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luca
I’m staring at her. Her pale face is flushed, her mouth is red and swollen, and she’s curled up on her side, her arms tucked close to her chest. She’s asleep, the lines of her face softening, the dark lashes brushing her cheeks. There is something deeply wrong with whomever is pulling her strings, and I need to know more.
This woman is no hardened criminal, and she is no assassin. But she is something. A thief? Someone with hacking skills, a digital criminal? It’s hard to imagine her as a hacker, someone sitting at a computer screen, coding until her eyes hurt. She moves so naturally on the stage. I tap out a text to Dani, and she gets back to me within seconds, my phone buzzing on the kitchen counter.
We need to talk. That’s all the message is. Vague, and unspecific, and that fills me with irritation. Instead I call down to one of my guards downstairs, and tell him to ensure that Ashley doesn’t go in, or out, of the apartment, but that all her needs are seen to when she wakes up. The housekeeper will see to it that comfortable clothing is laid out for her.
For now, I have to find out exactly who has a hold over her.
And I think Dani knows.
"You know that I’m ten times smarter than you, and would be happy to take over the job if you didn’t feel you were up to it anymore, right?" Dani asks me as I sit down on the bench next to her. The harbor in front of us is steel-grey, the water lapping at the stone near where we sit, the only thing separates us from the sea are concrete barriers.
"Not interested," I say, and she smirks, her eyes fixed on the water. She was smart, picking Fan Pier Park to meet, away from our own territory, everyone we know, although with a good view of the Waterfront that one day will fall under the Greco jurisdiction, if all goes well.
"Why did you bring her home, Luca? If you wanted information on her, you could’ve sent me to do it." She sounds doubtful, as if she knows there must be some other reason but doesn’t want to put it into words.
When was the last time I went chasing after a woman? I’m not Ricardo. Even Gio and Matt get more action than I do. I’ve been the stalwart hold-out. No woman has caught my eye, or captured my attention for more than a single hour since our family suffered our devastating loss.
"Because," I say, and my mind is whirring, the truth, the truth, how much of it can I share? How much does she know, and how much is it safe for me to say? I don’t know, and it makes the muscles in the back of my neck tense up.
"I want you to look into a few things," I say. "See what you can find out about her."
"She’s got a record, for one," Dani turns to look at me, the breeze tugging at her hair, twisted into thick braids on either side of her neck. It’s a childish look, but on her, is elegant. I wonder when I’m going to lose her to a man, to motherhood. The thought is irritating to me, and I push it away. Dani’s always put our family first, before her interests, just like me.
"She’s got a record," I repeat, and she nods. "But that’s not all, is it?"
"No," Dani says. "It’s not. She’s working for someone. They put her in Cascade, slipped her right past Heather. It was laughably easy, considering how Heather holds open auditions and free classes for any girl who wants to dance."
"What better way to get fresh blood in if not to train them ourselves?" I point out and Dani makes a face. "You don’t agree."
"I do agree, but it left us vulnerable. A girl got in, was placed in the exact right spot to infiltrate our computing systems."
"Well thank fuck we keep nothing useful on them," I remind her. "That’s why I’ve kept to our physical-only rule." I look out at the water, the cold wind ruffling my hair, and a shiver runs through me.
"She didn’t get anything on those computers," Dani says, and there’s a note of triumph in her voice. "But I still don’t know who pushed her in our direction."
"Is there anything we can use?"
"No, but?—"
"What is it?"
"Her apartment, the building. It’s got a lot of girls. It’s an older building, and they’re packed in like sardines. I’m wondering if..."
"Some answers might be there?" I ask and then nod, the silent go-ahead. "Find out what you can. And tell me everything. Until then?—"
"You’ll keep her distracted, and if she’s truly with you now as some kind of plant, whoever sent her will feel like he’s succeeded," Dani replies with a smile. "And that’ll keep him complacent."
"So complacent he fucks up," I mutter and get to my feet.
"We can only hope."
Back at my condo, I head up in the elevator, a bag in my hand. The housekeeper is waiting for me in the lobby, her coat buttoned up, a scarf covering her hair, the keys in her hand.
"Miss Morrow woke, and then took a shower, sir," she tells me, her face calm, and her voice even. "And is in the kitchen, having lunch."
"Thank you," I say, and she nods, before disappearing through the front doors. Satisfaction curls in my gut and I walk toward the elevator, my every moved tracked by one of the guards by it. He lets me onto the elevator, the private one that goes right to my top-level penthouse, and silence surrounds me as the car moves upwards.
