Page 30 of The Broker

It’s the laugh that pushes me over the edge. So, later that night, I give in to my temper. I open my laptop, hack into Dante’s account, and use his credit card to order Viagra on the dark web. I pay extra for a courier to deliver it to Dante at Grazie on Friday at eight p.m.

Ideally, when he’s smack dab in the middle of his date.

It’s going to beglorious.

Now, I just have to figure out how to plant a bug on Dante. Because I really,reallywant to listen to the train wreck.

15

DANTE

“She’s going out on a date,” I explode. I’m still fuming from Valentina’s revelation last night. Leo had the misfortune of calling me on my drive to Brescia with a question and, therefore, gets to hear me vent. “On Saturday. She and Rosa are double dating.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Valentina is going out on a date on Saturday,” I say through clenched teeth. “With some guy called Neil Smith.”

“Oh.” Leo digests my news. “Can I give you some advice, Dante?” He continues before I can decline. “You and Valentina have been circling each other like two boxers in a ring foryearsnow.”

“She hates me.”

“Better hate than indifference, my friend,” Leo shoots back. “But she is not indifferent to you, and you’recertainlynot indifferent to her. If you want to go out with her, then tell her that. Ask her out on a date. Take her to a nice restaurant, preferably someplace that isn’t Grazie. Send her flowers, take her dancing. Woo her.”

“We don’t have that kind of relationship, Leo.”

“But you want to. For two years, you’ve brooded in your office when the second Thursday of the month rolls around. You got lucky with Peron; that relationship didn’t go anywhere. What if she hits it off with this guy, this Neil whatever?”

“Smith. Sounds like a fake name, if you ask me.”

Leo ignores that. “How long are you going to sit on the sidelines? You want her, then tell her. Fight for her. And while you’re at it, don’t attempt to control her the way your brother did.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I nearly ram into the Toyota driving entirely too slowly in front of me in the left lane. Idiot. I lean on my horn to express my displeasure.

“Somebody’s in a mood today.” Leo’s voice is amused. “Don’t yell at her, and don’t diminish her hacking skills. Roberto hated that she was good at computers, you know? He wanted her to be dependent on him for everything.”

I keep forgetting that Leo’s known Valentina for even longer than I have. He was one of the few people who tried to stop the abuse but got banished from Venice for his efforts. “I don’t yell at her,” I say defensively. “And I don’t. . .” My voice trails off. I did discount her hacking skills, and she broke into my computer to prove me wrong.

“You yelled at her after the farmhouse,” Leo contradicts. “Then you high-handedly forbade her to go on more field missions without your permission.”

“Because it was an insane risk,” I say, an edge in my voice. The Toyota finally gets out of my way, and I hit the accelerator. “My brother beat her, Leo. I keep her from being reckless. Those are not the same things.”

“It wasn’t an insane risk,” Leo counters calmly. “It was a carefully planned operation. We had that farmhouse under observation for over a week. She had Andreas with her,plusI provided remote support. There was nothing reckless about what she did. She needed the files on that computer, so she came up with a plan to get it. She did herjob.You would have done the same thing.”

“It doesn’t matter what I would have done. I am a trained killer, while Valentina has never fired a gun in her life.”

“She didn’t go in there alone.”

“If she wanted that computer, she could have sent me in to get it.”

“You wouldn’t have been able to get past the lock,” Leo points out. “She’s not your brother’s abused girlfriend any longer, Dante. She’s a competent, capable member of our team. You’re so hung up about what happened in the past that you’re fucking up the present.”

There’s a measure of truth to Leo’s words, but he’s not entirely right. I don’t see the broken girl in a hospital bed when I look at Valentina. I seeher.She’s smart and beautiful, and when she walks into the room, the air crackles with her presence.

And if something were to happen to her, it wouldwreckme.

“You said Valentina is not indifferent to me. Why do you say that?”

Leo laughs out loud, the bastard. “That’s all you’re going to get from me. If you want to know more, I suggest you talk to Valentina.”