He lets out a soft breath that might be a laugh.
I keep my body loose, my face bored.
“And yet,” I say, with lack of interest in my tone, “you’re still wasting time with me.”
Dante’s gaze doesn’t leave mine as he stands from the chair and walks over to the mattress. He then drops to his knees on it causing it to dip in lightly.
He reaches out and hooks a finger beneath the strap of my dress, fiddling with the material between his fingers.
Finnic moves a step forward instantly. “Dante.”
He ignores him. “You know what’s funny?”
His finger trails upward, stopping at my collarbone. He leans in, close enough that I can feel his breath against my skin.
“You think that dousing you with some water is the worst we can do to you.”
Finnic takes another step forward. “You can’t-”
Dante finally glances back at him, eyes filled with irritation. “You’re interrupting.”
Then, to me, he speaks quietly. “Since we’ve caught Representative Armani, maybe you could use that mouth for more than just talking.”
His hand traces downward on my chest to test my reaction. I shift dramatically, trying to pull away, but the movement only triggers him.
In an instant, his grip snaps up to my throat, cutting off my air supply as his eyes bore into mine, daring me to fight him.
Fear tells me to fight, but something twisted inside me doesn’t listen.
Finnic’s voice cracks. “This isn’t necessary.”
Dante smiles. “Necessary?” he echoes. “No. But it is fun.”
He leans down until his mouth is near my ear. “We have to get him to the point of thinking you’re truly powerless,” he whispers. “So let’s see how far he’ll go to save you.”
Finnic grabs him by his arm, yanking him backwards into a standing position.
“That’s enough,” Finnic declares. “If you found the information we needed, what the fuck are we still doing here?”
Dante turns toward him, entirely unbothered.
“Interesting,” Dante says smugly. “So, that’s where you draw the line.”
Finnic’s breathing is heavy now. His hands are still shaking, even as he drops them to his sides. But he slowly takes a step back, hands lifting in a mockery of surrender, as if he hasn’t just proven how close to the edge he really is. “You said you had him?” He questions, “This is done?”
Dante shakes his head. “I said we located him. I didn’t say we were finished.”
Finnic’s jaw tightens. “If you’ve already caught her father, then she’s irrelevant. He’s the one who took the money and disappeared.”
Dante lets out a humorless breath. “Irrelevant?” he repeats. “She’s the one who put the cash in his hands. You really think she’s sitting here because she tripped into this by accident? Because she’s some clueless bystander?”
His gaze narrows at Finnic. “The boss doesn’t green light interrogations like this on people who don’t know exactly what they’re involved in.”
Finnic crosses his arms over his chest, “I get it. We’re the bad guys here, I’ve done this shit before. But taking it to that point is not something I want to be involved in, Dante.”
Dante walks up to him, standing directly face to face. He is all business now, no longer seeing this situation as a game.
“You’re apart of the fucking mob, kid! There are nolines to cross. You’re standing in a white room where everything is allowed.”
