Page 70 of Coerced Kiss
“Yeah.” However, I’m not here to talk about Raphael. “What did you find out about the justice?”
“On paper, he’s clean.”
“No one owns him?”
“Not as far as I can see. I did a little digging, but his reputation with regard to bribes is lily white.” The corner of his mouth lifts. “Not so much where women are concerned. That one is a player. He’s got a long list of mistresses under his belt.” His smile stretches into a humorless grin. “Excuse the pun.”
“Anything else?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary.”
I stand. “Keep tabs on him.”
He squints at me. “What am I looking for? Something to use against him?”
“Anything,” I say in a clipped voice. “If he farts, I want to know where and when.”
“Got it.” Dante follows my lead, pushing to his feet. “Why the sudden interest in the justice? Is he someone we need to worry about?”
“Not yet.” I straighten my jacket. “But he may become a problem.”
He narrows his eyes, scrutinizing me through the slits. “Why do I get the feeling your business with him is personal?”
I don’t mind telling him, “It’s personal all right.”
“Does Luigi know?”
“Not yet, and I prefer to keep it that way.” I add with a tight jaw, “For now.”
At some point, when Anya starts to show, Luigi will demand answers. I won’t be able to keep the truth from him for long, and he’s not going to like it. My alibi is pregnant with the child of a justice who holds a lot of power in the state. People with those kinds of ties are a danger to the business. Luigi will see it as another motivation to kill her.
Dante raises his hands. “Don’t look as if you’re about to chomp off my head. What’s said between us stays in this room.”
Yes, it does. That’s why he’s the only man I can trust with this task.
“I’ll see you tomorrow night,” he calls after me as I stalk to the elevator. “Do you want me to organize you a fake date to keep Giorgio off your back?”
I pause at the exit. The bouncer pushes the button to call the elevator.
Turning to Dante, I say, “I have a date.”
He goes still. The shock that washes over his features is a foreign look on him. Little surprises him.
The swoosh at my back announces the opening of the elevator doors. I get inside. When the first floor number lights up, the doors close on the image of Dante staring at me with a slack jaw.
CHAPTER
NINETEEN
Anya
After Saverio is gone, I read the history he mapped out for us. It’s a beautiful story. Believable. Under different circumstances, it would’ve been romantic. I bet if he tells the tale at a party, people will hang on his lips. The falseness is bittersweet, tormenting me with something I’ll never have, and as I try to make the untruth my own, a silly but deeply hurtful sentimentality settles in my chest.
Not wanting to dwell on the sweet narrative of the make-belief love story, I slam the laptop shut with a sigh. This isn’t my life. My life is a lot more complicated than the one in the Word document. For now, Saverio may pay my medical bills, an arrangement I’m both grateful for and uncomfortable with, but when our fake relationship comes to an end, I still have to take care of my baby and my mom. Making sure I’m financially independent remains my priority, which means my job still comes first.
I grab my bag and test if Saverio is good for his word by deactivating the alarm by the front door before unlocking and opening it.
One of the men in the dark suits steps up. “Can I get you anything, Ms. Brennan?”