Give me a time and a place.”

  No matter what answer Elias threw out, Uilleam would agree. There wasn’t really a question as to his safety—he had a number of mercenaries on call.

  “The Royal Eve at seven fifteen tomorrow evening. I’ll have someone find you.”

  He ended the call before Uilleam could get another word in, and had he not passed the phone off the second he heard the trio of beeps in his ear, he would have launched the fucking thing across the room.

  Control, he had to remind himself.

  It was all about control.

  And with the progress he’d made, he couldn’t afford to lose it now.

  He knew why that particular restaurant had been chosen. It was where he had gone with Karina during his attempt to glean information from her in regard to an investigation she was launching into one of his clients.

  It seemed only fitting that his thoughts of her had also resulted in him venturing back to a place where he had once shared her company.

  Had he not remembered the way she loved the place, he might have burned the place to the ground just so he wouldn’t have to think about it being there where he had last seen her.

  “Dominic, ready the jet. I have a stop to make before tomorrow’s meeting.”

  “Right away, sir.”

  If he was going to have a meeting with a man like Elias Harrington, there was only one man he could count on to accompany him.

  Sand was sinking into his shoes with every step he took, the gritty feel of it a nuisance, but Uilleam didn’t complain. No, he was too focused on the man he had come to see.

  Dealing with someone like him, Uilleam had to be prepared for whatever mood the man would be in.

  Most of his mercenaries flocked to cities, disappearing within the crowds, and the one he had come to see was no different. If one didn’t know any better, they might have thought him like any other beach bum who spent their days in the water.

  At least until they took in the sheer size of the man.

  Skorpion had never done well with following authority.

  As Uilleam cleared the side of the rather large beach house, coming around to the front, he could just see the man he had come to talk to coming up the beach, carrying a surfboard beneath his arm.

  Even at a distance, Skorpion looked like a threat. He was big and imposing, whether he wanted to be, and had Uilleam not gotten a few assurances beforehand, he might have worried how his unwelcome intrusion would make him react.

  “Whatever it is,” Skorpion said the moment he was close, “the answer is no.”

  He almost smiled. “Are you always in such a welcoming mood?” Uilleam asked, refusing to cower under his menacing glare.

  It wouldn’t be the first time Skorpion gave him that look.

  “For you? Yes. You weren’t my handler then, and you sure as shit aren’t my handler now, so leave before I do it myself.”

  “I thought we made quite a team, you and I, all those years ago.”

  Before grief had changed him.

  Before becoming a father had changed Skorpion.

  “Yeah?” Skorpion stuck his board in the sand, walking over to a small booth that also worked as an outdoor shower and turned it on. “That was then.”

  Times certainly had changed.

  “It’s only one meeting,” Uilleam said, hoping the clarification would make a difference. “You’ll even be home in time for dinner.”

  “Still not interested.”

  Tilting his head to the side, Uilleam asked, “Is it a matter of getting a babysitter on such a short notice?”

  The shower cut off then, the door swinging open as Skorpion walked through, his mouth set in a grim line. He didn’t address the fact that Uilleam knew his secret—that shouldn’t have been a surprise, considering who he was—nor did he threaten him should he ever share that information with anyone.

  His presence in front of Uilleam was threat enough.

  “You’re done here.”

  For anyone else, those words would have sent them running, knowing that violence usually followed to those that didn’t heed his warning.

  But Uilleam knew him too well. “Even if my meeting is with the man who harbors the one who stole the girl’s mother from you?” Uilleam asked, noticing the subtle flex of Skorpion’s hand. “I found what I didn’t see before.”

  He wasn’t one to forget his debts. Not the years of unrivaled service and if it hadn’t been for Skorpion and Luna that day, he would have died when the Jackal had come for him.

  So if he could bring the man peace of mind, he would, even if it hadn’t been asked of him.

  Even as he used it as a bargaining chip.

  “If vengeance is what you want,” Uilleam said with a gesture of his hand, “I can give it in spades.”

  “But only when you allow it, isn’t that right?” Skorpion shook his head. “If this were about permission to kill him, you would’ve led with that.”

