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“No. Eligor is the name of a demonic lord legend says took the souls of warriors in exchange for giving them the secrets they needed to win wars.”
“Based on the rumors, I have no doubt my employees will be rightfully concerned by his presence. The innocent as well as the guilty party.”
“Why exactly do your employees need to be scared shitless of being tortured? You do know that threatening their families will usually be enough to get them talking, right?”
“Yes, but the threat of torture can be more persuasive. Thanks to your daughter’s keen observation that I refused to consider, I’m now certain the casino bomber had to have been someone on the inside. One of my own employees.”
“No shit,” Salvato says as if it’s obvious. Guess he trusts people even less than I do thanks to all the years of experience he has on me. “But how did Sophie come up with that when you couldn’t? I know the police interviewed everyone they suspected who worked at the Emerald Paradise. I’ve even read their reports. But you’re telling me you didn’t thoroughly investigate your own people? How stupid are you?”
“Fuck you,” I snap at him, hating that he’s right. “So maybe I’ve been blinded by my assumed loyalty of all my staff. I was looking for someone out of place. It only makes sense if nobody unfamiliar or suspicious showed up on surveillance feeds. Sophie and I were talking the other day between matches when she pointed out my obvious oversight.”
“Matches? Do I even want to know?”
“Tennis matches.”
“You play tennis?”
“Yes. She seemed equally surprised by my skills on the court. I even beat her. Once.”
“I’m glad you two have something to bond over. And yes, I’ll have Eli contact you. He’ll be disappointed about the lack of hands-on fun, so pay him well, and give him the person responsible to play with before you kill them.”
“I will,” I assure him.
“Now, can I see Sophie?”
“Sure. We have dinner at seven, so she’ll probably be in the dining room or on her way there.”
Glad to have calmed down the mafia daddy, I lead him over to the dining room where Sophie is sitting and waiting for me obediently. At least until she sees her father.
“Daddy?” Sophie exclaims with such affection in her voice that it makes my chest ache. She’ll never say my name like that.
Jumping up from her chair, she gives her father a hug while looking at me over her shoulder. “What are you doing here? Did Lochlan tell you about the drones?”
“I heard about them, yes. Are you okay? Do you feel safe staying here?”
“The guards protected me, and Lochlan has snipers on the roof as well as someone at the airport monitoring the skies. That’s about all that can be done, right?”
“Right,” Dante agrees.
“So, is that all you came for?” she asks as she steps away from him. Seeing her in her white tennis outfit gets me hard so fast I have to take my seat before I pass out or her father sees the front of my tenting pants.
“I’ve missed you. Vanessa too,” Dante says. “Cass…”
“I know Cass doesn’t miss me,” Sophie scoffs.
“I told your father your family is welcome to come visit whenever you want, even Cole,” I remark.
“I doubt Vanessa will let Cole come here until things…settle down,” Dante replies. “But I’ll let them all know.”
Sophie fidgets with her tennis bracelet when she asks quietly, “Do you have to go? Or do you have time to stay and have dinner with us?”
He takes a deep breath, looks to me then back to his daughter. “Sure, if Lochlan doesn’t mind.”
If he had refused Sophie’s offer, I may have stabbed my knife through his back as soon as he turned to leave.
“I’ll have the staff put out another place settling. I’m sure they made plenty of food for the three of us,” I tell them.
“Great,” Dante says, choosing a seat near Sophie’s. “Now tell me about how you let Lochlan beat you at tennis.”
