CHAPTER 13

RENZO

 

“Fuck you!” Asher gritted out before fading… perhaps into unconsciousness.

“I really don’t want that to happen again,” Elix continued, her voice still soft. “It’s messy. And frankly, it’s bad for morale.”

She turned slowly, addressing the room.

“I am Elix,” she said clearly. “Daughter of Emilio Vescari as you already know. I'm a popular figure online anyway. And until Renzo wakes up, you will listen to me.”

No one interrupted her now.

“He speaks through me,” she said. “As I speak through him.”

She stepped closer to me. “But before anyone gets creative,” she added, “let me be very fucking clear. Every order I give is for his benefit.”

“Test me again,” she said lightly, “and Hawk won’t stop next time.”

Something wet slid down my lip.

Spit.

Shit… that was my body betraying me in front of everyone.

Elix noticed immediately. She snapped her fingers like always, collected a handkerchief, and wiped my mouth gently. “He’s stressed,” she said to the room, almost fondly. “Too much noise.”

Her thumb brushed my cheek.

“Don’t worry,” she murmured, for me alone. “I’ve got this. I’ve fucking got everything.”

I wanted to scream. Instead, I listened, understanding something terrifyingly clear.

Elix was running my empire.

________________

Elix didn’t sit. But she did ask my men to sit down.

 

Immediately, chairs began to scrape as my men shifted, some reluctantly, some stiff with unease, but she stayed standing with both hands braced on the iron table in front of her. I felt the vibration through the wheelchair when her palms landed flat.

 

“Now,” she said calmly, “someone is going to explain something to me.”

 

No one rushed to answer because they were all calculating how much honesty would cost them.

 

Elix smiled. I couldn’t see it, but I knew it. Her smiles had a sound to them, a slight lift in her voice. “Let’s start simple,” she continued. “The last confirmed location. Where was Zaria seen?”

 

A chair creaked.

 

“She disappeared clean,” Luca finally said slowly. “There was no digital trail and no confirmed sightings after…”

 

“After she poisoned my man?” Elix cut in lightly.

 

Luca gulped audibly. “After the incident,” he corrected.

 

“That wasn’t the question,” Elix replied. “I asked where she was last seen.”

 

Hawk cleared his throat. “Brazil.”

 

That made several men glance at each other.

 

I felt something twist inside my chest. Brazil. So she had made it that far.

 

Elix let out a small chuckle.

 

“Brazil,” she repeated. “Interesting.” She straightened and began pacing slowly in heels. “Do you know what I would have done,” she said pleasantly, “if I believed the woman who put my man in a coma was in Brazil?”

 

No one answered.

 

“I would have boarded a fucking plane to capture her myself,” she said simply.

 

The silence grew heavier.

 

She stopped pacing and turned back toward them. “Why haven’t you?”

 

Another man cleared his throat. I couldn't remember his voice. “There was… an issue.”

 

Elix tilted her head. “An issue.”

 

“Yes,” he continued. “A bomb threat was announced online which claimed responsibility for multiple casualties. Airports were shut down temporarily and their borders were tightened… we think she is part of the victims.”

 

Elix listened without interrupting. Then she slammed both hands down on the table. “That,” she said coldly, “was a fucking decoy.”

 

“A bomb announcement?” she continued, her voice rising now. “What does that tell you? It is anonymous, convenient, and loud enough to pull attention away while one woman vanishes!”

 

She shook her head slowly. “You really think she planned that alone?”

 

Luca started, “We thought…”

 

“You didn’t think,” Elix snapped. “You reacted. That’s the difference.”

 

“If Zaria wanted to disappear, she would create confusion and make it something big enough that everyone looked everywhere except at her.” she snapped her fingers. “Think! This is your boss's wife! She is smarter than you think.”

 

“And instead of chasing her,” she said, “you assumed rubbish.”

 

No one defended themselves this time.

 

Elix laughed softly. “Do you know what’s worse than incompetence?”

 

She didn’t wait for an answer.

 

“Loyalty without usefulness.” I didn't hear her take a gun until I heard it cock. Fuck!

 

Who was she pointing it at?

 

I tried to listen… but Elix’s arm didn’t shake or give a hint.

 

“Relax, Hawk,” she said coolly.

 

My heart sank. Oh. Hawk.

 

“If I wanted you dead, everyone would be mopping pieces of your brains off the floor already.”

 

“But I need you to understand something,” she continued. “If you can’t serve your boss properly, if you can’t bring back the woman who did this to him, then why are you here?”

 

She pressed the gun a fraction harder against Hawk’s skin.

 

“Hawk,” she said calmly, “find her.”

 

Hawk’s jaw tightened. “Yes, ma’am.”

 

“With whatever resources Renzo has,” Elix added. “Planes. Contacts. Money. Blood if necessary.”

 

She lowered the gun slowly. “And report back to me.”

 

Hawk inclined his head. “Understood.”

 

Elix stepped back and gestured toward the door. “All of you, get out of my sight.”

 

Instantly, the chairs scraped up, their boots shuffled and men filed out without argument unlike poor Asher.

 

The door closed and the lock clicked.

 

Then Elix screamed. She swept her arm across the table, sending papers, glasses, and metal objects crashing to the floor. A chair went next. Then another.

 

“Fuck!” she cried, breath hitching. “Fuck! fuck!fuck!”

 

Elix turned back to me… I imagined her eyes wide-eyed and red-rimmed.“She is..,” she admitted hoarsely. “She did this to you and disappeared.” She dropped to her knees beside my wheelchair, her hands gripping the armrests tightly. “We fucking planned this together, Renzo. Why are you in this wheelchair?! I didn't think… no, no, no!” She paused, giving herself a moment to think. “Your men aren't incompetent, Renzo. They actually managed to find her in Brazil. Fucking Brazil, Renzo.”

 

Elix scoffed.

 

“I will find her myself. I swear to you, Renzo. I will find her and I will kill her.”

 

Her forehead pressed briefly against my knee.