I know I’m smart, but smart has never protected me from being… wrong. Wrong shape. Wrong vibe. Wrong everything.
Just wrong.
Julie makes a muffled shushing noise, like she’s trying to calm a frightened cat. “You’re brilliant. And brave. And you’re not staying in that car one more night.”
“Please don’t kick me out. I tried going to a women’s shelter, but I only stayed one night. I think Luca called around and pulled some strings.”
“We’renotkicking you out.” Julie sniffs. “And this Luca person can call as many times as he wants. We won’t be intimidated.”
That’s not what I’m worried about. Dante could stand up to my father if he wanted to, but they’re friends. Good friends. Longtime friends.
“Please don’t send me back,” I whisper.
The words taste foreign. I don’t beg. I don’t ask. But survival strips dignity fast. Looking up through my eyelashes, I regard Dante, who’s watching me intently with his fingers steepled. He does look angry, but I can’t read him the way I can read my father. I wish I knew where I stood.
Dante sucks his teeth. “You’ve got a degree in… what? Transgenic mice or some shit?”
That startles a laugh out of me, though I smother it quickly. “Biomedical engineering.”
He rolls his eyes. “Even worse.”
Julie wrinkles her nose at him. “Be nice. She’s a genius.”
“Of course she is. Vito never did know what to do with brilliance. Especially when it didn’t come with a dick. The man’s lost his damn mind; this isn’t how we treat family.”
“Honey…” Julie warns. As if I didn’t know this already.
Dante rubs his face. “I’m thinking, Julie. Christ. We don’t have any open jobs in the front office. And I’m not putting her in the damn casino. Vito would go offline and then I’d have to listen to him whine for an hour. But…” He tilts his head to one side. “You’re good at organizing, Minerva?”
“Like… data?” I hope he’s not asking about the sort of things my father organizes. I’ve never been involved in his shadybusiness dealings, and I have no plans to become a pawn in some game of Dante’s.
“Spreadsheets. Calendars.” Dante waves a hand. “Can you keep track of information?”
I give a wary nod.
“And you know how to do research, if you need to.” Dante nods in agreement with himself, but I’m still clueless about what he has in mind. “Eh, this could work.”
Julie bristles. “What could work? What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that I have a job for her that could start now. Come on, Minerva, we’re headed down.”
“Down?” I ask. “Down where?”
“You’ll see. Leave the rat.”
I reach for Kepler’s carrier. “He’s a ferret.”
Dante, already halfway out the door, calls back, “No one cares.”
I don’t want to be separated from Kepler, but Julie gives me a comforting smile. “We’ll leave him here, and Renee will make sure that nobody comes in while we’re gone. As for my husband, don’t let him bully you, Minerva. If he doesn’t help you, I will.”
I want to believe her, but she reminds me so much of my mother, and my mother has never stood up for me. On the other hand, Julie’s been really nice so far. Even if she can’t help me, I can’t see her or Renee doing anything to hurt Kepler. I follow Dante, and Julie brings up the rear.
Dante leads us back to the elevators, but instead of going back to the ground floor, we go to an even lower level. It’s cooler down here. I can hear thewhooshof skates on ice, the sounds of men’s voices, the thud of pucks hitting boards.
I’ve always found the team, and athletes in general, to be intimidating. They’re big, loud, and muscular. They’re men like Luca, men who can use their size and strength to take what they want, wielding both their words and their bodies like weapons.My skin feels too hot. I don’t want to flinch around every big man I meet, but patterns don’t break themselves.
Dante is already walking, so I follow. Because everyone in my life controls me—but Dante? He commands. We walk toward the ice, and even through my fear, I have to admit that I’m curious. If this plan of Dante’s will get me out from under my father’s thumb, and away from Luca, then I’ll do anything.