  “If you aid me, I will gladly give you the tools to do what you wish where he’s concerned, but only after I have what I need.”

  After all, there was the meeting with Elias to consider in the first place. As it stood, he had no idea how the night would end. There was always the chance this could be a setup, but as it stood, he had no choice.

  If he wanted to figure out just who the hell Elias Harrington was, it was time he met him.

  “Let me get something figured out for Soleil,” he said with a glance up at his house, then back to Uilleam. “But it still won’t make me a part of your Den.”

  No, it wouldn’t, but so long as Skorpion went along with his plans, he wouldn’t need to be.

  The Royal Eve Bistro.

  Just the sight of it caused such a visceral reaction in him that he sat in the truck for several minutes, willing his pulse to slow, before he climbed out and walked inside.

  In many ways, this had become something of a sacred place for him. Not only because it had been something of a solace for Karina, but because it was here that they sat and ate together.

  This was a place for lovers.

  Not one meant to be tainted by the likes of Elias.

  And he knew, with little doubt, that the man had chosen this place on purpose, though he couldn’t begin to understand how he could possibly know about it at all.

  Already seated at a table in the far corner on the main floor, Elias didn’t appear nearly as concerned by Uilleam’s sudden appearance nearly an hour before schedule.

  Uilleam was careful not to show his feelings on that. It felt too much like Elias knew more about him than he should, and he hated that.

  But once he got over his initial contempt, a switched flickered on inside his head and a mental clock began to tick down. There was only a matter of time before Elias was no longer a problem for him.

  “Elias, it’s nice to finally put a face to the name. You’re a bit … smaller than I expected.”

  Though condescending, his words were true.

  Elias couldn’t be more than five feet eight, if an inch. Nor was he particularly muscled that spelled a life of keeping fit, but rather slight of frame, and a neck that was touch too skinny for his head.

  He looked like every other average man with a power complex.

  Had Uilleam not witnessed firsthand what the man was capable of doing, Uilleam might have been disappointed by what he found.

  He’d been expecting someone ... more.

  Someone who matched the cunning intell
igence being used against him.

  “A pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Uilleam,” Elias said in return, but he didn’t look all too pleased by that fact.

  Elias’s smile was too tight—his posture too stiff—to make those words seem true.

  But how could he?

  He’d been attempting to destroy Uilleam’s business for years now.

  So for once, Uilleam wasn’t delighting in his obvious discomfort. He needed to figure out everything he could about him.

  Elias’s gaze drifted to Skorpion where he stood at his back before his mercenary moved to sit at his side. Neither spoke to the other.

  “You asked for a meet,” Uilleam said as he took a seat. “Here I am.”

  “Did you know,” Elias began, “three years ago, I was able to clear thirteen-point-four million in profit?”

  With nothing but time on his hands, Uilleam chose to entertain the remark. “I would be impressed if that number was significantly higher, but we can’t all be good at what we do, can we?”

  “Do you recall what you were doing three years ago?”

  Some of Uilleam’s humor bled away.

  He remembered all too well what he’d been doing at that time.

  “You,” Elias said needlessly, “were recovering from five bullet wounds. I’d hoped you would cease to be a problem for me then, but”—Elias shrugged, gesturing at Uilleam with a wave of his hand—“you’re still here, unfortunately.”

  He remembered the feel of that heated metal tearing through his flesh all too well. Worse, that pain had multiplied as more bullets plugged their way into his chest and torso.

  It had been an agony the likes of which he never wanted to experience again.

  But it paled in comparison to the way he felt the day he lost Karina.

  That had been a different sort of pain—one that had ripped him to shreds.

  “Well, some thought I died, so now they think I’m immortal. All the same, I don’t think that little plan of yours did anything other than help solidify who I am. Bad luck there, I’m afraid.”

  Elias smiled at him as if indulging a child. “You’ve been trying to get my attention. You now have it.”

  “Then how about you tell me what grievance I’ve committed against you to warrant a new enemy.”

  Elias shrugged. “I’m sure you’ve amassed a great many enemies, Kingmaker.”

  “But there’s only one who concerns me presently.”

