"Oh, you know." Darvik said, crossing his arms. "Maraci has the most information in the world. Our agency is the best, we know everything. That you’re close with the government, working with them to prevent a rebellion, that your family is at the embassy... we know everything, James." He stared deep into his eyes. "The money in the suitcase which is illegal to bring in. The fake identity, the diplomatic passport, the ID... we know about all of it."
James couldn’t even react. It was like he just folded. He knew he couldn’t threaten him, and in reality, there was nothing he could do. Not a single thing he could do against a Minister in Maraci with soldiers outside.
The first time he was cornered.
"Though we respect you, James." Darvik said, tapping his fingers against the table. "You are a mystery to many, someone truly overpowered, though you’re not on the top ten list, not yet at least. Maybe you’re sitting somewhere in the top fifty, lurking, watching, waiting. But if you start dealing drugs... you’ll climb."
James stared at him, yet his expression remained calm, not the forced calm of a man trying to act strong, but the terrifying stillness of someone who had already accepted death long ago and never feared it since.
"Thanks for the kind words." He said. "I appreciate it... and what now? Should I beg for my life, or try to pay you off, or—"
"Ohh, no. No, that would never be you." Darvik interrupted quickly, almost offended by the suggestion, as if even the thought of James lowering himself to such desperation was an insult to everything he had built, his name, his silence, his legend. "And I know your pride. It wouldn’t let you do things like that. Not even if your family was on the line. You wouldn’t beg, James." ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel•fire.net
That was it. The atmosphere shifted once again, but this time, it was because of James. When Darvik mentioned his family, there was a change. Those empty eyes that had nothing in them, suddenly became filled with... killing intent. With something like a void.
There was a reason why James Bellini wasn’t feared the way others were, not with panic, not with chaos, but with stillness.
"You know..." Darvik continued. "...people like to talk.They whisper stories about you. Some call you the devil with a suit and Angel of Death... what a name... but the smart ones, the ones who know what real danger looks like, they don’t give you names. They just say your presence is a warning. I’ve sat across from cartel bosses with a hundred kills on their names, but none of them made me feel like I was standing too close to the edge of something I couldn’t see the bottom of. Only you. And what’s worse, you don’t even need to speak to control the room. You walk in, and men feel smaller, even me, and I’m two meters tall." He chuckled, but there was no palace for laughter and fun in the room, everything had changed.
That bloodlust, that atmosphere Darvik had created, shattered to pieces, just vanished with the mention of James’s family. His face was calm but radiating a hunger for blood... something truly otherworldly.
"How?" Darvik said as it was a genuine question he was excited about it.. "You’re not even thirty, and yet men twice your age lower their voices when they speak your name. You walk into a room, and it changes. Not because you demand attention, but because the air shifts. You’re the kind of man who shouldn’t exist, James. You break the rules, you’re not normal and the scariest part...is that no one taught you to be this way. There’s no mentor, no blueprint, no trauma we can point to and say ah, that’s what made him . You just... are. Like you came out of nowhere, like something in the universe just snapped one day and said, ’Let’s see what happens if we give the world a man who doesn’t flinch.’"
The room fell silent again, but not empty. James’s presence filled everything still, but he was thinking about things Darvik just mentioned... he truly knew about a lot of things... like twice his age... he was clearly implying Silas, Lucian, and many others. Not just that but he knew many things about him, like if there is a whole essay about him out there somewhere, his emotions, his behavior, everything about him.
This whole situation was just strange, and there is only one thing he was able to do... is ask a simple question.
"So you asked for a private talk... to suck my dick? How great am I?"
"Oh no." Darvik gestured with his hand as he laughed up. "I just admire you and how capable you are, though I’m not scared of you, and never will be, you know why?" He asked though the situation remained how it was, not a single movement just staring at each other with that same atmosphere. "Because I was threatened by other guys too, cartels, the top ones, mafias all over the world who came to Maraci and in the end all of them realized that I don’t give a fuck about the power or anything not here in Maraci..." He tapped his finger on the table. "Because here James I am the power, the government is the power and we will kill everyone who goes against us."
It was enough for James to start piecing it together, understanding what the situation was about, but he needed to be sure, so he asked instead of making an assumption.
"Then what do you want?"
Darvik leaned back again. "Maraci is a great country, we are the safest and the fastest developing ones, nobody is homeless here and I mean it. A beautiful country with beautiful people, who want peace, but it is impossible to do it this quickly, without loans or money coming in somehow, and it was especially hard after the war." He smiled. "So that’s how we became the paradise of every criminal who can pay enough."
Yeah, it was true, and James had guessed right... that’s what the fuck was happening in Maraci.
A country of criminals... what a fucking twist.