Her eyes narrow. “Don’t do that.”
“I’m just saying. You always want more time, more intel, more waiting—”
“Because I have every right to be worried,” she snaps. “This isn’t about being scared. I don’t have a death wish. One wrong move and it all goes to hell. So yeah, I want to be sure the fire won’t burn me before we light a match.”
Her jaw is tight as she glares at me as if I’m the obstacle. I should probably back off. But I’m not afraid to take a risk or die.
“Fine,” I say. “Then forget the mole. Let’s go to Dominic ourselves.”
“What?”
“We tell Dominic there might be a mole. We don’t even have to name him, just hint that we noticed something at the gala. He’s already paranoid. We tell him that, and suddenly, we’re the loyal ones looking out for him.” I shrug. “We earn his trust. That’s what you keep saying we need, so let’s do it.”
She stares at me. “And lose a potential ally in the process. If the mole really wants Dominic gone or maybe another familytoo, we’ll just throw away somebody who might actually help us.”
“Do we even need an ally? I’m serious. It’s you and me. We’ve gotten this far together, and I think we can finish it together. We don’t need to gamble on some stranger who might sell us out. Besides, you said it yourself that maybe it’s too late anyway and Dominic figured him out.”
She lets out a loud breath and looks down. “We’re still collecting intel. We don’t know enough yet to do either of those things. Going to Dominic, reaching out to the mole... Both options could blow up in our faces because we’re working half-blind.” She rubs her forehead. “I hate it. I hate that I still can’t tell which move gets us killed.”
I get up and come around behind her chair. Before she can ask what I’m doing, I settle my hands on her shoulders and press my thumbs into the muscle there. She’s wound up tight as a spring.
“What are you doing?” she asks.
“You’ve been hunched over the table all day.” I work my thumbs along the base of her neck, and she tips her head forward. “You can decide. The mole, Dominic, waiting it out, or whatever you think is smartest. I’ll back you on it.”
She turns her head a little, glancing up at me. “You will?”
“Yeah.” My thumbs press slow circles into her shoulders. “I might argue with you first, because that’s what I do, but whatever you decide, I’m in. We’re doing this together or not at all.”
For a moment, she just looks at me, and her brow smooths out. Then her lips pull into a small smile. “That’s... thank you,” she says. “I didn’t expect that.”
“Don’t get used to it.” A grin tugs at my mouth. “I’m still going to think reaching out to the mole was a decent idea.”
She huffs out a laugh and leans back into my hands. “Decent. Sure.”
I work the last of the knots out of her shoulders, and some of the tension goes out of her. The decision can wait. Whatever she picks, I meant what I said. I’m not going anywhere.
Chapter 21
MATTEO
DOMINIC’S MAN CHECKSus for weapons at the door. He runs his hands down my sides and finds nothing, since we left everything in the car. A woman appears out of nowhere and pats Amalia down, and then we’re led through to the back room.
Dominic’s behind his desk when we come in. Two of his guards flank the door, and another one’s by the window. Amalia takes the chair to the left without waiting to be offered one, and I like that about her, because she never acts like she’s grateful to be allowed in a room.
“You asked for a meeting,” Dominic says. “So talk.”
I settle in my seat. “I saw something at the gala and figured you’d want to know about it. I mean, it seemed innocent at first, and I’m not even sure it’s related to you, but still.”
His eyes narrow a little. “Go on.”
“I was looking for the men’s room, and someone pointed me in the wrong direction. So I ended up in some hallway. Some guy came to the door that was cracked open and didn’t even look inside, just closed it, and then he yelled to someone else, who I couldn’t see, that there was nothing or no one in there. I don’t really remember, but it struck me as weird, since he didn’t even look.”
Dominic stares at me. The guard by the window straightens up.
“Are you sure?” Dominic asks.
“Yeah, of course, but maybe it was nothing.”
