Chapter 24—Dante

I spent the rest of the day with Alex and Gio going through the names. I would give them a name and they would try matching it against the list of initials Vinny had sent.

All day, all damn day and nothing. Not even one match to the list of names on my fundraiser list.

No matches led me to believe one of two things.

The first was that the people on the fundraiser list didn’t have anything to do with the people on the list Vinny sent. The second was that maybe there was some involvement, but it was through someone else. There were possible surname matches, but I didn’t want to get ahead of myself and start guessing.

It did however seem that we might have to at some point. Like making an educated guess and inferring what was missing.

That was me taking into account what I felt could have happened.

I went to the bar later. The guys came along and helped out downstairs while I stayed in my office.

It was one of my normal nights to work, I just didn’t feel like it. I wasn’t in the mood to go down and mingle with the people. Honestly I just wanted to get shit done, like signing off everyone’s time sheets so they could get paid, and doing balance sheets from the last few nights. I wanted to get all that done and fast so I could get home to Maria.

Home to Maria. It had such a good ring to it. Home to Maria and Flynn. I’d promised him I would watch Pokémon with him. Apparently, it was his second favorite now and I hadn’t really lived until I saw Pikachu jump out of his Pokeball.

I smiled to myself, it was weird hearing a four year old talk like that. I loved it. I absolutely loved that I was warming up to him so well, like he really was mine.

Maria though would have me warming up to anything, or anyone. I didn’t know if that was a good thing though. It showed she had control over me. Control was something I never gave away to anyone before. It was however always there with her.

I thought it was happening now as a little knock sounded on the door and when I gave the okay she walked in.

She walked in wearing one of those silky camisole tops that caressed her skin and made her breasts look even bigger, because it drew attention to her perfect cleavage. Her jeans were tight and fitted, showing off that body of hers which was made for sin. With her hair up in a ponytail and her eyes done in a way to make them even more striking, she looked as if she had just stepped out of a dream. Right out of a dream or off the runway. It was all the same to me.

Had she become the master of my fucking mind too?

Could she make me see her when I wanted so badly to? This doll was some powerful being if that were true.

She skipped over to me and gave me a kiss. It was the type of kiss that made me want to take her right there. Bend her over my desk and lose myself in her.

I nearly did just that when she pulled back, swatting away my hands when I touched her breasts.

“Fuck,” I winced.

She responded with a giggle. “Dante you are so very bad.”

“Why am I bad if I just want to touch you?” I gave her an incredulous stare. Then it hit me, the realization that she shouldn’t be here. She was supposed to be at home with the boys watching her. “Why are you here? Of course it’s not that I’m not happy to see you.”

“I’m working,” she replied as if it was obvious.

“What? No. Maria, come on you know that was just a clever ruse to get you to …” I thought better of finishing the sentence.

“Clever ruse for what Dante?” She giggled again.

“To get you to do that thing, you know that thing.” I laughed.

“Does that thing involve me naked in your bed?”

“Yes, or on my desk, or in my lap, or in my fucking car. Anywhere … come here.” I was too hard for her to resist me, but the woman was serious she wasn’t giving me anything. She backed away again.

“No, Mister. I’m here to work.”

“Fine. I told the guys to watch you.”

“They did. Flynn’s with them and I’m here with you. I couldn’t take it anymore Dante. Those guys were assholes back then and they’re even worse now. All of them like a bunch of babies. Ava came by and saved me.” She seemed to brighten.

God bless Ava, that woman was a saint. It was nice of her to check on Maria. It also didn’t surprise me at all, she was the nurturing type.

“Was that okay?”

Maria nodded. “It really was and to reassure you even more, she gave me a lift here. Actually, it was Claudius who came to pick her up so I figured I was safe coming here.”

Okay, I felt better hearing that rather than imagining her getting here by herself.

“All that trouble just to get here to work doll?” I quirked a brow.

“To get to work and see you.” The look in her eyes told me while she wanted to see me, she was hoping I’d tell her if I found anything out about today.

“Besides my charm, the wild sex, and my eternal adoration for you, what else did you want to see me for doll?” I stared at her long and hard. She knew me, too well. I didn’t think though that she’d ever really seen the serious side of me before.

“I’d love to know what happened today. You don’t have to tell me everything. Just something. Like if you found anything. You said it yourself, it’s Christina. She’s my best friend. I want to know what happened to her.”

She’s my best friend.

It pulled at my soul that Maria spoke about her like she was still alive. Or rather like it didn’t matter whether Christina was alive or dead, she was still Maria’s best friend.

“I understand.” I thought about what I could tell her. Looking at her now I felt that feeling again from earlier that I should involve her, if only to update her. Maybe, just maybe talking about it with her would trigger something that would help. “We didn’t find much out. We basically didn’t find anything, but what we didn’t find helped in some way too. Claudius suggested going over what we have and noting anything that might be important.”

“What do you have?”

Now that part would be telling her too much. “Maria. I withhold certain things to keep you safe. There’s a chance that things could have gotten messy with today’s plans. I really don’t want to involve you any more than I already have.”

“Dante, didn’t you say Claudius suggested going over everything. Wouldn’t talking to me be just that? Like maybe we missed something last time.”

She was right. “I don’t know. I don’t think I have any questions for you that I haven’t asked before.”

“Do you still think it was someone she was seeing? There are so many possibilities Dante.”

“Yes there are, but I absolutely feel it was someone she was seeing. Someone she had serious dirt on, more than the fact that she was pregnant.”

She narrowed her eyes and looked down at the floor.

“What? Did you think of something? Anything at all could help, even if you think it’s not relevant.” I said.

She returned her gaze to me. “She said she had stuff, dirt, and she looked adamant that it could be used to destroy this person. ”

“We never found anything in her stuff.” I planned to look through Christina’s things anyway, just searching for clues. Last time I’d gone through them I didn’t see anything that stood out to me.

“Maybe you missed something. Maybe looking again now would help in some way.”

I nodded. That meant going through Christina’s stuff at Ma’s. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“She was with a lot of guys Dante. Not the run of the mill kind either. You can’t do anything unless you’re at the very least twenty percent sure.”

I was listening. I was completely focused and taking note of the woman I classed as 20% angel, 80% devil. She knew her stuff, and I knew to listen.

“You’re right. You’re absolutely right.”

“I really want you to be careful Dante and be certain if you’re going to strike. The past taught me just that. If you’re sure you at least have a leg to stand on. The rest can take care of itself.”

“I’ll be careful baby.” I told her. I knew in telling me that, she didn’t want me to just lose my head and go after anyone just because they seemed to fit. “I’ve been thinking of going to my mother’s place and looking through all of Christina’s stuff.”

“That is a really good idea.”

“Will you come with me? Ma would love to see you and I think too that I need you. Ma could never look through her stuff and you’re the only other person I would feel comfortable with doing that.” Last time I looked through the stuff by myself. Maybe something would stand out to Maria.

She came closer and took my hands. “Yes, of course. I’d love to see your Ma too. It’s been awhile.” She leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on my lips. “I have to help Francesca. See you later?”

I nodded. “Yes baby.”

She released my hands and I watched her go, glancing over her shoulder at me before she closed the door.

I rested my head against the soft leather back of the chair.

Yes, we were probably close.

I just couldn’t see the pieces of clues fitting together.

Not yet.