Page 82 of Beautiful Ruins
“Chernov gave him seventy-two hours to repay the loss,” Archie added.“Or face consequences.And by consequences, the phrasing circulating is… decapitation.”
The word sat in the room like a loaded weapon.
“And what does this have to do with Izzy?”I enquired.
Archie exhaled again.
“Desperation makes men inventive.”I, for one, did not need the reminder.“Azzopardi began looking for assets he could liquidate quickly.”
My fingers tapped slowly against the armrest.
“He found out,” Archie went on, “through a friend of a friend of a friend, that Izzy was under the protection of a man with resources.”
Silence deepened.
“He began asking questions,” Archie finished.
“And the conclusion he reached was?”
Archie met my eyes directly.
“That retrieving her and selling her on the black market would more than cover a significant portion of the debt.”
The room went very still.Utterly still.For a moment, I didn’t move.I didn’t blink or speak, and wondered if I’d lost the ability to do so.
Then I laughed.Once.Short.Without humour.
“He intended,” I snarled, each word placed with deliberate care, “to traffic a woman who lived under my roof?”
“Yes.”
The confirmation did not come with hesitation.Not with apology.Just fact.
“And he discussed this openly enough,” I carried on, my voice more possessive than it had any right to be, “that her name is circulating in criminal circles.”
Archie’s expression did not soften.
“It’s worse than that.”
My hand lowered to the desk and flattened against the polished surface.Not slammed.Not struck.Just anchored there with precision.
Violence would make noise.
Noise would carry.
And the last thing I needed was her hearing any of this.
“How much worse?”I pressed.
Archie did not flinch under my stare.
“I’m telling you this now, because the chatter escalated after he came here.He confirmed what he’d heard—that she was under your protection.That she lived here.That she was an asset to you.”
Each word was just another twist of the knife between my ribs.I realized, with an aching clarity, that I had given Nathan Azzopardi precisely what he wanted.Confirmation.
“His desperation increased,” Archie explained.“So did the attention on her.”
Something inside my chest went cold.Something far more corrosive than just pure, unfiltered rage.
