Page 9 of The Broker
Dante’s watching me with an unreadable expression on his face. Is he impressed? Annoyed? I have no idea. “And me?”
“You were the hardest,” I admit grudgingly. “All your devices are secured. You even wipe your phone every week, the way I outline in my best practices manual. I didn’t think anyone even read that thing.”
“I read it.”
Huh. Who knew? “I had to work at it. I sent a drone outside your house to record your keystrokes. Did you know each key makes a different noise when you type? I could detect your keystrokes and get your password that way.”
The hacker monkey appears on Dante’s screen. I give him a long, pointed look. “Will you listen to me now?”
I leave a chastened trio in the break room with copies of my best practices manual. Now I’m sitting in Dante’s office, across the table from him.
“You think Verratti has a hacker.”
“He definitely does. It’s Revenant. He was vain enough to put his handle in the source code.” I tell him what I know about the man. “Revenant’s cocky, but he’s good. If you’re going to go after Verratti, we have to be prepared for Revenant to come after us.”
Dante’s lips twist. “What do you recommend we do?”
“First things first, we shore up our defenses.” He inclines his head in agreement. “I need to decrypt Verratti’s files. That’ll give me something to work with, maybe even a clue into Revenant’s real identity.”
“Okay.”
What a shocker. Dante Colonna is actually being agreeable. My demo must have rattled him more than he let on. Flushed with triumph, I continue enthusiastically. “Also, once I access their data files, we can attack. Set a trap for Revenant and take him out before he can cause too much damage.”
Dante’s expression shutters. “That could be dangerous.”
“He’s ahacker.We sit in front of computers all day. We’re basically indistinguishable from mushrooms. Take our gadgets away, and we’re powerless.”
He considers me for a long instant. I’m beginning to think he sees the situation my way when he shakes his head. “No. I’m not going to take the chance.”
“You aren’t letting me do my job,” I seethe.
“And you aren’t letting me do mine,” he replies calmly. “This discussion is over.”
Dante’s got his master-of-the-universe, I-know-best expression again, and Icannotwith him. The Broker can go fuck himself. “Fine,” I snap, jumping to my feet. “Whatever you say. I don’t have time to argue with you. Call me when you decide that you need my help.”
He steps in front of me, blocking my way. “Why don’t you have time to argue with me?”
“Because I have a date tonight,” I throw at him.
If I’m expecting a reaction, I don’t get one. He simply raises an eyebrow, as calm and collected as ever. “What about Angelica?”
“Are you suggesting I shouldn’t date because I’m a single mother?” I snarl.
He gives me an exaggeratedly patient look. “I meant, who is watching Angelica while you’re out?”
“Oh.” I feel exceedingly foolish. Of course, he doesn’t care that I have a date. He’s just concerned about his niece. “She’s having a sleepover at Mabel’s house. Bye, Dante.”
6
VALENTINA
I’m still fuming as I text Mabel’s mom, Zadie, to confirm that Angelica’s sleepover is still on. She responds immediately in the affirmative. Dante brings out theworstin me. Around everyone else, I am calm and controlled, and I think before I speak. Not with Dante. He goads me, and in response, I blurt out the first thing on my mind and then regret the hell out of it. Like telling him I’m going on a date. Why did I do that?Not a clue.
Dumb move, Valentina.Really dumb.
I can’t believe he wouldn’t listen to me about the Verratti hacker. Impossible, infuriating,stubbornman. I wasn’t proposing another field trip, dangerous or otherwise, but did he listen to me long enough to find that out?No.I’m a skilled hacker and keep a detailed dossier on every mafia organization in Italy. Did he give me a chance to tell him what I knew?Of course not.
I picture Dante roaring into Bergamo in one of his idiotic sports cars and falling flat on his face. It’s a glorious vision. I imagine a movie car chase, with Family Verratti shooting at Dante’s precious automobile, smashing out the tires. Giant Humvees colliding into the red vehicle from either side, squashing it like a bug. . .