Chapter 405: The Stranger.
"That is depressing, you should not say things like that." Hector said, even though he felt the same way inside, as his eyes moved slowly toward the side of the house, and it truly looked more like a sign than anything else.
It all felt like nothing ever worked out for them, because in the last second, something always came and ruined everything, and this earthquake did exactly that, but on a scale that was simply too much to even think about.
Everything just got destroyed, and millions upon millions were lost, wiped away like they meant nothing.
It was almost like a metaphor, and that was what James meant by it too, because the house, the family house that had already been reinforced to withstand attacks from the feds and from everyone who ever tried to make them fall, collapsed to the ground as if it was nothing, and it became a perfect reflection of them.
The family that had been built from nothing, that went through so much just to reach the top, had now fallen apart within days.
"I am not depressed, it is just too much, why did this need to happen right now?" James said with a sigh. "Cartel, war, and now an earthquake that destroyed everything, we even lost men too, so why now?"
"Maybe we deserved it, not just me, but the whole country." Hector said as he slowly stood up. "But all of this chaos also gave us something on a golden plate, so what do you say, James, should we do it?"
"You know what is the funny thing about all of this, Hector?" James asked as he slowly stood up as well, putting his weight on the cane. "That my morality is telling me to stop this." he said with a faint smile as he looked up at Hector. "But sadly, morality does not mean anything anymore. I made the deal with Damien, and Camelo said that he will buy whatever remains, so yes, Damien first, and then Camelo when Benjamin man arrives."
Something felt different again, as Hector looked at him, because it was like he was seeing another version of James, like he had changed once more, or maybe it was just the way he stood there that made it feel that way.
The black overcoat, the black cane, the new scar on his face, his eyes, the Bellini signet ring, and the butterfly one that he bought with Charlotte, all of it together made him look like a true Don.
"Then I will send our men to start packing the trucks."
"Good, I will go and make some food." James replied as he waved his hand, and with that, he walked back to the side of the house that was still standing, while Hector went to the others to prepare the deal that would bring them even more money.
And morally, it was truly wrong, and it was not even the original deal that James had agreed on with Damien.
Originally, the deal was that James would use the 3D printers to make drones and weapons, which Damien would have paid for with good money, while also giving connections that would allow them to make even more, and it was not just a simple deal, but something that involved infrastructure, logistics, manpower, and much more.
But it all got cut short because of the earthquake.
Yet the miracle was that the only warehouse that stayed standing was the one where all the weapons and drones were stored, along with the industrial 3D printers, so James called Damien to make another deal, and surprisingly, it went smoothly.
And in a strange way, the earthquake helped with that too, because Damien had also been hit by it, and now he needed a large supply of weapons to satisfy his buyers.
So the deal was made.
A deal where Damien bought everything, all the drones, all the 3D printed weapons, and even the weapons that James’s men were using, along with the printers themselves.
All of it was worth two hundred million, or at least it could have been, but it still needed to be shipped, so Damien said he would cut it down to one hundred and eighty million, and the remaining twenty million would cover the shipping, which James agreed to, and that was where the moral part came in.
Damien would use two cargo planes under the flag of the International Rescue and Aid Committee to fly in, pack up everything, and then fly out.
He said he could do it because he could acquire all the necessary licenses and permits, but the real problem was that he was sending in two large planes, which meant that real rescue and aid teams would not be able to land.
And that meant that people would definitely die.
But it needed to be done. And James knew he did so much that Hell already awaits for him or something much worse.
So rather than even thinking about it, he went inside the house, walking into the second kitchen that hadn’t been destroyed, and he started cooking, or more like making some pancakes, just to push his thoughts away from everything that had happened.
But of course, it would not be James if nothing went wrong.
When he was done with five pancakes, and even poured syrup over them before sitting down, he noticed it.
He noticed that somebody was standing outside on the patio, looking in without moving at all, and when he looked there he saw that it was a woman he had never seen in his life, just standing there and staring at him, with her hands behind her back.
It was surreal and almost absurd, because there were still guards all around the house, yet somehow a complete stranger was standing on the patio, just staring at James with anger in her eyes, her breath uneven, her clothes muddy and dirty, cuts visible on her face, and yet she did nothing else, she just stood there and stared while holding something behind her back.
And well the reality quick spread thought James’s mind
No bulletproof vest, no gun on him, just a fucking plate of pancakes in his hand.
