I stood straighter, fighting the fear that was running through me.I’m not a kid anymore.She took one deep inhale before pulling the cigarette away and exhaling in my direction.
“Why? Is he your boss or something?”
There was a pause, and then the entire place burst out in laughter. I took the time to look around. All of them seemingly thought I was the funniest goddamn comedian on the planet.
“What's so funny?”
The girl wiped fake tears away, turning the serious mob boss act back on.
“I'mthe boss,” she said. She took another drag of the cigarette. “Now, tell me what you want with him.”
“Ideally?” I asked with a shrug. “I want to kill him. But I’d settle for maiming.”
She raised a brow at me.
“And why is that?”
“He's my father. That should be explanation enough.”
She looked me up and down again, taking her time, and then she waved off her men.
“Interesting. Let's sit, shall we? Someone get her a drink!”
We took a seat at one of the tables, just me and her, even though I noticed her men were still standing around, waiting for me to make a wrong move.
When they brought vodka to the table, I didn’t even flinch. Whatever it took to get some intel on my father.
And I got a lot more than I expected.
As it turned out, my father was blackmailing her. He had started as a client, but then in jail he somehow got ahold of some information, including some super sensitive hideouts her organization used. One of them was the one I’d walked into.
“That fucker doesn’t know when to walk away,” Dahlia, my new criminal underlord friend, growled and threw back another serving of vodka. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and shot me a look, her glasses gleaming under the lights. “If he didn’t know so much more than he should, I would have shot him point-blank myself already.”
“You still can,” I said and swirled the liquid around in my glass. My mood had soured the longer I stayed in her presence. Not because of her—she was turning out to be an important person to have on my roster—but because the chances of catching my father seemed bleaker and bleaker.
“You’re funny. The thing is that I have no idea who he told about our hideouts, and until I know, I’m not putting my people or business in danger.”
I looked around, noticing the waitresses had dropped their cover, sitting in one of the booths and smoking with the men.
“What business is it anyway?”
She waved me off and took a drag of her cigarette. I think she was on her fourth. Her hair had been pushed behind her ears, showing me some of the scars that littered her face and neck. My gaze lingered on a particularly deep one right under her ear, almost like she’d been stabbed. I held back my shiver at the image of someone burying a knife in her neck.
“A bit of everything. Though I don’t fuck with drugs or human trafficking. I prefer blackmail and money laundering. Hiredhelpsometimes as well, if the money’s good.”
“I’m surprised you answered me,” I muttered and finally took a big gulp of my own vodka, wincing at the taste.
“I think you and I can work together,” she said as she turned to me. “Look, if you have any questions, I’ll answer them honestly. In return, I want you to kill that motherfucker and every person who possibly knows about this place.”
“Trying to use me to do your dirty work?”
She sent me a wicked smile.
“I’m a criminal. What did you expect?”
I shook my head and sighed.
“I’ve been planning to kill him for a very long time. I can’t guarantee any others, though. But my contacts won’t say anything, so you can count them out.”
