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He sizes me up, but I don’t flinch under the scrutiny.
“What I know,” he says, “and what I know when it comes to my family, are two separate things. But I’ll give you one thing, Rafa. You could have lied to me—at least tried—or pulled some other crap from the safety of Porto, where your family has all the power. But you didn’t. You showed up like a man.”
For Will, this is as close to gushing as it gets. He’d still put a bullet in me, but he wouldn’t call me a sniveling pussy while he fired the shot.
“It wasn’t as difficult as you might think. She’s taken some big risks that jeopardized her safety. I know that’s not what you want for her. And neither do I.”
When I start to leave, he doesn’t stand or put out his hand. Pride won’t allow for it. I don’t take it personally.
I’ve given him a lot to chew on. Most of it I suspect he’s been chewing on for a long time. But I’ve also offered him a solution. He might not see it as perfect, but it’s the best he’s got—and he knows it.
“If you’d like to speak to Alexis in person, you’re always welcome in Porto.” I nod and turn toward the door.
“Rafael.”
I have my hand on the knob when he calls my name. When I turn around, Will has a cocked gun pointed at my head. I draw a breath. He’s across the room, but I have no illusions. He won’t miss if he pulls the trigger. But he won’t pull the trigger. Not today.
“If you fuck this up, they’ll never find your body.”
If anything happens to her because I fuck this up, you might as well kill me, because I won’t be able to live with myself.
34
RAFAEL
After I leave Will, I go directly to the plane. The man’s certifiable. No wonder Lexie’s at the end of her rope with him.
There’s no question he has a soft spot for his wife and daughter—that’s always been apparent—but he’s a difficult son of a bitch. I’m sure Lexie’s backbone was built from going up against him over the years.
My job is only half-done. Now I have to convince Lexie that her lot is better tied to mine than her father’s. It won’t be easy, because she’s not easy, but at least she won’t be waving a gun at me. Just her cute little ass.
I have a sip of lime seltzer and a handful of salted almonds, savoring my victory with Will, before I need to get down to work. While I’m chuckling about how the arrogant bastard aimed a gun at my head, I get a message from Tamar: Call me ASAP.
Nothing good comes after a message like that.
She answers on the first ring, and I brace myself for what’s coming.
“Sorin,” she says, her tone not giving anything away.
“What did you find?”
“Nothing definitive. But another deposit was made into the account. A big one. I watched it happen in real time.”
“How much?”
“One hundred and five million euros.”
What the fuck?
“From one of our accounts?”
“Yes. Although there appears to be some type of delay—because Henry can’t see it on his end. I was only able to trace it because I watched it happen—but even then, I had to go through a back channel.”
“If Henry can’t see it, is it possible it didn’t come from one of our accounts?”
“He confirmed it through the institutions. It actually came from several accounts. Including an operating account and the pension plan.”
“Are you any closer to finding out who opened the offshore account?”
