I’d done my best to cultivate that aura, had worked tirelessly to know as much as I possibly could. That information was my leverage and I painstakingly gathered it, but even I didn’t know everything, couldn’t. Vasile didn’t believe I did either, but he was using my strengths against me.
“I had nothing to do with the shooting,” I said, deciding to cut to the chase.
“And why should I believe you?” he asked.
“Because you know I have nothing to gain.”
“You said a similar thing before, Priest. Yet trouble seems to keep showing up at my door,” he said.
“Maybe someone is trying to convince you it’s me,” I said.
“That’s an option. But there’s another, much more reasonable option,” he said.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“This is your play. You come after me. After my family.” He said the last with steel in his voice. “You know I’d respond to that, take out any and everyone who would dare attempt to harm them. You know I’d go to war, and after I’ve killed everyone and then been killed myself, you’d step in, take over the business and whatever is left of the clans. You’d have a clear path and be able to take everything for yourself.”
“You don’t believe that.”
Emotion aside, Vasile wasn’t stupid, and only a stupid man would believe I’d go to such lengths to take something I didn’t even want, and only a stupid man would believe I’d have to. Though I couldn’t relate to what he was feeling, I knew that Vasile’s emotions, his worry for his family, were clouding his judgment. But even judgment-clouded Vasile wouldn’t believe the plan he’d laid out.
At least I hoped.
“You’re telling me what I believe, Priest?”
“I’m telling you you don’t believe that. You know I have no interest, and if I did, there’ve been times, many, when I could’ve made my move. I haven’t because I don’t want it.”
And I didn’t. I’d already left behind a life like Vasile had described. I hadn’t wanted it then, didn’t want it now. No, clans weren’t for me; soldiers weren’t for me. I worked best alone, and I doubted that would ever change.
“There is something else to consider,” I said.
“Tell me,” he replied.
I paused a moment, knowing my next words might be the ones that pushed him too far but still certain that truth was the only way.
“If I had decided to attack you or anyone else, I would have been successful,” I said.
His expression turned stormy again, a result I’d expected. But I was gambling on Vasile’s wisdom, hopeful he could see past the anger, the insult, to the truth.
“So that’s your explanation, your defense? You’re saying that if you had been involved, they would be dead.”
“Was anyone hit?” I asked.
“No,” he replied. “One of Anton’s men took some debris in his shoulder, and there was a broken leg. The fucks nearly trampled each other trying to get away, but no one was shot.”
“I’m not that sloppy,” I said.
“But you are that calculating, Priest. You’d use the shooting as a cover, get everyone all lathered up and ready to go to war.”
“I may be that calculating, but I’m not that patient, and subtlety has never been my style. If I wanted to come for you, I would. I wouldn’t need to use women and children as cover,” I said.
The air was electric with tension, but despite the heavy atmosphere, Vasile gave me what I could only call a smile.
“Your directness is one of the only things that has allowed me to tolerate you for so long,” he said.
And like that, some of the tension in the room receded. He’d let me live long enough to offer an explanation, and I’d managed to convince him of my innocence.
“So what’s behind this? If you don’t know, you have a theory,” he said.
“I do,” I replied.
While Milan had slept, I’d puzzled over my predicament, and even with the limited information I had, I’d come to one inescapable conclusion. When I looked at Vasile again, he gave voice to what was not an obvious truth.
“Someone’s setting you up,” he said flatly.
“Yes,” I replied.
“Who?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Not yet,” I said.
Most—all—of my relationships were transactions. I supplied what people sought, they gave me money and information in exchange. It was a clean business, a simple one that wasn’t burdened by the rules and structure that were so much a part of life among not just the Romanians, but others as well.