All mayors traditionally lived in the mayor’s mansion in town, so why did Dante have property out here in the middle of nowhere? I was clueless. You couldn’t really see the house from the road; it was hidden by the pines. I snuck along the back path, my boots crunching on the gravel. I could hear the waves below, a reminder of how close we were to the cliff edge.
The door opened in front of me, and a shadow of a person forced me back onto the wall of the house. “Wait!” Dante hissed.
The suit, shoes, and politician’s mask were gone. He wore a black henley, dark jeans, and scuffed boots. His jaw, unshaven, was tight.
Not my type, but Gigi’s. I could see why she was flirting with him.
“You ready?” he asked.
I nodded.
“I convinced her to bring her laptop. She’s tipsy. Use that to your advantage.”
I half expected her to be behind him.
“I told her I was getting more wine. I distracted her with my album collection.”
I lifted a brow. “You have an album collection?”
“Not now, King.” Dante rolled his eyes. “I know we said wire, but I did something better. I have some cameras hidden. One in the vase on the table. The other in the mini statue on the mantel. Stand by those, make sure you speak loudly and clearly, and you’ll have everything you need.”
I made a face. “You handled everything for me?”
“Nothing is ever free, remember that about me.” He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small envelope.
“If she starts giving you shit, show her this. She’s gonna fucking lose it.”
I pulled it from his fingers and opened it. My breath hitched.
Inside was a photo. Grainy. But unmistakable.
Jenese. Younger. In a hotel room.
“Where did you get this?”
“I told you. It pays to have friends.”
I looked back down at it and nodded, sliding it into my pocket.
Dante stepped in closer, just a breath of space between us now. “You’ve got ten, maybe fifteen minutes before she gets antsy. Make it count. I’ll be around.”
“Around?” That didn’t sound comforting, and it was almost the middle of nowhere. “What if she tries to bolt?” I asked.
“She won’t.” He placed a hand on my shoulder, squeezing once before stepping back toward the path where I’d parked. “I’ll be watching,” he said again.
I stepped inside, the music growing louder. I saw the bottle of Riesling on the counter, and I grabbed it, moving slowly through the kitchen into the front of the house.
Candles were everywhere.
Thick ones, thin ones, tall tapers balanced on brass holders, and fat tealights flickering across shelves and windowsills. Their soft gold glow lit the space in a romantic haze, casting shifting shadows against the walls and ceiling.
I paused just inside the threshold, fingers tightening around the wine bottle. My heartbeat was steady and low, but my nerves buzzed just beneath the surface. This time, I wasn’t here to react—I was here to finish it.
You’ve faced worse. You’ve outmaneuvered boardrooms, lawsuits, your own damn family. This is just another challenge. You love a challenge.
I forced a breath through my nose, smoothed a hand down my side, and stepped forward.
Her back was turned to me. “Dante, darling…you have exquisite taste,” Jenese purred, her tone syrupy and indulgent. Vinyls shuffled gently beneath her hand as she flipped through a crate of records on the floor.
