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Atlas points to an earbud in his left ear. "Zeus had me listening to the conversation from the time you came into his office."
"You told me you had a jammer," I accuse Zeus.
It never occurred to me he wouldn't use it. His business is the one that cannot come under scrutiny, not mine.
"I do have one. It isn't turned on." Zeus returns to his chair. "Please lower your gun, Lucia. You do not need it."
"I'm supposed to believe you?"
"Atlas would kill me if I so much as threatened you, much less touched you."
I make a production of showing my patent disbelief at that statement.
Atlas growls. "Damn it, Lucia, you know you're safe with me."
That's the trouble. Idofeel safe with him. I have since the first moment. But that safety is an illusion.
"Sit down over there." I indicate one of the chairs across the office from me. "Then I will lower my gun."
Atlas doesn't hesitate to do what I say. He sits back and even puts his right ankle up on his left knee, the picture of relaxation. His stance is a stark contrast to his brother's looming presence only minutes ago.
The reason I felt the need to draw my gun in the first place.
"We have a lot to talk about." Atlas looks at me as if he expects me to agree.
I roll my eyes. Heart-to-hearts with the conniving jerk are so not happening.
"You're part of a mafia family?" Atlas asks, his tone casual.
Oh, so, not a heart-to-heart, but more intel gathering. There's no point in trying to hide what I've already admitted to.
I lower the gun to my side, but I don't put it back in its holster. "I was."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Are you being real right now?" Are we even on the same planet? "Why would I have?"
"We are lovers. Lovers tell each other stuff like that."
"You mean like you told me that you're part of a Greek mafia and came to my club to scope it out for your protection racket?" I scoff.
"That was different."
"Yes, it was," I breathe, furious all over again. "Me not telling you about my ties to the Cosa Nostra had no malice behind it. My past cannot hurt you, but you can't say the same about your present. Can you?"
"I didn't mean to hurt you."
Undeserving of an answer, I ignore that supremely ridiculous statement.
Shifting my gaze to Zeus, I say, "If you kill me or even kidnap me, that document packet will be delivered to the don."
"You set up a check-in protocol?" Zeus's tone sounds admiring.
I don't answer the question. The less they know about that, the less able they are to dismantle my precautions.
"Like your syndicate, the Cosa Nostra is always hungry for new territory and the don won't hesitate to claim it." It's a bald-faced lie.
The Cosa Nostra hasn't had a major expansion of territory for over a decade, and it has been even longer in Detroit.
