Chapter 6 - THE WRONG ENEMY
Dante disappeared into his office for almost an hour.
When he came back, he looked calm again.
Too calm.
Mara had begun recognizing that expression.
It meant he was furious.
“Tell me what you’re planning.”
“Nothing.”
“That’s a lie.”
“Yes.”
“At least you admit it.”
He poured coffee.
“You should sleep.”
“You should stop telling me what to do.”
“That seems unlikely.”
Mara folded her arms.
“If you go after Thorne, he’ll use it against you.”
Dante looked at her.
“He murdered my father.”
“And he may be mine.”
“Biology doesn’t make him your father.”
The sentence hit harder than Mara expected.
She looked down.
“No. I guess it doesn’t.”
Dante softened.
“Mara.”
“What?”
“He doesn’t get to define you.”
“Easy for you to say.”
“No, it isn’t.”
She looked at him.
Dante took a seat.
“My father was many things. Some good. Some terrible. I spent half my life trying to become him and the other half trying not to.”
Mara sat across from him.
“Are the stories true?”
“Which ones?”
“That you’re a Mafia boss.”
A humorless smile.
“That’s a simple word for a complicated business.”
“That's not an answer.”
“No.”
“Are you a criminal?”
“Yes.”
The honesty startled her.
“Have you hurt people?”
“Yes.”
“Killed people?”
Dante’s eyes held hers.
Mara already knew the answer.
He didn’t say it.
He didn’t need to.
She leaned back.
“Then why should I trust you around my child?”
His face changed.
“Our child.”
“That doesn’t answer me.”
“No.”
He looked toward the window.
“I’m not going to pretend I’m a good man.”
“Great parenting pitch.”
“But I can promise you something.”
“What?”
“Your child will never be forced to become me.”
Mara stared at him.
His phone rang.
Gabriel’s voice came through.
“We found the shooter.”
“Alive?”
“For now.”
Dante stood.
Mara did too.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“You don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“I know exactly what you’re going to do.”
“Mara.”
“You’re going to beat a name out of him.”
Gabriel raised an eyebrow.
Dante looked almost annoyed.
“Probably.”
Mara grabbed her coat.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“The man shot at me too.”
“You are absolutely not watching an interrogation.”
“Then ask him nicely.”
Dante stared at her.
Ten minutes later, they were in a warehouse.
The shooter was tied to a chair.
Mara stayed near the door.
Dante stepped forward.
“Who hired you?”
The man spat blood.
“Go to hell.”
Dante sighed.
“Mara, cover your ears.”
“What?”
The shooter suddenly looked nervous.
“Wait.”
Mara did not cover her ears.
Dante leaned down.
“You fired at a pregnant woman.”
“I didn’t know she was there.”
“Wrong answer.”
The man cracked.
“Thorne! Senator Thorne!”
Dante stepped back.
“Directly?”
“No. Through Mercer.”
“Who’s Mercer?”
The shooter laughed.
“You don’t know?”
Dante’s face tightened.
The man looked at Mara.
“Lady, you better ask your boyfriend who actually runs his organization.”
Dante froze.
The shooter grinned.
“Thorne didn’t order your father’s death alone.”
May you like
He looked straight at Dante.
“He had help from inside the Vale family.”
