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Theo enjoyed his cigar in silence, in his black jeans and gray t-shirt, his black boots on the wooden table.
“How long are you going to wait?”
He let more smoke escape from his mouth. “Until he comes to me. I want to see how desperate he is.”
“Oh, he’s fucking desperate.”
“You’d think the guy would let the past go and move on.”
“No. Once his new partnership is thriving and I’m out of the picture, he’ll try to kill me since Scarlett will have no way of knowing. That’s why he doesn’t let us interact, so she won’t know when I’m dead.”
He chuckled. “Damn, that man knows how to hold a grudge.”
“And so do I.”
His butler announced himself by clearing his throat before he approached Theo. “Dante has come to pay you a visit. Shall I invite him inside or send him away?”
Theo looked at me, his grin unmistakable. “I expected the guy to play it cool a little longer.”
“I told you he’s desperate.”
“I wonder if he’s brought me gifts.” His grin stretched.
“I think I know exactly what he brought you.” I put out the cigar in the ashtray and tossed it aside. “I’ll listen from in here.” The next room over was a spare bedroom, and I left the door wide open like it’d been before. There was a chair on the other side, so I took a seat, and the mirror on the wall gave me a view of the living room.
Theo turned to his butler. “Show him inside.”
“Yes, sir.”
Theo kept his position, slouched in the armchair with the cigar in his mouth.
A moment later, Dante entered. “I hope you don’t mind my dropping by. I was in the neighborhood.”
Theo rose from his chair and shook his hand. “Your timing couldn’t be better. The girls just left.”
Dante moved into the armchair I’d just vacated, and I wondered if he noticed the warmth of the cushions from where my body had been just minutes ago.
I moved closer to improve the line of sight from the mirror now that Dante faced the opposite direction, and I propped my elbow on the armrest and curled my fingers under my chin, ready to listen to the exchange in comfort.
“You got a girl, Dante?” Theo asked.
“No.”
“No special lady?”
“No,” Dante repeated. “But I have lovers…several of them.”
“Your wife die or something?” Theo asked bluntly, already knowing the story but pretending he didn’t.
“No. We were just fucking, and Scarlett was a surprise. I raised her on my own.”
“Wow…Daddy’s little girl.”
Dante said nothing to that.
“Probably not my place to say anything, but you’ve got to be stupid to think she can handle that empire by herself. She seems smart, she’s got spice, which I like, but come on, Dante. You’re fattening the lamb for the slaughter.”
Dante remained quiet.
When Theo didn’t get a response, he carried on. “What brings you by?”
“Wanted to know if you’ve given my offer further thought.”
Theo enjoyed his cigar in silence, waiting until it was uncomfortable with tension, giving Dante a taste of his own medicine. “I’ve been busy, Dante.”
“I’m sure,” Dante said cordially, acting like a little bitch because he wanted to get rid of me so badly. He’d rather suck up to the Skull King than break bread with me. That was a profound level of hatred. He would definitely try to kill me once he had that chance.
“There’s only so much time in the day, and it’s hard to decide what to do with the minutes I have left. I could spend them at the whorehouse or with my regulars…or I could spend them with you. It’s a tough call.”
I smirked and wished I could see Dante’s reaction to all this.
“Well, your whores will only make you poorer, and I’ll make you richer.”
Theo grinned, holding the cigar in his mouth. “Good one, Dante.”
Dante tipped his head slightly in an I thank you gesture.
“But I need more time to think it over,” Theo said. “Feel free to take a cigar for the ride home.”
I knew Dante hadn’t come here empty-handed. I waited.
Theo waited too, bringing the cigar to his lips for a taste of the leather-flavored smoke.
Dante remained in the chair and didn’t reach for the cigar. “Perhaps this will sway you…” He reached inside his coat and pulled out a box.
I fucking knew it.
He moved to the other side of the coffee table and handed Theo the box before he took a seat again.
With the cigar in his mouth, Theo sat forward and popped open the lid.
I couldn’t see with the lid open, but I already knew what was inside.
A Skull Ring.
Theo stared for a moment before he pulled out the cigar and set it in the ashtray beside him. A quiet whistle escaped his lips as he regarded it. “I’m not going to ask where you got this.”
“And I’d appreciate that.”
He pulled the ring out of the box and slipped it onto his middle finger. He angled his hand left and right, letting the light catch the brilliance of the diamond. Appreciation came over his face, intrigued by the stunning perfection of the one-of-a-kind ring. “The other two?”
