Page 57 of Chaos & Carnage
“It won’t be a problem,” he states confidently, shutting me up as his fingers fly over the keys.
Taking the seat beside him, I watch as he pulls up the website for the casino, along with another window that’s full of the same code I saw last time, which still means absolutely nothing to me.
I kinda zone out while he works, my mind already moving forward to the next part of my plan. Blue will handle all the cameras for me, but I still have to get into the building and figure out how I’m going to get close enough to Giovanni to put my blade through his throat.
“I’m in.”
“That was quick.” I spin to stare at the screen.Nope, it’s still a bunch of gibberish.
“Don’t sound so surprised.”
Ignoring him, I watch as multiple windows appear on the various monitors on his desk, each showing a different view of the casino. Most cover the main casino floor, with others focused on doorways, stairwells, hallways, and elevators. I notice that none show the inside of Giovanni’s suite.
“Is this all of them?”
“Yup. I can put the recordings on a loop. That way, once you enter the casino, no one watching the cameras will be able to see you.”
“Okay, yeah, do that.”
I wait while he gets to work, only a few minutes passing before he states, “Done.”
Squinting at the screen, I watch one of the windows showing a view of the casino floor. “I don’t see a difference,” I say after a moment.
“I’ve grabbed an hour’s worth of footage for each camera, but I’ll wait until you’re about to go in to switch over the feeds. That way, you’ll have more time and someone is less likely to catch on before you get into the building. I’ll also turn off the building alarms when you get there.”
“Okay,” I agree with a nod.
“I won’t be able to do much, but I can keep an eye on the cameras from here, and if I see that you’re in trouble, I can set off the fire alarm or something—should distract them for long enough to allow you to escape.”
With a nod, I get to my feet. “Thank you,” I say sincerely, meaning it. What he’s doing might seem small, but it’s the difference between me making it to Giovanni undetected and getting caught at the front door. For all I know, Giovanni could have orders to shoot me on sight or to have me carted off to god knows where. If either of those things were to happen, I’d never make it close enough to him to do what needs to be done.
He rummages through a desk drawer, finding a black burner phone before grabbing a pen and paper and jotting down a phone number. “Here. Text this number when you’re about to go in and I’ll switch the feeds over.”
With a small smile, I take the torn piece of paper from his hand and walk out, ready to get on with the next phase of my hare-brained plan.
Chapter 21
I’m crouching in the shadows provided by a building opposite Bella Antonella, watching the doormen as they pull open the doors for an elegant couple. He’s dressed in a black and white tuxedo, and she’s in a shimmering silver dress that hugs her hips and flares around her legs, showing off a lot of pale skin.Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be going in that way.
Not only am I definitely not wearing appropriate clothing, but with weapons strapped to my thighs, I’d stand out like a sore thumb. Best to avoid the main casino floor and cross my fingers that Giovanni didn’t decide to grace his patrons with his presence tonight. Dante had informed us that it was something he enjoyed doing—being doted on by his people—but we are hoping he’s too busy holing himself up in his suite, planning our demise, to be bothered with anyone else.
One can only hope.
Darting across the street, taking care to stay out of view of the security men and cameras, I slip down a side alley that should take me to the back of the building. Careful to remain hidden, I slowly approach what looks to be a delivery entrance. One guard stands by the entrance while workers empty a van.
Pulling out my phone, I quickly text the number Blue gave me, telling him to switch over the camera feeds. I’m only left hanging for a few seconds before I receive a thumbs-up emoji in response.
Crossing my fingers that his skills are as good as his confidence, I return to watching the men unload the van. As I’m watching, a worker drops a crate of produce near the guard. Pieces of fruit go rolling everywhere, including under the van itself. Waiting, I silently plead the guard to move, and for the first time in my life, someone up above must be listening to me as with a dark scowl and a “you fucking imbecile” tossed at the worker, he bends to help.
Seeing my opportunity, I stick close to the wall, crouching low as I slink past the guard and the other workers until the darkened interior of the warehouse swallows me whole.
I don’t dare look back as I silently creep further into the building. I’m clearly in some sort of service area, with the sounds of a kitchen in full effect off to my left, the banging of pots and the shouting of chefs reaching my ears before I move away.
Soon, the noises of a working kitchen are replaced with the sound of loud music and the buzz of voices through the walls, presumably coming from the casino floor. I wonder briefly about the patrons that frequent this place. How much easier their lives must be on the other side of this wall. All fancy dinner parties and dressing up, laughing with people they secretly hate and gossiping about the latest drama.
I haven’t had an opportunity to actually experience Dante’s world, but from what little I’ve seen, I’m not sure I’d like it. All that fake niceness and dressing ugly people up in expensive suits and glamorous dresses. Of course, I’m basing most of this on the people I saw in the pews on my wedding day, which I can admit is probably a bit biased of me. I’m sure not every Antonelli is like that. However, I still can’t picture myself in that life, on Dante’s arm while we make a loop of the casino floor or host an exquisite dinner party. It’s so far from my life to date that I can’t fathom it at all.
And yet, thatisDante’s life, whether I like it or not. A life that I will somehow have to fit myself into if I plan on keeping him. He’s proven that he can slum it with the Rejects, living in Oliver’s tiny house and wearing clothes he’s visibly uncomfortable in. Once he’s back on his throne, ruling over his people, it will be my turn to prove that I can survive in his world just as easily as he’s survived in mine.