“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”
“You could walk away now, couldn’t you, Mal? Now that everyone you love is gone, you don’t have a reason to keep doing what you do for Pakhan anymore.”
He shouts, “No, I don’t—but I want to!”
We lie nose to nose, breathing hard and staring at each other, until he gets his temper under control. Then his voice comes low and hard.
“This is my life. This is who I am. Don’t go making up pretty lies to tell yourself. To make yourself feel better that you fucked a killer.”
“I hate you right now.”
“You should hate me. I’m not good. I’ll never be good. I told you once that I’m the worst man you’ll ever meet, and that was the truth, malyutka. Like it or not, it was the truth.”
He releases me, rising from the bed to stalk naked into the closet. He disappears inside it, reemerging quickly, fully dressed. He’s holding a black bag in one hand and carrying his overcoat.
Without another word or a glance in my direction, he’s gone.
34
Kage
Lying in the hospital bed with tubes bristling from his nose and both his arms and bandages plastered over almost all his visible skin, including his face, the kid looks like shit.
I had to come see it for myself. I can’t believe this stubborn little fucker is still alive.
“Hello, Diego.”
He gazes at me. His dark eyes are surprisingly focused.
From what I’d heard, he was pretty much brain dead.
I suppose having a burning wood beam fall on your head will do that to you.
I take a seat beside his bed and set my gun on the nightstand. Except for the mechanical beeping of his heart monitor, it’s quiet in the room. Quiet and dark. The night shift nurses are on now. So are his night shift bodyguards, stationed outside the door.
Diego watched me silently as I dropped in from the HVAC duct in the ceiling after I removed the grate. Though his expression is obscured by all the bandages, he doesn’t seem surprised to see me. He hasn’t moved a muscle or made a sound.
It doesn’t look like he can.
Keeping my voice low, I say, “I hear you don’t remember a thing. Not even your own name. Is that right?”
No answer. Not a surprise.
“If it makes you feel any better, I’m not happy about this.” I make a gesture to indicate his overall fuckedness. “You’re my enemy, but I’m not a complete savage. This is no way for men like us to go.”
His gaze never strays from my face. I can’t tell if he’s listening or if he’s as aware of his surroundings as a baked potato would be.
His memory loss has saved me a lot of trouble.
Trouble of the worst kind.
It’s strange I don’t feel happier about it.
“For what it’s worth, I didn’t torture you. I kept you locked in a cage for a few weeks, sure, but it was only with the expectation that you’d break and start talking. You never did, though. Gotta say, I admire that. A man’s nothing without his honor.”
I sigh heavily, dragging a hand through my hair. “Funny thing is, Diego, I’ve lost my taste for the hard stuff. I think Malek might’ve been right when he said women make you soft. A while ago, I’d have hung you on the wall and played target practice on your torso to get the information I wanted. Now, seeing you like this…”
I sigh again. “It only makes me depressed.”
Diego lies in his bed, unblinking.
Poor bastard. I’d rather die a million times over than live like a zucchini.
Weirdly, his silence makes me want to keep talking.
“You might be interested to know that I made it look like it was MS-13 who captured you. I heard their leader made a comment about my girl, and obviously that couldn’t stand. Nobody talks shit about my baby. He lost his head for that.” I chuckle. “One thing I’ll say for that prick Declan, he doesn’t pull any punches when he’s out for revenge.
“I know it doesn’t make sense that I pulled you out of the warehouse fire. Doesn’t make much sense to me, either. It would’ve been smarter if I’d let you burn. That building’s owned by an offshore corporation that can’t be traced to me. I should’ve just dusted off my hands and been done with you. But when I got the call from Sergey, it didn’t feel right to leave you there.
“Investigator’s still don’t know what caused it, by the way. They know it wasn’t electrical, and it wasn’t a device like an IED. Maybe it was spontaneous combustion. You ever heard of that phenomenon? People just going up in flames for no reason?”