Page 54 of Traitor
But, what the hell was this last-minute meeting about?
“Ready to go?” Teo asked.
He offered me his arm and I slid my own through it. “Are you going to tell me what this is all about?”
He nodded. “Once we get to a place where there aren’t prying ears, yes.”
I was shocked when he led me out to a car that he was driving himself. Then again, I knew he was taking the death of his driver pretty hard. He opened my door for me and helped me to sit down, then he walked around and hopped behind the wheel of the car himself.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you drive,” I said.
He chuckled as he buckled his seatbelt. “Then, get ready to witness it now.”
I lost myself in the beauty of the island as we wove around small mountains and skirted the edge of the oceanic cliffside. The vineyards smelled heavenly and downtown smelled of baked goods, fresh pasta, and gelato. As weird as it felt to admit, I’d miss this place.
Especially since it felt as if I were actually seeing it for the very first time.
“All right, we’re here,” Teo said.
I stared at the house in front of us. “Where are we?”
He unbuckled his seatbelt. “Ah, that’s right. You haven’t been here yet. This is my house. Well, my main house.”
I slowly looked over at him. “This is where you shared your life with Rosana?”
He nodded. “And this is where I have my quarterly meetings. Come, we don’t have a moment to waste before your flight.”
The house was actually more subtle than I figured it would be. It wasn’t some sprawling estate with massive acreage and a tree farm off in the distance. Rather, it was this cute, oversized cottage tucked back away from the rest of town. It didn’t feel like the kind of place either Rosana or Mateo would have picked out for themselves, which continued to strike me as odd when Teo led me through the pristine white house.
Then again, maybe that’s the point.
“Right this way, the red chair will be yours,” Teo said.
He ushered me through a pair of white, wooden double doors that were opened for us by his security guards. And when I stepped into the room, I saw a white marble table sitting in the middle of a room lined with white bookshelves that were filled with nothing but decorations. The onyx and black leather seats that sat around the white marble table gave a stark contrast to the room. But, there were two chairs at the head of the table that stood out from among the rest.
One was a rich navy, highbacked chair with beautiful white and navy gemstones encrusted around the sharp edges of the chair.
And beside it was a crimson red chair, the high-back encrusted with pearls and rubies.
“You said my chair was the red one?” I asked.
His hand fell to the small of my back. “Yes.”
I walked with him over to the chair. “You don’t want me off in the corner or something?”
He pulled it out for me. “Nonsense. The one person I trust sits at my side. Always.”
I looked up at him before I sat down and the second he seated himself next to me, all sorts of people filed themselves in, almost as if they had been waiting for us to take a seat. I watched men of all shapes and sizes file in and take a place at the table, and they gravitated to the seats so quickly that I wondered if everyone was assigned a seat.
Then, I saw a young man perch himself off in the corner before pulling a notepad and pen out of his shoulder sack.
“Who’s that?” I asked softly.
Teo nodded toward him. “That’s Manny’s boy, Trey. He’s up-and-coming in his father’s business world, and I’ve hired him to take notes and minutes at our formal business meetings.”
I looked over at him. “So, what am I going to be doing?”
He winked. “You’ll see.”
