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Mateo has them on constant surveillance since we arrived. He says it’s just a precaution. Everyone believes my father’s plan is to attack the compound, but Mateo has been in daily communication with Ross and the others that remained on the island and so far there’s been no movement. Which either means my father knows I’m no longer there, or he’s biding his time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
“Speaking of outdoing ourselves, you and I need to take another trip to the store tomorrow morning. We’re running low on a lot of stuff,” Norma tells Dimitri as he stuffs an entire breadstick into his mouth in one bite.
“Sounds good,” he mumbles around the mouthful of food. “Just let me know when and I’ll make sure Mateo can spare me.”
The mention of his name has my eyes swinging to where he’s sitting at the head of the dining room table at the left of the kitchen. He’s leaning forward, in serious discussion with a handful of his men. He seems stressed and as much as I want to go to him, offer him some kind of comfort, I know I can’t. I hate that it has to be this way, but I understand why.
It’s crazy how things have escalated between us and how my feelings have grown. I never expected it, and I’m still not sure I’ve fully accepted it. If Mateo were a normal guy, I’d probably be head over heels right now and screaming it from the rooftops, but he’s not. And as such, I find myself holding back in a way I normally wouldn’t. Truth be told, I’m scared to completely acknowledge the feelings I have for him because I’m scared. I’m scared of how all this is going to end and where I’m going to end up once it does.
“Oh he’s going to spare you alright.” My gaze draws back to Norma as she talks to Dimitri. “Unless he wants all of us to starve.”
“I’ll be sure to pass that message along.” He grins.
“Hey Dimitri.” I catch him right as he moves to walk away. “What’s going on in there?” I ask, nodding my head toward Mateo.
He hesitates. He knows he’s not supposed to tell me anything, but for some reason he always does,eventually. Sometimes it’s easier to pull it out of him than others.
“Mateo’s trying to figure out where your father is. So far, no luck.”
“I thought he knew where he was.”
Dimitri shakes his head slowly back and forth, leaning in closer as to not be overheard. Norma slides in as well so that she can hear too.
“He’s had men scouring the water. There’s no sign of him. So unless he’s hundreds of miles off shore, he isn’t there, and no one has eyes on him at any of his usual spots. He’s gone completely off the grid.”
“But that doesn’t make sense. Why would Danny kill Niko for the coordinates and my father never show? Unless...” A thought suddenly occurs to me. Something I hadn’t considered until now.
“Unless?” Dimitri’s voice trails after me as I make a beeline for the dining room. I don’t miss the way Mateo’s eyes darken when I enter. We have an understanding that I don’t interrupt him when he’s with his men. But this is too important to wait until later.
“I think I figured it out,” I tell him, probably a little too enthusiastically given my current audience.
“Figured what out?” He quirks a brow at me.
“Why my father hasn’t attacked the compound. He’s not at the compound.”
“No shit. We’ve already figured that much out.” One of the men audibly groans, as if to say, welcome to the fucking party, you dumb bitch.
“No, I know.” I don’t let his obvious annoyance with me stop me from continuing. “What I meant to say is, he was never there. He was never going there. He doesn’t know where the island is. Danny said that when he held a knife to Niko’s throat, he gave him the coordinates to the island, then slit his throat anyway. But we all know that there’s no way Niko would have given him that type of information so easily. So what does that tell us?” I look around the table, not missing the confused expressions on every face I pass over. “Danny never had the coordinates. Niko refused him so he killed him to keep him from blowing the whistle before he had a chance to escape with me.”
“Okay?” Mateo scratches his beard, trying really hard to be patient while I make my point.
“So, if Danny never had the coordinates to pass along to my father, then what was the point of him telling me he had?” I wait for someone to answer but no one does. “He needed a backup plan. If he couldn’t get me off the island...”
“He wanted to make sure someone else did.” Dimitri’s voice startles me from behind.
“Exactly.” I clap my hands together.
“It was all a setup,” Mateo says in disbelief like he can’t believe he didn’t think of it himself. “That mother fucker flushed us out.” His eyes come up to mine and my heart does a full flip in my chest at the way he’s looking at me.
“Brilliant.” Dimitri steps up next to me, knocking his shoulder into mine. “Absolutely brilliant.”
“So what’s his next play?” The man on the opposite end of the table, whose name I do not know, leans forward, his gaze trained on Mateo.
“There’s no way he doesn’t know we’re in a safe house. That much is obvious. Now, the real task for him is figuring out which one. This location specifically would be impossible for him to figure out based on paper trail alone. He’ll need someone to talk.”
“All it takes is him torturing the right person and we’re burnt.”
“True.” Mateo leans back, crossing his arms over his chest. “But he’s lost the element of surprise. We know he’s coming, which means we’ll be ready.” He glances in my direction.
