Page 99 of Embriagado

“Well, it doesn’t matter if I do, does it?” He gave me a teasing smile. “After all, our time together has come to an end.”

I wanted to shout a roaring no and hold on to him, which was fucked-up. But thankfully, I had enough sense not to, and instead, I nodded.

“Yes.”

He pursed his lips, looking almost innocent.

“What a shame… we could have had so much more fun together.”

I held back from moving a muscle when he patted my chest.

“Well then, Mr. Rivas, if that’s the case, I wish you the best.”

He moved back, and I could finally breathe in relief when I remembered something.

“What about my money?”

He half turned to look at me, his eyes filled with amusement.

“I’ll give it to you when you stop by at the hotel to give back your uniform.”

Rage bubbled under my skin, and I took a step forward. “Why?”

He chuckled. “Who knows, perhaps I’d like to see your face again?”

In seconds, my anger turned into something else, and I just stared at him, my face a bit hotter. He, on the other hand, chuckled again.

“El Embriagado. That name really does suit you.”

27

ARIYAN

“As I said to you before, Mr. Sinclair, my dog is not interested in fighting ever again.”

He swore at me over the line before he cleared his throat.

“What would it take to make him interested?”

With my phone in hand, I turned to stare at the art piece hung on my office wall, admiring the way the artist had drawn those splatters of blood gushing out of Holofernes’s slitted throat. The beauty of this piece was in its rawness. The unfiltered face of revenge drawn by a female artist, nonetheless.

“Well, Mr. Sinclair. I will leave that for you to decide,” I said, well aware that we were currently in the midst of a bid over El Embriagado fighting in the big boys’ league. It wasn’t a question of if he’d do it, but for how much he’d do it for. After all, Mr. Rivas saying he wouldn’t fight for me again was irrelevant, as I knew it was only a matter of time before he’d come running back with his tail between his legs.

A knock on my door told me it was time to finish this call, and so I did, unbothered by Sinclair’s repeated attempts to convince me to let my dog fight in their pits. His words meant nothing, as all I cared about was money. He knew it, I knew it, his boss knew it; therefore, they were just wasting all of our time.

“Come in,” I said before one of my men walked into the office.

“We have a bit of trouble, sir.”

“And you couldn’t handle it yourself?”

He shook his head. “It’s the ambassador, sir. He’s asking for you specifically.”

For God’s sake, I hoped to avoid this particular client, but oh well.

“Stay here,” I told the guard before walking out of my office. Per usual, when we held an exclusive party, the halls of this establishment were clear of unwanted guests, or in other words, witnesses.

Needing to endure this nuisance once a month was almost unbearable, but getting inside the elevator, I kept telling myself it was only a matter of time before it would all be over. All I had to do was make sure the boss and his shadow, Alejandro, didn’t suspect anything while I executed my plan, and I’d be free in no time.