Chapter Twenty #2
Her skin was exposed to the sun—clear and glowing like she had spent extra hours caring for it before leaving her house.
She looked like a foreigner who left her travel crew to shop around for items she could use in decorating her room back in Los Angeles, where she probably lived in a studio apartment with a boyfriend who had gigs at low-rated bars in town.
The tote bag she carried played off the role so well.
I blinked, unable to take my eyes off her as she walked past Elia and Upper like they were random strangers. The people in question didn’t even glance her way as she entered the restaurant, turning heads.
She took the gum from her mouth and threw it in the waste bin closest to her, and I cringed at the carelessness of her actions.
As Dog had done, she looked around, but this time, her eyes landed directly on our table, a determined smile curling at her lips as she walked towards us.
She reached us. “Oh—”
I got to my feet and placed my hand around her wrist. Before she could even start the sentence, I was pulling her away.
She yelled over her shoulder, “Hi, Cassie, bye, Cassie!”
I pushed past the door to the back room of the restaurant. Having glanced at the layout of the building in the car, I set my pace for the second door on the left, pushed it open, and shoved her inside, her back hitting the wall.
I locked the door behind me and turned.
She was looking at me with surprise, and that was when I realized the room wasn’t exactly as large as the layout had shown, but it was big enough to put a five-foot space between us.
“Wow,” she said breathlessly, leaning away from the wall. “Talk about taking me back to high school.”
“You never went to high school.”
“That’s a very keen observation, Dad. Thanks for reminding me that I had a pretty shitty childhood.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“You called me Sport at the poolside; now we’re almost even, unless you call me Sport again. I make no promises—”
I closed the distance between us, my palm slamming on the wall, an inch above her head, and a gasp left her, wide eyes staring up at me.
The bright light in the storage room popped out the freckles on her cheek.
I could smell whatever treatment she used on her hair, and in a swift moment, I was back on that roof with—Matter at hand.
“Did you forget what I told you the last time we saw each other? If you caused any problems for me, the drowning would seem like a walk in the park?”
“You’re the one who dragged me in here like you wanted to fuck my brains out.”
That made my thoughts cease. “No, I did not.”
She relaxed, her lips curving in a smile.
“We’re in some kind of supply closet.” She inched higher, standing on her toes as her gaze lowered to my lips, and I mirrored her action like her eyes had controlled mine.
“And you’re so close; you’re towering over me.
” Her teeth clamped on her bottom lip swiftly before releasing it.
“Now you can’t even stop looking at my lips like you want to kiss me. ”
I felt the heat between our bodies. Warm and subtle, as I locked my gaze with hers.
When I didn’t pull away, the amusement died in her eyes, and this time, when her gaze flickered to my lips, it wasn’t deliberate.
I pulled back, keeping as much distance between us as I could, mentally knocking myself in the head and shoving both hands into my pockets to avoid unintentionally getting them anywhere close to her.
It was almost as if I’d lost all sense of reason when I saw her outside that window because I couldn’t remember what I’d been thinking when I decided to pull her in here with me.
“?Qué quieres?” What do you want?
She cleared her throat, standing straighter. “Ayudarte,” she answered. To help you.
I raised a brow. “With what?” I continued in Spanish.
“With Edoardo,” she said, reaching into the tote and pulling out a flat brown paper bag.
“In here are documents proving Dion’s illegal dealings outside the knowledge of their whole syndicate.
Embezzling, cover-ups, and selling out close family secrets to rival families.
” She responded in Spanish, so fluent that it filled something empty in me.
I was just as impressed as I’d been the first time she had spoken it at long length, but unlike the last time, when I didn’t care to press on how she learned, I was now inquisitive.
She waved her hand in front of my face, and I blinked, taking my hands from my pockets and collecting the file before removing the papers and skimming through them. I glanced at her before looking back at the documents and asking, “How did you get this?”
“Some secrets are mine to keep, Elio.” She smiled.
I frowned. “This whole back-and-forth secret affair thing you have going on is starting to irritate me.”
“That sounds like a you problem. Get those papers to Edoardo and tell him you found out Dion was a sleazy bastard, and you took care of it because he was about to mess up one of your projects together. He’ll thank you and forever be indebted to you because Edoardo is traditional like that. Don’t ask me how I know.”
I eyed her; the need to ask pinched at my insides, but I dropped it. “Why are you giving me this?”
Something shifted in her eyes, and she swallowed.
I sighed. “This is not for free, is it?”
Her lips thinned as she sucked in a breath. “While I would have loved to give you those papers for free because I caused this mess, and I always fix up my shit … we need your help.”
“The audacity you have is incomprehensible.”
Frustration lined her brows. “I know we were supposed to stay indoors like good little obedient hostages. But this is pretty important.”
