◆ You've Been Warned ◆
◆ MILES ◆
Meet up with his COO?
Lying bastard.
Before I could shout profanities at my phone screen like a drunken lunatic, I rang his number and waited as my jaw tensed up. The odd, aching sensation in my gut just got worse. But I had to confront him now and get some things off my chest. Not very nice things.
The prick probably thought I wouldn't find out about him seeing Mykaela again. Did he think I was that clueless and stupid?
The guy picked up after two rings. "Hey, Maxim. You got my message last time?"
I ignored his question and held back a sigh of frustration. I clenched my fist. He just called me by my childhood nickname again, as if we were old friends. "What the fuck do you want with her?" I blurted.
No time for bullshit. We'd better get straight to the point before he could think of an alibi, and before I lost what's left of my slippery temper.
As I expected, Enzo fell silent on the other line. We both stayed totally speechless on the phone until he cleared his throat. He responded to my question with another one. "She told you?"
The heck. "Didn't I make myself clear when I tried to break your nose last time? You're startin' to really piss me off, man."
"Look." Enzo sighed. "She's not the only reason I'm back here in New York. Alright?" He paused and muttered something in Italian. "She called me the other day, to ask if we could talk about the money I gave her. She wants me to sign a contract with payment terms. That's it."
Liar. This pretentious prick really enjoyed pissing me off lately.
"Listen, man. I apologize for what my brother did. I-I know it's also my fault. I shouldn't have..." Enzo broke off, his voice heavy with emotions, mumbling profanities to himself. "I'm sorry, for what Leo did to her. And I take responsibility for what happened."
"I don't need your apology, Lorenzio. I need you to keep away from her. What part of that doesn't get through your thick skull?" I stared at my phone with my fist still clenched. "Warned you more than twice already."
Did he seriously think apologizing for what his deranged brother did to Mykaela would be enough for me? That saying sorry for what happened to her on that island would be enough to pacify me and gain my trust? Was he as mentally deficient as his brother?
"I know. I know," the guy replied in a believably apologetic tone, almost murmuring his words. "I just don't want you to think I condone his actions, just because he's my brother."
"The fuck do I care? I said stay away from Mykaela." I scowled to myself and at his poor attempt to apologize. "If I hear you bothering her again, you'd better hope I'm too busy and don't have my gun with me."
"Yeah. Alright." Enzo sighed out loud and didn't say anything else.
"She's not someone you can jerk around like your girlfriends. You act like you can do whatever you want with her just 'cause she owes you money."
"No. That's not true."
"Don't even try, man." I forced a quick chuckle. "I know you just wanna screw her. She's just too naïve to realize that on her own. So stay away, and keep your hands off her. I don't wanna break your nose again."
"I only tried to help her! That's why I gave her some money. Alright?" Enzo heaved a sigh. "Cut me some slack—I'm not my brother."
True as that might be, I still had enough doubts about his real motives to convince me he was up to no good whenever Mykaela was concerned. "How much does she still owe you? I'll pay you in cash tomorrow."
"Merda."
[Shit.]
"How much? Plus interest?" I asked in a calm, steady voice, ignoring his swearing and discernible frustration.
"Maxim. Seriously. I just wanted to see her to apologize again, in person, and because she asked me to meet up and discuss the payment contract she drafted. That's it."
"Yeah. Fine. I'm serious, though. I'll pay back all of it tomorrow. In cash, including interest," I insisted. "Just stay away from her."
Enzo scoffed, as if insulted by my proposition. Well, he probably thought it was some kind of blackmail. "Man, I don't give a shit about your money. Alright? Believe me or not, I'm not trying to manipulate her in any way. I just wanted to help, because she needed some cash. And because she saved my life."
Yeah. The prick should be grateful. If it wasn't for Mykaela's help back when we were all trapped in the estate, he would be a rotting corpse six feet under by now. His explanations made a lick of sense and sounded sincere to some extent, but they definitely weren't enough to quell my doubts.
"That's the last time I'm letting you near her. Do yourself a favor and just take my advice, if you don't want any more trouble with Ilya."
"Ilya? What d'you mean?" Enzo muttered, sounding a bit concerned now.
Maybe the head injury he sustained after the incident made him forget who tried to get him and Cloe killed in that ambush—hence my reminder. He might've known little about Ilya that time, but, surely he and his psychotic brother knew now what Ilya Božić was capable of. "Trust me. Just keep away from her. If he finds out you're bothering her, I guarantee you he's gonna do somethin' about it."
"What do you mean?" Enzo repeated louder. Now he sounded quite upset that I was being cryptic and not hurling blatant death threats at him.
"He wants to wipe us out. Not just my family," I replied casually with a short sigh. "If he doesn't get to me or Ricchar first, pretty sure he'll kill my folks, and then he'll move on to you guys. Your father, your uncles, then you and your brother. So don't say I didn't warn you."
"Who told you that?"
"You don't need to know. Maybe one of these days you'll get to meet him in person. I hope not, because, trust me..." I snickered. My ill-prepared scaring tactics were working on him. "You think your brother's a merciless piece of shit? Wait till you meet Ilya."
"Che cazzo vuoi dire? Perché mi stai dicendo tutto questo?"
[What the fuck do you mean? Why are you telling me all this?]
"For my conscience." I faked a laugh. Now I scared him off enough to convince him to stay away from Kel. "Talk soon." I shook my head faintly and hung up.
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