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I shake my head. “Not really.”
He scrutinizes me closely. “I’m not sure if you’re telling the truth or not, and I find it unsettling.” He turns to face me. “Usually, I’m very good at reading people.”
“Sorry.”Not really.
No, right now I’m super grateful for my ability to act indifferent in the snap of a finger.
“I’m sure you are.” He walks back across the room, balances the cigar in the ashtray then sits down on the edge of his desk. “I guess it doesn’t really matter. I didn’t bring you here to find out if you knew about what your father’s been up to.”
“Okay… Then why’d you bring me here?”
He gives a long, heart-faltering pause. “You’re bold for someone so young. Or stupid, depending on how you want to look at it.”
“Maybe a bit of both,” I offer with a shrug.
“Perhaps.” He taps his fingers against his knee. “The question is: how can I use that trait to my benefit?”
I curl my fingers inward. “Why would you need to use the trait at all?”
“Because right now your father owes me five years’ worth of labor. And if I don’t get those five years of labor, I’m going to be very upset.”
“Well, I wish I could help you, but I don’t know where he is.” I inch toward the door, more than ready to get out of here.
“I figured as much.” He stands up and stalks toward me. “But again, that’s not why I brought you here.”
“You keep saying that.” My back bumps against the door.Shit. “But you still haven’t said why you brought me here.”
He stops just short of me. “Because your father also double-crossed me.” His calm voice chills into iciness, his expression hardening. “Do you know what I do to people who double-cross me?”
“Give them a citation?” I offer, sticking my hand behind me and wrapping my fingers around the doorknob.
I’ve got to get out of here.
“Unfortunately, no.” He has the audacity to sound apologetic. “Unfortunately, the punishment has to be more severe or else no one who works for me will respect me. And you can’t run a successful business without respect. Remember that if you ever start your own business.”
I relax a smidgeon. He just referred to my future, which means that maybe I still have one.
“Okay,” I manage to say evenly. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
He assesses me with too much interest. “You’re an interesting character. I think I can use that to my advantage, which is a good thing for both of us.”
“And why’s that?” I ask as he crosses the room back to his desk.
“Because if you didn’t have any useful traits, I’d have to punish your father another way.” He picks up a small, black box from off the desk that’s about the size of a shoebox and holds it out to me. “I want you to take this and hold onto it for me. When the time is right, you’re to open it. Understand?”
No freakin’ way am I going to take a mysterious box from some mobster dude in question.
I start to shake my head, but he cuts me off, lifting his hand in front of him.
“This isn’t up for discussion. Either you take the box, or I’ll have one of your sisters do it.”
He knows my kryptonite.
Swallowing down a shaky breath, I hurry across the room and snatch the box from him. “How will I know when to open it?”
“You just will.” He gives me the vaguest answer ever. “Until then, do not look inside it. Understand?”
Okay, what the hell is in the box? Drugs? Money? Someone’s freakin’ finger?
