“You aren’t about to walk away from me.”
Kim stared at his hand on her wrist in a test of will. “Let’s get something else straight. I work for you. A paycheck doesn’t constitute owning me. Try and remember that.”
“Last night when I was deep inside you, it sure felt like I owned you.” He laughed but let her go when Kim didn’t join him. “I’m playing with you, so relax. What did my father want?”
“He’s stonewalled Rodolfo as long as he can, but Rodolfo’s demanded his money or his product back. Junior wants us to meet with him while we’re here and see if we can reason with him.”
The waiter brought out a basket of biscuits next, and Nunzio took his time slathering butter on one. “How does he expect us to reason with him?”
“Do you want to play twenty questions or have you forgotten how your father operates?”
“He wants me to lean on Rodolfo?” Nunzio laughed but his question sounded sarcastic to Kim. Half the biscuit disappeared into his mouth. “Does he want to just throw away our plans?”
“Maybe it’s time to assert yourself a little more and tell him that, because you’re right. If Rodolfo cuts you off, you won’t have a chance with the Delarosas.” Kim felt as if she were dealing with a skittish deer. Nunzio was usually aggressive, but acted like a perpetual five-year-old when it came to Junior.
“Let’s call Rodolfo but we’ll go easy on him.”
“Whatever you want,” Kim said, lifting her coffee cup in an effort to hide her smirk.
“You think I’m weak when it comes to Junior, don’t you?”
“I wouldn’t be with you if I thought that,” Kim said. She reached across the table and took his hand, but she didn’t plan to console him like this forever. “You want me to call Rodolfo?” After that she’d move on. Maybe something in Florida, as long as it was away from Nunzio and his family.
“Whatever you want,” Nunzio said, pushing his plate away, his appetite apparently gone.
*
Carlos Santiago stood silently watching the numbers on the elevator go down. Standing next to him, Rodolfo could almost feel the bad mood rolling off Carlos as they left the sanctuary of the Piquant suite to go someplace where Carlos felt he couldn’t protect him. Not that Rodolfo had gotten where he had by being a trusting man, but he didn’t think twice about accepting Cain’s invitation.
“When you were a boy, you pouted the same way when I didn’t bring back the caramels you loved so much,” Rodolfo said, trying to cajole Carlos out of his bad mood.
“This is different than when I was helping my mother in your kitchen. I’m only trying to do my job.”
As much as Rodolfo had invested in Juan, a special bond existed between him and Carlos. He’d watched him grow up, and the attention he’d lavished on him as a child had cemented Carlos’s loyalty to him, so much so that Rodolfo had built a house for Carlos and his mother to share in her retirement. She had been one of Rodolfo’s many mistresses, but he’d lost interest in her sexually as she grew older. It had been Carlos who had kept her in Rodolfo’s life.
“You do your job well enough that no matter what the day holds, we’ll be fine,” Rodolfo said and put his hand on Carlos’s back. “If this were a meeting with someone like Hector or Nunzio Luca, we’d be downstairs in the outdoor restaurant, no matter who was listening in or watching.”
“But because it’s Casey you go in alone?”
“I’ll have you there,” Rodolfo reminded him. “Cain isn’t interested in us or our business. If she wanted me dead, I’d be lying next to my parents in the small cemetery in the yard by now. She wants something else entirely.”
“If she’s not interested in doing business with you, why do you care?”
“Because of all the idiots we’ve dealt with up to now, Casey stands alone.”
Carlos held the door for him and pressed the down button on the next set of elevators that would take them to street level. “So you do think she’s an idiot?”
“Just the opposite. Cain is one of that rare breed of people for whom the world hides very little.”
A car was waiting at the Piquant, and Carlos opened the back door and got in behind Rodolfo. “I don’t understand.”
“She’s a good strategist, which I understand was something of a passion for her father, but you can teach only so much. With Juan I tried to do the same thing, but without the same results. Cain took what her father gave her and added that vicious twist, that makes her someone we have to study carefully.” Rodolfo watched the buildings they were passing, as he often did when he was in New Orleans.
He’d bet his future on the city because of what he saw the first time he visited. New Orleans was full of history and not like any other American city he’d ever visited, but mixed in with the spice of what made it unique was an edgy side that allowed people like him and Cain a chance to prosper.
“I can accept that she doesn’t want to do business with me, but I won’t allow her to interfere again. Up to now I’ve been lenient, but one more move against me for whatever reason, and I’ll come after her with everything we have here.” Rodolfo spoke softly and placed his hand on Carlos’s knee. “People may consider Cain harsh, but we can teach her the meaning of pain, if she desires.”
They turned at the warehouse where Cain’s offices were located, and Rodolfo closed his mouth and focused his attention, in case knowing the layout would come in handy in the future. They didn’t stop at the front but drove straight into the building, and when Cain opened the car door from the outside, Rodolfo tried to keep his face blank.
“Thanks for coming,” Cain said, holding her hand out in greeting.
“Cain,” Rodolfo accepted her hand, “I’ve been looking forward to talking with you.”
“Come inside.” Cain slammed the car door closed and waved Lou off when he went to pat Carlos down. “This shouldn’t take long. Sit down.”
“It perhaps will take longer than you think. We will never be friends, but we will have to find a way to exist together.”
Cain didn’t move to sit behind her desk but rather sat on the front edge. Right behind her were the two things that made this conversation necessary. “What I want is for you to stop talking.” This time, when Carlos started to reach for his weapon, Cain did nothing as Lou brought Carlos to his knees by twisting his arm up harshly.
“Your word means nothing then?” Rodolfo moved to the edge of his chair.
“It’s your word that doesn’t mean shit to me,” Cain said as she stood straight. “Call off your dog or I’ll put him down. I guaranteed your safety here, but he doesn’t get the same deal.” She pointed to Carlos.
“Carlos, give him your gun,” Rodolfo said, but he kept his eyes on Cain. “Why am I here other than for you to insult me? I never took you for someone so crude.”
“You want to know what it takes to make me crude? What drives me to want to skin you slowly and with as much pain as I can inflict before I let you die?” Cain didn’t raise her voice as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Those aren’t hypothetical questions, Rodolfo.”
“Like you said, I don’t give a shit about you or your questions.”
“Being that uncurious is like being a two-legged dog in heavy traffic.” Cain reached behind her and picked up Jesus Vega’s wallet, holding it up like she thought it smelled bad. “What upsets me is an idiot in a nice suit who plays at being macho, but the only thing he really controls is his bladder.”
“What?” Rodolfo yelled. “Fuck you.”
Cain had been waiting for that. The control Rodolfo seemed to pride himself on had cracked like a pecan in her fist. “I see you’re no stranger to crude, Señor Luis.”
Her laugh appeared to make him angrier. “That can’t be helped if you brought me here to play games and waste my time.”