  “It’s the cost of doing business, you understand. It’s nothing personal.”

  Oh, but it certainly felt personal to Uilleam.

  But he hadn’t gotten to this stage in his life 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.”

  He gestured to the men around them with a flick of his wrist, encompassing the rather empty restaurant as well.

  The man took his time making his tea, from picking up the cup resting in front of him, to the copious amount of sugar he poured in, and even the way he stirred it. He looked as if he had all the time in the world.

  “I’ve always thought you were like an wayward child, one who wasn’t quite sure what their place was in the world. 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’ve loved. For that, I returned the favor.”

  Anyone else, Uilleam would have ended his life, consequences be damned.

  He was too flippant—too arrogant.

  “You asked why I haven’t gotten rid of you yet? It’s because I have no need.”

  Because in his mind, Uilleam wasn’t a threat.

  “Then why are we here?”

  Something, though he couldn’t say for sure what it was, poked at the back of his subconscious, an errant thought he couldn’t quite grasp.

  All the same, Uilleam didn’t care much for the man’s insults—his father had said far worse over the years—but something about this exchange felt … off.

  “I’ve come to offer you a deal.”

  Did his hate know no bounds? “A deal? 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 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 the man’s eyes removed, Uilleam thought as he studied him. Have them taken out with a jagged, rusted spoon. Perhaps even dangle 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 about 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 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 would assign it to. 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,” he said, even as he knew rather keenly who Elias was asking about.

  “Carmen’s daughter. I believe you’re calling her Calavera these days? You keep a rather short leash on that one.”

  Because he owed it to her to make sure she was never harmed again.

  And he was certainly mistaken if he thought it was at all possible for Uilleam to keep a leash on her—not when even Kit couldn’t.

  “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 of that when my mercenaries don’t need easy, or have you forgotten how well they were able to get to you?”

  Red had been the one to find the name.

  Celt had successfully killed a business deal that would have garnered Elias millions.

  Not to mention, they were here now.

  That had all been done while Uilleam had been uninspired. Now, 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 very well. Perhaps if you’d spent more time preparing her for the legion of enemies you—”

  “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. “Then I will take you to a room where I will spend the next hours learning what devices will make you scream the loudest.”

  “Until my business is complete with Carmen Rivera,” Elias said with narrowed eyes, ignoring Uilleam’s remark entirely, “Carmen is off-limits to you and to her daughter. Luna Santiago died seven years ago, and she needs to remain that way. Once I
’ve concluded my business, do what you wish.”

  It sounded too easy, and Uilleam knew that the best things in life didn’t come without a cost.

  “Are you saying you will hand her over when this has finished?”

  Elias nodded. “And the girl can exact whatever punishment she deems worthy, but only once we’re done.”

  Interesting.

  “And you?” Uilleam asked.

  “This will be the last time we see each other in person, I’m afraid. If we’re to meet again, it won’t end the way you anticipate. Think over my proposal, Uilleam. You have twenty-six hours because I’m feeling generous.” Elias stood, smoothing the front of his suit jacket as he buttoned it up. “I’ll be seeing you.”

  “Did you know,” Uilleam began before the man could take more than a step away from the table, “you should never tell an alligator it has a big mouth until after you’ve crossed the river.” Confusion played on the man’s face before he smoothed his features, then fiddled with his ear a moment before answering. “Good day.”

  Once he was gone, Skorpion folded his arms across his chest. “Did you get what you came for?”

  “Of course.”

  Skorpion’s brows jumped as he frowned. “He didn’t say shit.”

  “It’s what he didn’t say that’s important,” Uilleam said, more to himself than Skorpion. “Carmen has something he needs, or he wouldn’t be attempting to protect her from me yet offering up her life in the same breath.”

  He understood all too well how someone’s usefulness could disappear at a moment’s notice.

  Now, it only begged the question, what did Carmen have that he wanted, and how could Uilleam get his hands on it first?

  She was proving far more important than he’d originally given her credit for.

  “Did learn something, though,” Skorpion said with a thoughtful frown as he moved to his feet, adjusting the knife and gun holstered at his waist.

  “And what’s that?”

  “He ain’t the boss.”