His mouth twitches, but not into a smile. “Just the words I wanted to hear.”
He doesn’t move away from the door. He lingers there, weirdly looking as if he wants to block me from it. Safeguarding isn’t the right word. Domineering fits better, and that realization settles eerily in my chest.
“Were you in there awhile?” I question.
Dante follows my line of sight to the door, then looks back at me slowly. “Had to make sure she wasn’t going to try and escape again.”
I scoff. “Her ankles are tied together. I don’t see her running from us this time.”
Dante’s jaw flexes. “You’d be surprised what people manage when they’re desperate.”
“Yeah, and to be honest, I can understand why she would be.” My eyes narrow. “Considering her father has already been caught and she’s still sitting in there like a fish out of water.”
His stare holds clear admonition. “Watch it.”
I take a step closer, lowering my voice. “Viktor has him, Dante. Whatever leverage we thought we needed from her is gone. So explain to me why she’s still locked in that room like she’s the answer to our endgame.”
He doesn’t answer right away. He just adjusts his glovesagain, slower this time, like he’s buying himself time to think or to keep from saying something he can’t take back.
He speaks plainly. “She knows more than she’s letting on.”
“Oh, come on. You really think that girl in there has a bunch of hidden secrets?”
He shifts his weight, still standing in the way of the door.
“You’re not seeing the whole board,” he says.
He taps his foot on the ground a few times before speaking again. “You’re looking at one piece and calling the game.”
“And you’re holding onto a piece that doesn’t matter anymore,” I say, tone laced with irritation.
His foot stops tapping. “That’s where you’re wrong.”
I exhale slowly through my nose, trying to keep my patience in check. “You expect me to believe our boss is cool with us questioning this girl the next few days when we have the main key to everything sitting in another fucking warehouse?”
Dante nods. “Viktor signed off on it, which means our boss did. So, yes, I do believe that.”
I let out an annoyed huff. “Okay.”
His eyes harden. “Are we back to having a problem again?”
“I’m asking why,” I say. “Because from where I’m standing, this whole thing should’ve ended an hour ago, if notlonger than that. Seems to me that you’ve known her father has been apprehended for an immense amount of time.”
Silence sits between us.
“She knows more than she’s saying,” Dante says, as if he wants that to end the conversation.
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.” He states firmly.
“Because she told you she knew more, or you’re just assuming because you see the worst in everyone?”
His expression doesn’t change, but something shifts behind his eyes.
“Just take it from me, kid. People like her always know more than they let on.”
I watch him more closely than I usually do. His tension is tight in his shoulders and the way his stance stays anchored to that door is as if it’s an extension of him.
