Chapter 72 Chapter 72
LISA'S POV
"What about the hired hands. How are they coming along?" He asked.
"Stellinsky and his men have no problem doing the job as long as they get their cut, boss," Carlos replied.
"What is the agreed cut?" He asked.
"Boss, the agreed cut is seventy-thirty," Carlos replied.
A smirk crossed Alexander's lips, and it hit me. Carlos shifted uncomfortably, watching him smile. It was obvious that Alexander was not the kind of man to be crossed, but he crossed everyone and never struck deals that he kept to.
He had no intentions of paying the help he supposedly hired.
"Tell the men in the next twenty minutes, I will give the signal," Alexander said, finally. I swallowed a lump. He really was ready. He had set traps for Damien at every point; whatever course of action he took, he would be pinned.
Even if he did not move an inch at all.
"And the men?" Carlos asked as if second-guessing.
"I'll tell Ivan to give them their dues when the job is done." With a nod, the mole exited the room, and Alexander turned his attention back on me.
He walked up to me, hands behind his back, and smiled.
"You know, Damien is really a tough one. I had thought that by now I'd be able to smoke him out. I never expected him to crack after all the people he let die serving him. Yet, he chose to keep fighting and pushing."
"And then came you, and somehow, he is willing to put his life on the line for you. He is willing to die for you. So, I asked myself, what would it cost to get a woman like that on my side? How else do I make this woman understand that Damien intentionally places people in positions that endanger them just so he can pull himself out of the fire and make it look like he had some intention of keeping them safe?"
"What are you trying to say?" I asked, refusing to let his words affect me any further.
"Well, I'm saying people like Claudia, you, Mia, Aria, Maria..." he placed emphasis on Maria again. "All of you exist for the chaos that is Damien Paulo's life, and you either get out or die in the playing field."
"Claudia..." i whispered. Was he asserting that she was...?
"Yes, Claudia was just another one of Damien Paulo's pawns. A sad fallout, she had nothing to do with this world."
I looked at the clock on the wall; it had been twelve minutes already since he gave the last command. If I could stall him for over twenty minutes, then it would buy Damien enough time to get out of his base.
"When does it end? The chaos. The bloodshed, when do you just call a parley and work things out?" I asked him.
"The chaos does not end; it only gets bigger. I'm offering you a chance to be on the right side of the battle. Take it or leave it," he replied.
I glanced at the clock again, my heart racing. If only I could escape, then Damien wouldn't even have to come here.
"Really? And your end of the war is the right side? You wanted to kill me hours ago!"
"If I wanted you dead, Lisa dear, you would be dead. Do you think I give second chances? More likely, do I look like a man who gives second chances?"
The scar on his face darkened, and he seemed in that moment like the monster who haunted the dreams of little children. I had seen Alexander work; he was not the kind to show mercy. However, when you were useful to him, he would keep you around long enough to meet his need and then kill you.
"No," I croaked out. "What do you want me to do? Of what use would I be to you?" I asked.
"Good question, Lisa." He smiled sardonically. "I need you to help me bring down Damien. Like now, if you cooperate and do not try to do anything stupid, you would be helping me greatly. Know why?"
I shook my head. "Because that way, Damien would make his move and fall intonthe very traps I have set for him without failure."
"What kind of stupid thing would I do? I moved toward the bed and carefully kept it in place.
"Like say, steal a burner phone and send a message to warn Damien." I froze.
"I-- I don't know what you mean, Alexander." My heart was thumping loudly in my ears now. He couldn't have known. There was no way he could have known.
"Do you want me to come in there and show you, or would you rather show it to me yourself?" He asked in a calm, menacing tone.
I swallowed a lump stuck in my throat and gently pulled up the pillow, taking the burner phone in my hand and quietly walking up to the bars.
"Pass it through, good girl. Now, you know I normally would be mad, but I appreciate your daring initiative. It is one of the things about you that has come to intrigue me. But if you try something as stupid as this one more time, it will be a bullet through your head."
I let out a sigh as he turned around to leave. I had only managed to stall him twenty five minufes. Oh goodness, everything was going to be put in motion. I had to warn Damien somehow.
As soon as Alexander left, the three men from before, Stellinsky and his men, walked in, closely followed by the young guy who had watched me before. Immediately, an idea popped into my head.
I walked up to the bars to watch them stack up their weapons. Stellinsky pulled out a knife from its sheath and tossed it at his second in command. He was the one to take the bait.
"What are you looking at?" He asked, trying to scare me back into my cage.
"Nothing, just admiring the view of three very handy men who aren't going to get their agreed cut."