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I haven’t moved a muscle since he started speaking, and I wonder how much longer I’ll be able to stay this way. Especially when Drago walks over to his wall of windows and gives me his back in full view.
The moment he turns, I take a breath. “I’m not stupid. Yes, I know.” At least now he can't see the way my hand shakes. My legs have gone cold, and I cross one over the other, finally shifting. “I brought you what you asked for,” I add.
His attention is elsewhere. I’ve got to move now if I want to make this work. I drag the zip drive from my cleavage along with one of the bugs, small enough to go unnoticed. Rafel positively assured me.
The bugs are new tech, but his design is small enough to be mistaken for grains in the wood if you’re dealing with that sort of thing. The metal slivers fit between my index and middle fingers.
“Have you now?”
“And it wasn't easy for me to get, either.” My hand pauses, the bug hidden, a shiver running up and down my spine.
My eyes glance down at the desktop, the neat rows of organized paper and pens. The small paperweight, a golden globe, to the left. Now or never. If I don’t place the bug now, then it’s never going to happen, and the office is one of the most important places in this house.
He’s going to find out.
And when he catches me, he’ll carve me open.
He’ll gut me, make it hurt, make it last.
“I’m sure you achieved it at great personal risk to you,” Drago replies. He has a mister out, the metal hammered gold and delicately sprays one of the plants.
“Don’t mock me. You have no idea what it took for me to get this information for you.”
I lick my dry lips, my legs still cold. The bug weighs a thousand pounds, and I slowly slide it down to the edge of the desk. There’s a slight lip at the front where enough shadows curl for it to be hidden from sight.
I clench my jaw, teeth grinding together, and place it, pushing it down to make it stick. My heart thuds like thunder.
Drago turns just as I withdraw my hand, and my brows scrunch together at his soft chuckle. “Oh, I have no doubt it wasn’t exactly a walk in the park for you. You have been kept out of sight, kept to yourself. Sequestered away like some sort of deity to be worshiped rather than consulted. Tell me, how did they react when you asked?”
I held the zip drive up for him in the opposite hand. “Do you want this or not?” I ask. At least my voice doesn’t shake.
He doesn’t even look at the drive.
“Set it on the desk.” The demand is snapped out, and I root to the spot. Partly to see what he does to me. Partly to make this harder than it has to be. I won’t go willingly. Not anymore.
Finally, he taps the side of the desk twice, a deliberate indication for me to do as I’m told.
“I’m not your dog,” I reply. But I set it down in the indicated place regardless.
“I’m quite glad you managed to retrieve it for me.” Drago ignores me. “But it’s not nearly enough for you to prove your worth to me. I’m going to need more from you.”
What about what I did last night? What about the display he forced us to live through?
I glance up in time to see his dark eyes rise to meet mine. He sees every move I try to make and my heart is racing out of my chest.
“I see where your mind is going, and I want you to know I sympathize. You’ve been through a lot over the last week, and it isn’t fair for you to be a pawn. Not when you have so much potential.” Drago steps closer, his brash tone rough on my already frayed nerves. “And helping me get what I want will not be simple for you, either.”
“It depends on what you want.”
“A small matter, and one that will allow me to absolutely dominate the underground in this area and beyond.” A feral gleam lights his beady blue eyes. “I want you to bring me details on the middlemen your family uses, those who distribute your product for you. Their names and contact information, if you please.”
The blood drains from my face in an instant, and I feel it. I feel every slow drip as my face pales. “I can’t do that. I’m—” I’m not a part of the operation. “They aren’t going to just give me the information. Not when my sister is only now learning those names.”
No. It’s impossible.
I can’t?—
If Mia doesn’t even know, then how in the world will I get it? The blood continues to drain out of me until I feel like it’s pooled at the soles of my feet, pulling me down, down into hell.
