Linda did not know what to say or even how to react to the situation in front of her because even though she had been through many terrible things in her life and had learned how to stay calm in dangerous monts, she was never good at lying to people, especially not when the person sitting in front of her ca with a reason that sounded honest and good.
It was much easier to lie when the other person was greedy, selfish, or only cared about themselves, because then Linda could simply tell herself that they deserved it, but this was different because the woman sitting in front of her was talking about helping people, about using money to support others, about making sure children, poor families, and sick people had a chance to survive, and that made it much harder for Linda to think clearly.
And of course Linda had no idea that Jas had ever donated money to anyone. Nobody had ntioned it before.
That was why Linda could not stop herself from thinking about it.
If Jas had really been donating money, then how had nobody noticed? How had nobody talked about it? How had soone like Jas managed to send large amounts of money to different organizations without people asking questions or realizing where it ca from?
Though the answer was easy. Of course it was Dani.
Dani knew how to make money travel through different accounts, businesses, fake nas, and shell companies until nobody could tell where it had started or where it had ended. If Jas wanted money to reach an organization without his own na being connected to it, Dani could make it happen with almost no effort at all.
Of course, Linda didn’t know about Dani, but all of it made her think about one more thing, the most important question of all.
How the fuck does Olivia know that it was Jas who donated the money?
In Linda’s mind, it was impossible to know when the money went through different companies, different banks, and of course under different nas, and she was sure there was no way Jas had used his real na to donate that money, because that would be a fucking joke.
"Well, I don’t know who Jas Bellini is, but you can enlighten ." Linda said as she leaned back in her chair. It was obvious she could not just openly tell a civilian that she actually knew who he was and that they were working together. "If he is a rich businessman, then he probably already abandoned the city, just like many of them did after the operation against criminals started. You know, half of our billionaires and millionaires ran away. Billionaire Hill is full of empty mansions now."
It was true. Linda was not lying about that. The governnt had even made statistics and forecasts about what would happen to the economy if a large part of the rich left the city.
The solution was simple. Freeze all of their bank accounts and take everything they owned inside the city, and that was exactly what they did.
Still, Linda’s words were mostly bait for Olivia, because there was no way she was going to say out loud that Jas was a criminal or a drug lord. Because if she did, she would be putting herself into a criminal case as well.
An organization that accepted millions from a criminal and more so now asking to let him use more of his money.
"It... it doesn’t need to be hidden anymore." Olivia’s voice was strange, shaky, almost breaking yet she forced a small smile.
"Hide?" Linda asked cautiously.
"The fact that Jas Bellini... that he’s the most powerful criminal in the city. That he works with the governnt... and with you." Olivia’s eyes locked onto Linda. "I don’t want to be disrespectful. I really don’t, but Linda... people are asking questions now. Everyone who knows him, everyone who depends on him... they’re all asking the sa thing. Where is he? Why isn’t he helping them? They’re waiting for him more than they’re waiting for the governnt. Whole neighborhoods whisper his na. Thousands of people... silent, just waiting for him. That’s why I’m here." Olivia leaned back in her chair, her hands curling into fists."I’m talking about Jas Bellini, the one who helped thousands of people with his money. And those people don’t give a single fuck if that money was bloody or not. What they care about is the fact that he helped.... after all, money is money, don’t you agree?"
The last sentence was obviously a jab at Linda, a jab at the whole governnt and the corruption. And it was the blunt truth, not just a jab, Linda herself stole money, and she didn’t care where it was supposed to go... to help poor people, to a children’s hospital, or anything else. No, she didn’t care. And now Olivia said it exactly.
It doesn’t matter what kind of money it is... money is money, after all.
But the most important part for Linda wasn’t the personal attack. No, it was the fact that Olivia was talking about thousands of people who were waiting for Jas. And that ant they could potentially beco mbers of the family, soldiers in a war. And thinking about William’s fucked-up plan... now it just beca even worse.
"How are you sure the money ca from Jas?" Linda’s tone shifted imdiately.
"The man who brought the money had a gun on him, with an engraving that said ’Bellini.’ He gave us the money in cash... and a little extra by check." Olivia’s voice was certain, and that made Linda think.
What if... it wasn’t even Jas who gave the money, but one of his n? Linda knew Jas had handed out a lot of money to his top n. Maybe it was all a mistake... or maybe Olvia had misunderstood it, thought there was nothing to do about it and well Linda day was far for over so she needed to be quick with it.
"Jas has suffered a lot of losses, and right now he’s helping his own. So I don’t know when he’ll step forward, but I’ll try to help with the donation if he wants to."
"Losses?" Olvia asked imdiately.
"Yeah. A lot of his n died... a lot of them are still under the rubble. Even he was injured. So, right now, there’s chaos everywhere. But when the ti cos, I’ll tell him about you."
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