He laughed. “Artur Tarasov, still as clueless as ever, aren’t you?”
“Answer the damn question, dumbass,” Anatoli chipped in, furious.
“You’re the one who made a deal with the devil, and I’m the dumb one? How convenient.”
Anatoli looked at me, his head tilting slightly to the side.
“Excellent work, Mr. Smirnov,” he said, his eyes falling on the culprit.
Anatoli’s jaw tightened. “Sergei, you son of a bitch,” he growled.
Sergei stepped away from us and stood beside Rocco, wearing a smug smirk on his face.
“I trusted you!” he yelled. “I rooted for you!”
“Now, who’s the dumb one?” Rocco sneered, his voice laced with condescension.
“Why?” he insisted. “Why did you sell us? I thought you hated Rocco.”
“Not as much as I hate Artur Tarasov,” he answered, his men flanking around him. “Did you really think that I’d pass on the opportunity to throw him under the bus?”
This whole time, I was silent, and they had no idea why.
Anatoli’s voice deepened. “I’ll kill you for this. I promise.”
“Don’t be stupid. None of you is leaving here alive,” Sergei replied.
Rocco closed the distance between us, wearing that pesky little smirk of his. “Oh, how I love the look of defeat on your face.” He lit his cigarette. “Tell me, Tarasov, how does it feel to be a failure?”
Silence.
“He’s so shocked he can’t speak.” Sergei laughed behind him.
“You’ve tried all you can to kill me,” he continued, sneering at me. “Hell, you even made a deal with another enemy just to beat me. Yet you failed. Again.”
Silence.
“Must be really exhausting knowing you’re never going to beat me because this is where you die.” He released a puff of smoke in my face.
I finally responded. “Your biggest problem, Rocco, is blindness.”
He squinted his eyes, confused.
“You have eyes, but you cannot see. Sometimes, I wonder if you even use the brain in your skull.”
His expression darkened, triggered by my quiet insult. He pulled out his gun and aimed it at me. “Tough words for a dead man.”
I lowered my head, casually toiling with my cufflinks. “Tell me, Rocco, do you really believe that I walked right into your trap?”
I saw the doubt in his eyes, but he covered it up quickly. “Look around you, you’re surrounded.”
“I am.” I nodded. “But so are you and your men.”
The doubt was even more glaring now, so much so that he glanced at Sergei. “What’s he talking about?”
“He’s bluffing; don’t listen to him,” Sergei replied, his voice dripping with conviction. “Just kill the bastard already.”
“So now you’re Sergei’s bitch. I had no idea,” I said quietly.