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ChapterTwenty-One
I’d been summoned to the devil’s den. I wasn’t too fucking happy about it either. If Dom and Angel hadn’t been all over my ass, I wouldn’t be standing in the overly bedazzled foyer waiting to be called into the office.
Why do people do that shit? Santiago called me here for a meeting, but he has the fucking audacity to keep me waiting in the foyer for twenty damn minutes. It was a power and control thing, I know, but that didn’t make me any less pissed off. In fact, my fingers were itching to wrap around the knife I stuffed in the side of my boot.
It was small and dainty. No one would look at that tiny little thing and be worried about the damage it would do, but that would be their mistake. You could do a hell of a lot of damage with two inches when used correctly.
My phone buzzed in my back pocket, and I pulled it out with a fleeting wonder if it was my uncle finally returning the fifteen hundred text messages I'd sent him over the last two weeks. I wasn’t sure if I should be worried or pissed the fuck off about the radio silence. He wasn’t the type of man that reported to me, and if he didn’t want to answer me, he wouldn’t. It had never been this long in communication though.
Jasper said he’d discovered something that I needed to see. That’s where I’d been heading when Dom came up to me and told me about the meeting. I hadn’t been too happy about it, and I let him know that too. I had more important shit to deal with then sitting down with a guy who wanted to be the big bad of the city and was using me to get what he wanted. Angel was the one to tell me it would be easier on me if I just went to the meeting and got it over with.
“Miss Morren, if you could come with me?” a little old man in a fucking suit asked from the foot of the staircase.
It really blew my mind that Santiago had an actual fucking butler. Who had a butler anymore? Did he think he was Bruce Wayne? Am I being led to the inner sanctum of the bat cave?
My giggle bounced off the marble walls as we ascended the stairs and I laughed at my own jokes. Arriving at the landing, Angel and Dom came out of nowhere to follow behind us like little sentries guarding me. I read a fantasy book like this once. I should probably look that series up soon and give it a good reread. It is a completed series now.
“Thank you for joining me today, Tora. It’s been too long since we sat down and had a good chat.” Santiago was seated in a large leather chair behind a wide deep brown wooden desk. A fire blazed in the massive fireplace making the office feel hot and stuffy. I wasn’t sure if he was just naturally cold blooded and needed the fire for its warmth, or if it was just for aesthetic reasons. Either way, it was uncalled for. I was going to be sweating my tits off after five minutes.
Also, I had the urge to tell him I didn’t choose to come and meet with him. I hadn’t been given a choice in the matter. Much like I hadn’t been given a choice in working with him. I say within him because I refuse to think about it as working for him.
I flopped myself down into one of the matching wingback chairs situated in front of his desk. You got to appreciate a good chair. He might’ve been a whole lot extravagant when decorating, but he had good taste in chairs. It was hella comfortable.
“What can I do for you, Santiago?” I didn’t want to spend any more time here than need be, so there was no point in getting caught up in pleasantries that didn’t matter.
“It’s been a while since I heard from you or your uncle about the progress with Gio Valentino. When your uncle approached me with this story about a girl that was going to weasel her way in next to my biggest rival and kill him, he’d led me to believe this was something that would be happening sooner rather than later. It’s been quite a few months. Seven to be exact since you started this little mission of yours.” His shiny black shoes were loud on the hardwood floors as he rounded the desk. Ice clinked in his glass as he poured himself a scotch before moving to take up residence in the chair beside me.
Him being so close to me made my skin crawl. This was the first time I’d met with him alone, and I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea. After all, there was no one here to keep me in check and to make sure I didn’t punch him in the face for annoying me.
“Things got a little derailed, but we’re back on track. Gio is supposed to be heading to his lake house in two weeks. I have a plan to be there and confront him then. He’ll have less men with him, which should make the job a little easier.”
Jasper had been able to finally hack into Gio’s agenda and we now knew a little more about his schedule. I was shocked when we discovered the man kept an electronic calendar. It was a little on the businessman side, but he was juggling being the head of a crime family with trying to look somewhat legit in the eyes of society. I had to hand it to him. He was doing a pretty good job of it for the most part. For anyone who was just looking surface deep they would think he was a businessman who also spent time giving back to the city he loved and a few choice charities that were close to his heart.
That was all bullshit, but who was I to throw stones? I was just a high school senior on the outside, and a cold blooded killer on the inside.
“You’ll take Dom and Angel with you. I want to be kept up to date on everything that is going on from now on. The fact that I can’t get in touch with your uncle is troubling to me. Where is he?” The swirl of the amber liquid in his glass reflected the light from the fireplace and was distracting. He hadn’t taken a single sip since pouring it, and for some reason that irritated me even more.
“I’m not sure. I’m not his keeper, and he doesn’t check in with me. From what he said he had some business to take care of in Vegas. If he’s still there, or even if that is where he went, I have no clue.” That wasn’t a lie. I didn’t know where he was because he wasn’t returning my calls or messages either. Jasper hadn’t installed the tracking device on his phone or computer since Uncle Tony hadn’t been home in almost a month. Apparently, he couldn’t hack my uncle’s laptop either.
Whatever the man was doing fed the suspicions in my head.
“When you hear from him, please let me know. I’d hate to think of anything happening to him or you and neither of you would be the wiser.” He tossed back the alcohol in one large gulp.
“I’ll be sure to do that.”
Not.
I had no intention of contacting Santiago any more than was necessary. To be honest I wasn’t sure why my uncle had wanted us to work together. The man hadn’t offered up anything that was helpful to what we were doing. His guys sat back and just watched. There’s been no offer of information, weapons, or anything that could help us accomplish our goals. The only thing Dom and Angel had done was accompany Jasper when he reduced me from the warehouse. That had probably been an order from Mr. High and Mighty sitting next to me.
“I heard about the bomb in your car. I’m glad you weren’t injured in that unfortunate mess.” His lovely brown eyes didn’t hold a hint of emotion. Nothing to tell me if he meant the shit he was spewing out of his perfectly formed lips.
I had to hand it to the man. He was attractive. I could see why so many got caught in his web. He blinded them with his appearance. They thought he was trustworthy and forgot all about who he was. In the end, they were all caught off guard when their lives were fucked for the worst.
“Jasper is looking into it. He hasn’t found anything yet, but if anyone can, it would be him. I have no doubt that we’ll figure out who put it there, and when we do, I’m going to kill them.”
It was the honest truth. We didn’t have anything that pointed to Santiago or any of his men being responsible for the bomb. That didn’t mean they were off the suspect list. At this point in my life everyone was a suspect when it came to anything fucked up happening. Hell, most days I was going out of my mind with all the possibilities of who could be fucking with me.
“Let me know if you need anything from me. I’m here to help as much as possible. I know there’s a lot going on your way, and we both want this business with Gio handled as quickly as possible. I don’t want anything getting in her way of taking care of him.” He sat watching me like I was an interesting piece of art or a bug under a microscope. It was fucking creepy.
