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“First, I’d like to make it clear that what is said in this room doesn’t leave. If you enjoy having your tongue and the ability to speak, I suggest keeping this a secret.” His expression doesn’t shift in a joking manner. No, he’s serious.
Way too serious for his own good. No wonder the guy has age lines.
“Secrecy is what I’m all about,” I assure as I push down the fear creeping its way up my throat. I have no doubt this man will keep his word. Personally, I like my tongue very much. Especially after Dante showed me a new way to use it.
“Bertone, you know them well don’t you?” Nicola disrupts my thoughts as his eyes narrow.
That makes me wince. Yeah, he’s still sore about my last job.
I know of many families in the state, not just the Lombardi’s. The Italians control every inch and they’ve requested help now and then. The only one avoiding my inbox was this man, and here he is ready to make his first request.
“I do.” Nodding slowly, I try to figure out what he wants to know. The Bertone family is quite the opposite of this one. Rather than earning their money through government businesses like this casino, they get their hands dirty with drugs. I hear their boss is an asshole too. Lucky for me, he wasn’t the one wiring my payments.
“They’re throwing an event soon. I need details. Everything you can get your hands on. I want to be prepared.” He suddenly looks annoyed as he shifts back.
“Did they not include the details when they sent you an invite?” Half-joking, my smile falls when he doesn’t laugh.
“I wasn’t invited.” Stating the obvious, he stares at my screens. “How long will this take?”
“With the amount of information you’ve given me, I’d say a few weeks. I don’t know how tight their security is, and I don’t exactly know what I’m looking for. Should I be looking for a birthday party, a wedding, or…”
“An auction.” Like he wantsmeto work for the information, he finally gives me something to work off of.
That’s what happens when trust isn’t established. Well, if he wants to work with his new employee, then he has to put a little in me.
Frowning when I lift a brow, he sighs. “It won’t be painted as such. They’re going to decorate it as something else, something that won’t draw attention. They’re already making plans, so this can’t take weeks. I need this to be finished indays, V. Two weeks is all we have. I need half of that time for myself.”
Yeah, no pressure. Just a request of the impossible is all.
He pulls his phone out and scrolls. “If I give you a picture of someone, can you find out information about them?’
“Only if you want to double the amount of time it’ll take to meet all of your demands.” Typing away at the keyboard, I consider my plan of attack. Should I try to be subtle and take my time to get information to avoid being noticed, or go guns blazing and draw attention to those who stand in my way?
When I ask him, he chooses the path of less attention. What a missed opportunity. Behind the safety of these guys, I wouldn’t mind making a bit of a mess. Maybe next time.
If I do what Nicola wants and score a few brownie points with him, maybe he’ll let me distract his head of security without getting in our way.
He shows me a picture of a woman on his phone. She’s a beauty, that’s for sure. It’s a shot that’s been taken without her noticing. With a slight motion blur, I can kind of see her features.
“She’s the daughter of that Bertone bastard. Up until now, he’s kept her locked up away from the world.” For the first time today, Nicola looks pissed. Nowthisis a face to feel fear for. “I want to know what he’s planning. I know she’s getting mixed in unknowingly.”
Taking mental note of all the information he seeps out, I reach for a pen. Better to write it down somewhere. With mychicken scratch, the boss doesn’t need to worry about anyone seeing and putting the dots together.
This woman must be important to Nicola. I don’t ask, because I don’t want any of his current anger to be pointed in my direction.
“Hook your phone up and I’ll take all the pictures you have and do a search.” I point over to the cables, relief forming when he doesn’t question my orders. “If she’s spent a lot of time at home, I’m sure she has social media. Nowadays, you can’t live without it. If we’re lucky, she’ll post something about the event and save us some time.”
Clicking away, I make sure to avoid anything in his phone my eyes aren’t meant to see. The last thing I need is Nicola threatening to take those away too.
“So, can you get me the information I need?” His frown lessens and there’s something else hiding behind his dark gaze. Something he seems to almost master at concealing away.Despair.
No wonder why he doesn’t want me to speak of this outside of here. I’m pretty sure I’ve discovered his weakness. This woman meanssomethingto him, and I’ll be one of the few to find out why in a few days.
“I take it Dario won’t be returning any time soon?” Am I going to be all alone until this task is done?
“Not until you’re finished. He’ll be working on the main floor.” Nicola watches my screens, his eyes glued to the monitor once I’ve located her profile. Like steel to a magnet. “He gets free food and drinks. Much better than breathing in this stale air.”
“Right.” I won’t take his words as an insult. Even if I’m growing quite fond of my workplace, I’ll keep my mouth shut.
