“Perhaps I am being impatient,” Eivor mumbles. “That, or you’re playing me. I don’t like to be played.” His eyes narrow.
I’m realizing my position in this moment.
I’m not a protector. I’m not on the side of the good guys. I’m on the side of the enemy.
I’ve been on this side before. I’ve been hired by gruesome and disgusting men do protect their children, their wives, and even them, but something about this time is weighing on me. Knowing that Alessio has married Rosalie to do what’s best for both of their families and Eivor is simply trying to get into theirpants and discover how to use it against them… It makes all of the other men playing a dangerous game seem somehow pale in comparison; because at least they were willing to be honest to their enemies about what they were up to.
“You’re playing them,” I remind him. “I’m the pawn you’re using between them.”
He chuckles. “That you are. My concern is that they’ve turned you against me.”
My jaw tightens further. “No one has turned me against anything.” It’s the truth. I stand staunchly where I always have. The only difference is that Eivor is unaware of the fact that I’ve always been disinterested in providing him with the Dresvanni secrets.
I may have told myself I was willing to do it before, but now? Now that I know what secrets lie within…I can’t imagine giving them to the likes of Eivor Fiorelli.
“Good,” he says and takes a swig of his drink. “Because if they had…well, I’d have to kill you.” His expression falls flat.
I know he’s serious.
Still, after a second he laughs at me. His eyes the bright and ever-changing emotions of a mad-man. Whatever goes on inside this man’s head is unknown to me. It makes me uneasy.
I force out a chuckle in return. I can see the bloodthirsty look in Eivor’s eyes. He’s prepared to end me at any turn.
What he doesn’t know is that I’m prepared to fight back whenever I have to. I haven’t gone down yet, and I don’t plan to go down easy.
Still, if I can get out of this unscathed and without having to choke the life out of the man who is filling my bank account with fat stacks of money, I’d prefer that.
“I’ll do my best to get what you’re looking for,” I tell him, hoping that it will end what feels like an interrogation.
It doesn’t.
“What exactly do you think I’m looking for?” he asks me. “We need to be on the same page, Damian. I’m not looking for bits and pieces of information that could upset the Dresvanni. No, I’m looking for something that will give me…well, not the upper hand because I already have that.” He grins at me. “But something that will turn the tide completely. Something they can’t run from. Be it knowledge of an alliance with someone they are claiming to be enemies with, or something from their past. Their father’s past. I know he had a deep connection with the Tulos at one point. If they’re really the ones after Rosalie…well, surely they’d like to know if the Dresvanni are simply playing them as well.”
I nod slowly. “Absolutely, Mr. Fiorelli. I know exactly what you want.” I don’t break eye contact with him. My voice is low and my expression is hard. I’m serious as ever, and as he laughs and drinks. I know what I have to do.
I know exactly what I have to do the second I can get alone.
“Very good. We shouldn’t need to have this conversation again then, right?” he raises a brow.
I shake my head. “No, Sir. As long as you give me the time I need.”
He hums quietly. “Very well. There’s no real rush. Get me the information I need at your leisure, but just get it to me. I don’t care what you have to do. If it means leaving Rosalie under someone else’s protection for a while, so be it.”
A plan forms in my mind. I see the out he’s unintentionally giving me. I see where I can escape for just a while.
“If you give Rosalie a different guard at night, I can spend more time digging up the information you need,” I tell him simply.
Eivor tilts his head to the side. “That makes sense. I can do that. I’ll have two other guards watch Rosalie’s door at nightduring the time when you usually would. You’re free to do whatever you must to get me what I want.”
I nod in response. “Thank you, Mr. Fiorelli.”
“Please, call me Eivor,” he says and smiles at me. His smile makes me uneasy.
“Of course, Eivor,” I reply.
He sighs and takes his last sip of his drink before reaching for the bottle again. The man is almost never not drinking something, I’ve noticed. There’s a certain time of night when he’s almost too drunk to function. I’ve kept that knowledge in my head so that if I need to use it, it’s there.
I never know what could be the most useful to me. Now that I know he’s keeping an eye on me, and will likely be waiting impatiently for information that I’m unwilling to give him, I need all the information about him that I can get.
