Page 39 of Fixate

As I was about to cross out into the main floor, my phone rang. I pulled it out blindly, then froze as I saw who was calling.

Did he know I was thinking of him? Is that why? Or was something else going on?

I answered before it got sent to voicemail.

"Dante," I said, by way of reading.

He chuckled. "Yes, it's me. You do have my number saved, I would hope.”

I could hear Preacher grumbling in the background. Something that sounded a lot like “don't flirt."

It caused me to laugh as well.

"Tell your Daddy we're not flirting before he gets on a plane and comes over here to try and beat the shit out of me.”

Dante hummed. "I'll tell him before he actually gets on the plane. I like him being a little riled up, you know?"

I shook my head and smiled, though he couldn't see me. Dante's relationship with Preacher was something I envied. Thetwo of them were so relaxed together. It was a natural level of chemistry. I longed for something similar.

It wasn't possible considering how long those two had been together and the shitstorm I was currently dealing with.

Plus, there was Ricardo.

My gaze shifted back over to him as I waited to see what Dante wanted.

I asked, “Of course. What wouldn’t be fun about that?"

He stayed silent for another few seconds before asking, "How is he?"

"He's adjusting," I said. "He's only been here a few hours, and he’s slept most of that time."

"He slept?"

I made an agreeable noise. "He did. He also instructed me to sleep. Apparently, we were both in dire need of rest.”

There was nothing for a minute, then Dante said to Preacher, "I'm going to take this."

I heard the other man reply that he understood, and then there was the sound of steps and a door closing across the line. It seemed as if Dante had something he wanted to say to me privately.

"Yes?" I asked.

"I'm worried about Ricardo," he admitted.

I felt a slight shock at his open honesty. Not because Dante normally kept secrets from me, but more because him telling me this meant that there was more I didn't know.

I already wanted to unravel everything there was to know about Ricardo. This conversation was only increasing my curiosity.

"Why are you worried about him?"

"Because he's been acting differently," Dante said. "Ever since the fight at the compound, I've noticed him drifting. I thought it was simply because he was exhausted or because hewas trying to find balance with all the work. We had a lot of men we had to sort out.”

"Tell me about it," I said. "I'm still trying to weed out every rat."

"It's hard work," Dante agreed.

"It's good to have people that you believe in, people you can trust to help you take out these men."

I thought then of Pip and Henri and how they had stepped up to take charge when I needed them to. Both were going to be promoted just as soon as I figured out every other fucking detail that needed handling.