Arthur let out a joyous chuckle. “Honestly, even I had a little bit of doubt that he’d agree to sign such a risky contract. One mistake and it can cost his company half a billion. Even though half a billion isn’t a big thing for him, but for my plan, I needed him to sign it. He wouldn’t have gone for it if he was the same Achilles a few months ago. To escape his haunted past and in the absence of the love of his life he threw himself deep into work. He concentrated on his business. But now that his Rosebud is in his life again, he turned into a total fool from a shrewd businessman.” He snorted. “All he can think about is fucking that annoying bitch to give attention to his business.”

My fists clenched. Rage boiled through my veins. He was calling Ace a fool because he trusted him?

This bastard!

“But I think it came in handy for our plan. With just a request of mine, he accepted your offer to work with you and made me the head of the contract.”

“Ah, that beautiful young lady—” the Russian twirled the end of his mustache “—I cannot blame your nephew to be so smitten by her. I’ve seen her pictures in newspapers posing beside him. A beauty, I must say.” While I wanted to throw up, he cocked his head, giving Arthur a look of wonder. “Wasn’t she becoming a hindrance in your way? How did you take that wild, sexy cat off your back?”

Arthur’s mouth twisted with disgust. Walking to the small bar across the room, he popped open a bottle and poured some drink in a glass.

“She was. That bitch was all set to expose me before Achilles. She even sent her ex-boyfriend’s detective cousin after me to collect evidence against me.”

Taking a sip of his drink, he turned back to the Russian. A smirk tugged at his lips.

“I threatened her about destroying her precious Ace using his past if she tried to open her mouth. And like I said, fools in love, she believed my fake threats and backed out. She knew about my illegal businesses, even suspiciously went to meet Sierra after she saw me with her, unfortunately. Then she went to meet Liza in the jail. Even though I knew those girls wouldn’t open their mouths, I was pretty sure that bitch found out more than she needed to. And I couldn’t let that happen.”

As much as I wanted to slap that smirk off his face, he was right. I was a fool to believe him. I thought he really had evidence against Ace. I couldn’t take any chances. But the truth was, he didn’t have shit against Ace. If he did, he would’ve given it to Antonio way before Ace grabbed Raymond’s neck.