MATTEO
DOMINIC’S GONE, ANDso are the two men who were closest to him. I keep my hand at Amalia’s waist and turn us both as if I’m enjoying the music, but I’m watching everything carefully. Whatever the bad news was, Dominic isn’t dealing with it out here in front of everyone.
“He went left,” Amalia says against my shoulder. “Past the bar.”
There’s a set of doors over that the waiters go through. Service area, probably, or some hallway that leads to private rooms.
“We should get closer,” she says.
I want to do exactly that, but Dominic left a few guys posted near the dance floor, and they pretend to chat while watching the room. If we head for the doors looking too eager, someone will notice.
“Let me get us drinks,” I say.
She steps back from me with a smile that would convince anyone watching that I just said something charming. “Get me more champagne.”
A waiter passes and I grab two flutes off his tray, then I steer Amalia along the edge of the room as if we’re just looking for somewhere quieter to talk. There’s a couple making out near a pillar, and an older man telling a story to people who clearly want him to stop. Nobody’s paying attention to us, which is exactly what I want.
The doors are closer now. One of them is propped open a few inches, and there’s a hallway behind it with dimmer lighting and none of the gala noise. I hand Amalia her glass and lean in toward her as if I’m whispering something intimate.
“Through there?” she breathes.
“If we can get past whoever’s watching it.”
But when I glance over, the guy who was by the doors has wandered off toward the bar. Probably bored, or somebody called him. The gap’s open now, and I’m not about to waste it.
I tip my head toward the doors, and we slide through together. The hallway’s long, with a few closed doors along one side and what looks like a coatroom at the far end. The carpet’s thick enough to muffle sounds, which is good for us but also good for anyone trying to sneak up on us, so I glance back every few feet.
“Voices,” Amalia whispers, gripping my sleeve.
I hear them now too. They’re coming from one of the rooms ahead. We move forward, keeping close to the wall, and stop just short of the door that’s open a crack. I can’t see Dominic, but I bet he’s in there.
“...don’t care how it happened,” someone says. It’s not Dominic. “Somebody’s been talking. The buyer knew details he had no business knowing. Times, routes... All of it.”
A mole? I glance at Amalia, and she meets my eyes, her brows lifting. It looks like one of Dominic’s men babbled too much, and now Dominic is aware of it.
“Then we find out who,” Dominic says. “But I don’t want anyone to know about this. Pull everyone who handled the last two shipments.”
This is better than anything we could’ve planned for. A mole inside Dominic’s circle is exactly what we need, and if we can find them before he does, we’ve got something. A way in, or apiece to trade. Amalia tugs my sleeve again and nods down the hallway.
We quickly round the corner and press ourselves against the wall. I take a peek around. A man stops in front of a door that’s cracked open and closes it.
“Anyone in there?” another voice calls from somewhere I can’t see.
“No, it’s clear,” the guy says.
Wait a second. He didn’t check. He pulled the door shut and answered before he could’ve looked inside. Who would be able to check a room just by taking a glance through the crack in the door? No one.
Amalia’s fingers tighten on my arm.
If a guy says a room’s clear without checking it, either he’s lazy or he’s covering for whoever’s in there. And with Dominic hunting for a mole, lazy isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Maybe there’s a second one. Maybe this guy and whoever’s in that room are working together, and the mole isn’t one person but two.
Or maybe I’m reaching, and the guy just glanced in earlier and didn’t bother again. But I don’t think so.
The problem is I can’t see his face from here. If we’re going to use him, I need to know who he is.
Amalia leans in, so her mouth is near my ear. “We need to find out who he is.”
“Working on it,” I whisper back.
