Page 3 of Reckless Sinner
He’d simply patted my cheek and given me one of his slow smiles. The kind that he sent to the people across the courtroom from him. “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, Delaney.”
Still, the move to partner at the firm? Did my father really want Dantethatclose? Especially with his own moves coming soon?
“Are you sure about this?” I asked him the night before the announcement, over dinner at home, just the two of us, as it had been since my mother had passed away of breast cancer. “Once you say it in front of the others you can’t really go back on it.”
“Have you ever known me to not be sure about something?” Dad asked. He speared a piece of chicken with his fork. “No, I need Dante very close indeed for the next few steps.”
I pushed my food around on my plate. “You talk like this is about more than just about your campaign for Attorney General.”
Dad raised his eyebrow at me. “Don’t tell me you’re getting soft on him again, Delaney.”
“I was never soft on him,” I protested, even if that wasn’t true.
There had never been any evidence that he was some kind of fixer for his father.You just know,people would say. I’d heard every piece of gossip and I’d watched Dante ignore it with an easy, cordial smile and his head held high. All I had everseen, though, was Dante being a hard worker and a good lawyer.
Was it really so crazy that he might not be the same as the rest of his family? That he might actually want to do good in the world?
Dad rolled his eyes. “Delaney, don’t lie to me. We’ve talked before about your inappropriate crush on the man.”
I swallowed hard and looked down at my plate of food. When I’d met Dante at the office Christmas party I had been… well. He was tall, dark, and handsome. And a complete gentleman. What more could a woman ask for? If I’d fantasized all night about the two of us somehow finding one another alone, or ending up under the mistletoe… and all the sinful, naughty things he could do to me…
Well, that was my own personal business, wasn’t it?
Not according to my father. On our way home from the party he’d told me in no uncertain terms that Dante would never be anything more than an associate at the firm, that he would never climb up the ladder, and that he was a mob lawyer through and through.
You’re not allowed to date him, Delaney, so put your eyes back into your head and move on. I raised you better than this.
“You said he would never make partner,” I countered, looking back up at Dad. “What changed?”
Dad shrugged in faux casualness. “The DA is very interested in both the Russos and my campaign.”
I set down my silverware. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that big things are happening, Delaney.” Dad gave that chilling smile. “Big things. And if you’d like, you can be a part of it.”
All my life, I had done as my father had asked me. But for the first time, I felt a real twist in my stomach about it. “What would I be doing?”
“Oh, nothing much, just exactly what you want. You’d be dating Dante Russo.”
My eyebrows shot up into my hairline. “What?” I frowned. “Dad is this some kind of joke? Because I don’t find it all that funny.”
“When have I ever joked about something like this?”
I wanted to point out that he had elevated sarcasm to new heights my entire life, but I held my tongue. I was a damn good arguer, being a lawyer’s daughter and all, but I’d never been able to beat my dad when it came to debates. And I really didn’t want to sour the night with an argument.
“Why do you want me to date Dante Russo?” I asked instead.
Dad resumed eating. “I need someone to get close to him, someone he can trust and won’t suspect.”
“I’m your daughter. If he suspects you then he’ll suspect me.”
“He won’t,” Dad replied.
“Why not?”
“Because I’m going to bring him in even closer. I’m going to tell him I want to mentor him personally, now that he’s proven himself and made it to partner. I want to show that I could help reform someone from the notorious Russo family.”
“Because surely you’d never do it just from the goodness of your heart.”