I knew I should walk out and ignore how tight her tone had gotten, but instead, I asked, “What do you want?”
“Almost four months ago, we were paid for a job that’s supposed to happen today; we lost contact with the client for a long time, and they only just reached out two days ago.”
“I thought you worked on your own terms.”
“It was a hard time for Street.”
I frowned. “I’m listening.”
“It’s to steal a painting.” She fished inside her bag, brought out a phone, scrolled for a bit, and turned the screen to me. “It’s a really weird painting of a chihuahua. It’s not the prettiest thing, but—it’s something these people want.”
With a clench in my jaw, I looked away from the picture as she dropped the phone back in the bag. “I’m still not following how I could help you.”
“We happen to know that in a few hours, you’ll be going to the same exhibit as—”
“Forget it.” I started stuffing the papers back into the paper bag. “Not happening in this lifetime.”
“Oh, come on, this is important.”
“And I should care because?”
“Your brother is involved.”
Maybe if I had shot him, this form of blackmail wouldn’t be possible.
“Your people remain under my protection; even if you don’t steal the—weird—chihuahua painting, they cannot reach you if you stay indoors.”
Something changed in her demeanor, her eyes widening in a plea. “We collected the money, and when we asked to refund, they refused. It’s just one job, one stupid painting, and things will go back to normal. It’s our fucking reputation on the line. We’ve never disappointed clients.”
“If you think I give an ounce of care for your reputation, then you are very ill-informed about me.”
“I know you don’t care, but those documents in your hand could open the door for you. With Edoardo.”
“I can as well do that on my own.”
Her eyes searched mine, and I knew she was trying to find a way to get me to agree. “Okay, fine, do this one thing for me, and I’ll answer one question. Anything you wanna know about me, I’ll answer truthfully.”
“Indeed?”
“Yeah, anything.”
“Hm.” I thought carefully about the question, keeping my eyes on her. “How are you related to Manuel Conti?” I asked.
Her eyes widened as she stumbled back a step. “How—” She stopped; the horror in her eyes told me I had hit the nail on the head with that question, and my curiosity grew. That name had come up during my intense research on her background, but there wasn’t enough information on their relationship.
She took a shaky breath and raised her chin a little, a stance to show courage. “I used to work for him.”
“What work?”
“I answered your question,” she snapped.
I remained quiet for a few charged seconds before I spoke. “You understand that many important people will attend the exhibit tonight.”
She sighed in relief, her shoulders dropping as the tension slipped out of her.
“Yes, we had a whole plan to get in and steal the painting after the show, but—Angelo has confiscated a lot of our equipment, and we can’t go in blindly with just comm devices and wits, and since I’ve gathered putting your brother in danger is unforgivable, you’re my best shot at this. ”
“I am not stealing a—chihuahua painting.”
“No, you’re not. You’re just getting one of us in as your plus-one; you can go back and merry away with your fellow buddies and talk about the weather when we do our thing.”
“Who am I taking along?”
She let out a breath of relief. “Any one of us. Milk is more—”
“The dress code color for women is white. Please look responsible.”
She blinked at me. “Oh, I’m not volunteering; I can’t be among social gatherings like that.”
“Can’t?”
“I mean, I can, bu—”
“Good, I’ll be done here in an hour; be ready by then. If you’re not, I’ll leave you.” I began to leave, but she held me back by my arm.
“Wai—whoa.” She squeezed my arm, and I stood there in confusion. Her gaze flickered to mine and then back to my arm. “You’ve got—real solid muscles. Do you work out?”
I wrenched my arm free from her hold. “Do you fondle people randomly? Because if you do, you must get that in check before tonight.”
“I don’t—why are you taking me? We can barely stand each other as it is.”
“I disagree. The last few minutes are proof that we can.”
“That’s because there are catches to be gained from being civil.”
“I don’t care about the catches. It appears that after recent events, killing you is more hassle than it’s worth.”
“I did warn you, but I still want to know why you’re taking me with you.”
I searched my brain for a concrete answer before standing straighter. “Because I would rather take the muscle-fondling demon I know than the one I don’t. There’s also the fact that you speak good Spanish, and I’m impressed.”
She momentarily looked surprised, but shook it off and released a sigh. “Fine. Guess I’ll see you in a few hours.”
I gave a nod and walked out of the supply closet, straightening my suit jacket the moment a female chef came out of the room opposite the one I stood in front of.
Zahra walked past me, offering the girl a wink before walking away with a confident sway to her—
Matter at hand.
I averted my gaze back to the girl, her cheeks growing red as she scurried away with assumptions about things that had never happened.
I took a sharp breath, shook my head at my situation, and returned to Casmiro.