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Chapter Ten
Jayden
Against my better judgment, I agreed to meet Dante.
Arriving at the lookout point, I recognized his vehicle.
I reached for my spare gun under the driver's seat and tucked it into my pants, beneath my jacket.
His driver sat in the car while Dante stepped out. His eyes raked over my body.
“Do you have a weapon?”
I wasn’t coming unarmed, that’s for sure.
“Do you?” I countered, turning the question on him. No doubt he was packing, and probably more than one gun if I knew any better.
“I didn’t come here to shoot you,” Dante said. He held up his hands in surrender as he drew nearer to me.
Enzo’s men had already tossed me out of the party. I didn’t want an ass-kicking to go along with it. “That’s close enough.” I didn’t trust him or anyone who worked for Enzo Ricci.
“Your girl, Skylar, she’s being used as a pawn for Enzo. He doesn’t trust Angelo DeLuca, and neither do I,” Dante said.
Why was he telling me this?
The sun beat down on the open expanse of land. From the overlook, there wasn’t much to see but miles of forest down below.
Sweat trickled against my forehead from the oppressive heat of summer.
“You have to help me get her out of there. DeLuca will kill her.”
Dante’s brow tightened. “She’d be lucky if that’s all the bastard did to her. Enzo believes that Angelo’s stealing girls, skimming from our operation.”
“Fuck.” That was news to me.
I’d been responsible for ensuring the pickup went without issue.
Gino, Angelo’s second, as well as Capo Sergio, had been my main contacts for DeLuca. Both men I had the privilege of dealing with were scumbags, but I hadn’t even considered that they might not have delivered us the full shipment.
“You have evidence that DeLuca is keeping part of Enzo’s delivery to himself?”
“If the boss had evidence, he’d have started a war with DeLuca. He sent your girl in undercover,” Dante said.
Did Skylar have any idea what she was doing?
“No way.” I didn’t believe it. “You sent her in to get killed!”
What game was Dante playing? I didn’t trust him in the slightest.
I’d have sworn, based on the fact they’d practically handed Skylar over to Angelo, that they’d been on to me.
Was I wrong?
Had that been a show for Angelo’s sake?
“We need DeLuca to believe that we think you betrayed us. It’s the only way we’re going to find out who the real rat is, stealing Don Ricci’s property.” Dante took a step closer to me.
“Is she in on the arrangement?” I asked. “Does she know that she’s working as a mole for Don Ricci?”
Dante laughed under his breath and gave a slight shrug. “Doubtful. If she did, she’d have told you, and you’d have inevitably stopped it from happening.”
He wasn’t wrong. There was no way I would have willingly gone along with the plan. It was suicide.
I grabbed Dante’s suit and yanked him closer. “When Angelo suspects Skylar is a mole, he’ll kill her. When that happens, I’m coming after you and Enzo.”
Dante ignored my threat. “Women can be replaced. Don Ricci’s been happy with the work you’ve done, don’t disappoint him over some girl.”
I drew my fist back and landed a sharp blow to Dante’s cheek.
“Skylar is irreplaceable. You’re going to help me get her out.”