He doesn’t even try to explain himself. Although I’m not sure I’d listen, either.
I’ve made up my mind; I’m pissed at him.
He deserves my wrath for what he’s done.
We ride in silence all the way up to the compound. I punch in the code at the front gate, and the wrought-iron fence opens.
It’s slow, takes several long drawn-out seconds before I hit the gas and pull up out front.
Heading out of the car, Dante greets us, which I find quite unusual.
“Luca,” he says, and there’s a smile on his face, but I’m not buying it.
He’s never happy to see me. I’m the son he wishes he never had. I’m sure if Mom got pregnant with another child, he’d be gleeful that he might be able to manipulate and control him, make him the heir to the Ricci empire.
That’s not me, and yet, here I am, forced to work under Dante.
“Come on inside; we have quite a bit to discuss.” Dante gestures for us to follow as he heads up the front stairs and opens the door, granting us entrance inside the compound.
I leave my bag just inside the door, take off my shoes and winter coat. The house is plenty warm, a little too warm for my liking. Practically like I’m in hell. Maybe I am. Dante is the devil.
“I thought we were starting work in the morning.” Ashton is right on my heel and he steps beside me, placing his bag on the opposite side of the door before hanging up his coat and removing his shoes.
“I have a reconnaissance mission, and unfortunately, these types of jobs happen under the cover of night.” Dante leads us farther into the house, to his office.
Ashton and I step inside. I barely glance at him, the tension thick between us.
“Tell us about the assignment.” Ashton is the first to speak, not the least bit reluctant to get started on a mission.
At this point, I haven’t been forced to do much. Learning to shoot wasn’t exactly a fun assignment, but I wasn’t killing anyone. I was hitting a target. Now, I’m pretty good at it, but I hope that’s not going to be part of our next task.
“As you know, we control a certain territory. Someone has been smuggling goods just outside of Blue Sky Resort.” Dante pulls up a map on his phone, showing us the location. “This dirt road is hardly ever used, especially in winter. Well, it turns out that’s where their operation is. At the end of the road, there’s an old building that’s been shuttered. I need you both to do some surveillance work, take some photographs, find out exactly what they’re smuggling. Is it drugs or weapons? I need to know as much as I can, how many men there are, bring me back details. Can you both handle that?”
“Yes, sir.” Ashton is quick to agree to help.
“Yeah, we can handle surveillance. Is there a location where we should be hiding?” Since we aren’t familiar with the terrain, I don’t want us to be spotted.
“I don’t have enough information to help with that, just stay out of sight. Kill the lights on the car, park and hide the vehicle, if you have to, and travel on foot the rest of the way. I’m sure you both can use your heads and figure out the best way to get intel. The shipment happens around midnight. You’re dismissed.”
Dante hands Ashton a folder with information. There isn’t much, but it does detail the information that Dante is looking for, and there’s a place to mark in as much information as possible.
We head out of his office and retrieve our shoes and coats, heading back into the car.
While it’s not anywhere near midnight yet, we certainly don’t want to show up, lights blazing, car rumbling, and alert everyone of our presence.
“Did Dante give us anything in that file?” My attention is on the road, which at least it’s not snowing tonight. It’s cold, freezing enough to see one’s breath outside.
Ashton flips through the pages.
“Not much. Mostly, it’s what he wants us to fill in.”
I press the button on my car door and roll down my window.
“It’s fucking cold!” Ashton scowls at me. He reaches for the heater, cranking the temperature in the car.
Smirking, I grab the folder from his hand and toss it out the window.
“Are you fucking insane? We need that.”
