Page 47 of Empowered
There was no question about what the choice would be. I would pay any amount of money to keep her safe. “How much do they want?”
Jai swallowed the lump in his throat. His Adam’s apple bobbed with how nervous he was. “One hundred and fifty million dollars.”
I nearly fell out of my chair. “What the fuck?! They were going to pay that much for her?” I choked out.
“No, of course not. They said that they still wanted her or to be ‘reasonably compensated for their inconvenience.’”
Of course, they did.Greedy bastards.
I didn’t like being taken advantage of, especially by thirsty assholes like the Russians, but the decision was clear for me. “Then give them the money.”
Jai looked at me seriously. “Shyam, that’s a lot of money.”
I launched myself at him, grabbing him by his collar. “Are you fucking serious? Are you really going to have me consider giving her up instead of the money?”
“No, man!” he blurted out quickly. “I love that girl! She’s my fucking sister! I’m just saying that it’s a lot of money and we just recovered the business, so things are tight right now.”
I let go of his shirt to consider what he’d said. It was true. We had the money saved up, but income from the business wasn’t flowing fast enough to make up for that kind of loss.
“We’re giving them the money,” I said with finality.
“What if we worked out a deal with them?” Jai asked, rubbing his neck where his shirt had cut into his skin when I yanked him.
“With the Brotherhood?” They were not known for their ability to compromise.
“Yeah, maybe we could offer them a price cut on all product we provide to them?”
I considered it for a moment. “That could work. Do you think they’d go for it?”
“I don’t know,” Jai said. “They’re unpredictable. I could ask my informant to feel it out for us.”
“Contact him now,” I demanded. I needed this to be cleared up immediately so Amelia would be safe as soon as possible.
He shook his head. “It doesn’t work that fast. I’d need to explain our proposal to my inside guy, and he would need time to test out their response.”
“How much time?” We didn’t have time to sit on this. I needed a solution now.
“Days or even weeks,” he answered apologetically.
That was too long when it came to ensuring her safety. “What happens to her in the meantime?”
His expression turned regretful. “She can’t stay with us. She’s not safe until we finalize a deal. At this point, we’re not even sure they’ll accept what we offer them.”
“That’s stupid,” I argued. “She’s safest with me,” I shouted pointing to my chest.
“No. She’s only worth something to them if she’s worth something to you.”
“Are you asking me to send her away?” I couldn’t believe he was expecting me to send away the only woman I had ever genuinely loved. It took me so long to admit my true feelings for her, and now I had to let her go?
He moved around the desk and took a seat facing me. “I know it’s not an easy decision to make, but it’s for her own protection.”
“No. I will not do it.” I had just promised her the world last night. I had promised to make her my wife and grow old with her, and now Jai was expecting me to rescind my commitment to her?
“You have to do this. She’s not safe if she’s associated with you. Look at how her ties to us got her to India in the first place.”
I pressed my fingers to the bridge of my nose to steady the migraine that was spreading over my head. Or maybe it was to hold back the tears of frustration that I wanted to shed.
Jai pressed his fingertips together, resting them under his chin. “Show them that she’s meaningless to you and we can work on cutting their fees for extra security.”
