Page 11 of Cross + Catherine: The Companion

Then, a switch was flipped, and a too-bright, bare bulb overhead lit up the space. Cross blinked rapidly to adjust his eyes to the sudden change, and take in whatever he could about the strange room.

Cement walls stared back at him. No windows. No other doors. No tables, boxes, or other things. Just four cement walls, and two folding chairs set up in the middle of the room. He wasn’t fucking claustrophobic or anything, but the size of the room sure made him feel like he could be after today.

“Sit,” Dante repeated.

Cross shot a look at the man, but did as he was told. Once he was finally seated, Dante moved to take the only other available chair in the room. For a long while, the two simply stared at each other, and said nothing.

Across from Cross, the man crossed his left ankle over his right knee, and offered a smile. Not a warm one, mind you, but a cold smile. Like he had Cross exactly where he wanted him or something.

Dante Marcello was a little infamous in the world of Cosa Nostra. Everywhere Cross went with his father or Wolf, Dante’s name was always said with a great air of respect, or a heavy dose of fear.

Sitting across from Cross like he was, looking like the man did, he could certainly understand why some would have that impression of the Cosa Nostra boss. The thing about Cross, though?

He didn’t show fear.

Even when he felt it.

“You know,” Cross said, leaving his statement open and hanging.

Dante looked up from the Rolex watch on his wrist. “What’s that, Cross? Tell me what you know.”

“I was thinking that if you had a gun to sit there and clean, this whole thing would be the biggest cliché. That’s just me, though.”

“That so?”

Cross shrugged. “Kind of.”

“I suppose I could have gotten a gun down here, had I wanted to. There are no guns in my house at the moment, however.”

“No?”

That was surprising. His house was full of hidden, and plainly unhidden, guns. Almost all belonged to his father, for obvious reasons.

“Raid on my house last year,” Dante said. “Another illegal weapon in my house could get me fifteen years behind bars.”

“Oh.”

“Shitty nature of the business, Cross.” Dante waved a finger high, and circled it. “That is why the house is so well protected by men, though, if you wondered about that.”

“Not really.”

But it was good to know.

For a long while, Dante eyed him again without saying anything. In a way, it unnerved Cross. He hated being watched like some kind of bug that needed to be destroyed.

“You don’t like me, do you?” Cross asked.

Dante chuckled. “What makes you think that?”

“The fact I’m seeing Catherine, and I have a dick.”

A single eyebrow cocked high from the man in the other chair.

Cross just shrugged again.

“You know, I remember what it was like to be your age,” Dante said quietly. “All pissed off at the world twenty-four seven, finally figuring out what sex was and not knowing how to satisfy it, and acting foolish all the while.”

“Not sure that’s how I feel about anything, actually.”