The Assassin
“Excuse me, sir, we don’t sell True Blood here,” Dante’s voice cut through the music blasting through the speakers.
I turned my head to see him leaning against the bar, his signature grin spread across his face. “Fuck off,” I told him. I raised the glass of bourbon to my lips and took another sip.
“Unfortunately, I can’t. You’re in my place of business, remember?” He tilted his head. “What brings you here, anyway? Usually, I’ve gotta damn near drag your ass to sit in a public place.”
“Your wife stole my girl again.” I jutted my chin up to one of the sections on the upper level where the two of them were sitting, chatting over drinks.
Lexie leaned in close to whisper in Simone’s ear, and Simone laughed a bit too hard at whatever she’d said.
“I’m starting to think they’ve got something going on. ”
“If you’re suspecting, it’s already too late. That’s our girl now.”
I brought the glass of bourbon back to my lips. “Yeah alright,” I muttered around the rim.
He chuckled. “How have you been? Feels like it’s been a while since we’ve talked.”
“I’m fine,” I replied. “You?”
“Chillin’ like a villain.” His eyes roamed over the dancing crowd behind us. “You wanna keep making small talk or you wanna talk about your lady problems?”
I nearly choked on the liquor, caught off guard by his remark. “I’m not having-”
“Yeah, yeah, cut the shit,” Dante said. “Why else would a guy be spying on girls' night?”
I rolled my eyes. “We’re not having problems,” I insisted. “After the last time they went out to a club, I thought it’d be best to keep an eye on them.”
Dante cocked a brow. “If you don’t wanna talk about it, that’s all you had to say. You don’t gotta lie to me.”
I took another sip of my drink, savoring the burn as it battled the sting of the words climbing up my throat. “Simone is having second thoughts.”
“About you?”
“About this life.”
“Nah, I doubt that. I’ve been following the news. Seems like she’s taking those feds down just fine.”
“Yeah, and when she’s done, she’s gonna want her old life back.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.” I set the glass down and stared in the void of brown liquid inside.
“I…I let her see her sister the other day, and she…she had this look in her eye. Not of regret, but of this longing. Her sister was a few feet away, and she couldn’t call to her, couldn’t touch her, couldn’t even wave to her.
Clearly, she was hurt: being so close yet so far from the people she loves most. I felt bad knowing she was in pain and not being able to do anything about it. ”
“Then, what’s the alternative? Are you gonna let her go when all this is over?”
“Even if I wanted to, I can’t. Her hands are painted in blood now. There’s no way she’ll be able to go back without the feds side-eyeing her about the murders.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I hear you.”
“I just wish this life could be enough for her. That I could be…” I trailed off as my throat started to burn from something other than the alcohol. Shaking my head, I tried to mask the pain with another sip of my drink.
Dante smirked. “Uh-oh, sounds like somebody’s in-”
“Finish that sentence and I’ll rip your tongue out.”
He chuckled. “Since you haven’t come to terms with it yourself, I assume you haven’t told her yet.”
“No. I haven’t told her a lot of things.”
“Like…”
I shot him a look out of the corner of my eye. “I’m not on a couch, and you don’t have the credentials. Chill out.”
“I don’t need that shit for us to have a chat about what’s really on your mind. You keep holding it in and it’s gonna mess you up. Trust me.”
I looked back down. “My handler’s dying” I said aloud to someone else for the first time. I thought by stalling telling people, it’d delay the inevitable. Instead, it was just gnawing on my brain, anxious to escape the cage I’d shoved it in.
“Oh shit,” Dante murmured.
“I’ll be taking over our operation once he’s gone. Life will be quieter. I’ll be able to give her some aspects of the life she wants, but not all of it. Not the important parts.”
“I think you’re forgetting it hasn’t been that long since she joined the dark side. You’ve gotta give her time to grieve. To heal. She’ll be alright.”
I lifted the drink to my mouth. “I hope so,” I murmured.
Dante slapped my arm with the back of his hand. “Stop stalling on telling her how you feel. L-o-v-e isn’t that hard of a word to pronounce. With all she’s been through, it’s probably the exact words she needs to hear to wipe any doubt from her mind.”
“Mhm. I’m not taking relationship advice from the one whose bride was whooping his ass on their wedding night.”
“My ring is still on her finger, isn’t it? That means I’m doing something right.”
“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. When she takes Simone and dips, I don’t wanna hear shit.”
“Man, fuck you,” he said, shoving me again. He straightened up, fiddling with his cufflinks. “I’m gonna let you mope tonight. But, take it from me: it’s better to fess up sooner rather than later.”