Sleeping with the Beast

I told him the story, start to finish, and told him exactly what the Dusters want. Amber shifted from foot to foot the whole time, clearly not enjoying the way Dante stared at the pair of us with a slightly annoyed expression that only got worse by the time I finished.

“At the end of our conversation, I told them I’d do it,” I said, finishing up. “As far as they’re concerned, that’s where we left it.”

“So you accepted this offer then,” he said. “But it’s strange that you’d be here telling me about it.”

“I won’t lie to you, I considered it, but Amber here talked some sense into me.”

He glanced at her with a curious look. “You’re the girl from Chicago. The one that got shot.”

She flinched. “That’s me.”

“Bad-ass you survived. Good for you.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

“Why’d you talk him out of this?”

“Honestly?” she asked.

“Go ahead, be honest.”

“I like Mona.”

He laughed. “Fair enough.”

“We came up with a better plan,” I said. “Something that’ll benefit both of us and might actually win you this war, if you play it right and get a little lucky.”

“Fill me in then, because I’ve been banging my head up against the Dusters for the last few months and haven’t gotten anywhere.”

“They think I’m on their side, which means I can play them. You give me the code to one of your warehouses—”

“No,” he said, interrupting me. “Absolutely not.”

I gestured impatiently. “You have to give them something real or else this won’t work.”

“Then this won’t work.”

“You give them a real code to one of your warehouses. I’ll spin them a story about only being able to get one. When they go to try to plunder the place, you ambush them, kill off whoever showed up, and pray that the leadership was dumb enough to be down on the ground floor.”

Dante watched me carefully. “There’s a lot that can go wrong. They might not believe you, and they might not act on your information, or they might want more first, and their leadership might just send a few goons to do the dirty work.”

“All of that’s true,” I admitted.

“So why would I risk one of our most important locations for something with so many obvious holes?”

I hesitated, but Amber spoke up before I could.

“Because you’re losing.”

Dante looked at her, surprise in his eyes. Hell, even I was a little shocked. I knew she had balls and hated the Leones, but I didn’t think she’d come out and say something like that right to Dante’s face.

“I’m not so sure about that,” he said.

“Yes, you are,” she said. “Your Don just got gunned down in the street. Now you’re scrambling while the Dusters plan their next attack. We all know what’s going to happen, sooner or later, and right now it seems like you’re doing nothing but delaying the inevitable.”

I stared at her, openly shocked, and took a big gulp, preparing for Dante to flip the fuck out. Instead, he laughed.

“Goddamn,” he said. “I like a woman with balls, but listen to you. That must’ve taken some courage.”

“No, no courage,” Amber said. “Just a whole lot of resentment.”

His laughter turned to curiosity. “I suppose that if anyone should feel resentful of the family, it’s you.”

“Glad you understand.”

He tapped a fingernail against his glass then stood and walked around behind the desk. He pulled open a drawer, and I was halfway convinced he was grabbing a weapon. Instead, he took out a cigar, clipped the end, and lit it. The pungent, thick smoke curled up as he puffed on it for a few tense, silent seconds.

“All right,” he said finally.

“All right?” I glanced at Amber then back at him. “What’s that mean?”

“It means we’ll follow through with your plan. I’ll give you a warehouse. I’ll even give you our best one, just to make it a nice, fat, juicy target. But if this all goes wrong, I’m pinning it on you.”

“Fine,” I said, laughing. “If this goes wrong, I’m fucked on both ends.”

“That you are.” Dante puffed on his cigar then gestured with it. “Get out of here. I need to think on it.”

“I wouldn’t tell any of your guys,” Amber said. “If this gets out, we’re dead.”

He eyed her. “My guys are trustworthy.”

“Even trustworthy people make stupid mistakes,” she said, staring right back.

He nodded once. “I’ll keep it as close as I can.”

“Good.” She turned and walked to the door.

I threw back my drink and put the glass down. “It’s been a pleasure, Dante.”

“Make sure you sell this,” he said. “You’re a thief, so I’m guessing you’re a good actor.”

“As good as I can be.”

“Then act, thief. And make sure they buy it all the way.”

I nodded once and followed Amber back out in the hall. We wordlessly passed the door guard and I was too busy reeling from that encounter to say anything to him. We made it midway down the hall before I caught up with Amber, grabbed her wrist, and tugged her into a side room.