Page 30 of Vows of Power
We can’t follow him out, because someone would notice that and we’d have no explanation. But if I’m the one who looks lost...
“Stay here,” I whisper.
Amalia frowns, but before she can ask anything, I head down the hallway toward the guy, swaying on my feet a little. I’m just a drunk guest who took a wrong turn looking for the men’s room.
“Hey,” I say, loud enough that he turns around. “Sorry, is the restroom back this way? Some woman sent me down here and I think she was messing with me.”
He turns toward me, and I fight the urge to smile. “Wrong way. This area’s private.”
“Oh.” I blink at him. “My bad. They should really put up a sign or something.”
“I’ll show you.” He steps toward me.
“No, no, I got it.” I lift my hands and back off, giving him my dumbest smile. “Thanks, man.”
I feel his stare on me the whole way until I’m through the doors and back in the noise. Amalia slips out a few seconds behind me, and we mingle with the crowd as if we never left.
“Well?” she asks once we’re near the dance floor again.
“I’ll recognize him if I see him again. But he didn’t check that room, probably on purpose.”
“Who might be in there?”
“Maybe the mole, or no one. Someone could’ve left something there, like evidence.”
“Then we should go before he comes back.”
We’ve got what we came for, even if it isn’t what we expected. I spot one of Dominic’s other men, but he’s not looking our way, so it’s a good time to leave.
“Let’s say our goodbyes and get out,” I say.
WHEN WE GET BACK HOME, I take the chair at the desk and pull the laptop to me while Amalia kicks off her heels with a groan and pads over to me. She’s still in her dress, and I make myself look at the screen instead.
“Do you really think you can find him?” she asks, leaning over the back of my chair.
“We’ve got files on most of Dominic’s people. Your guys have been collecting info for months.” I open the folder and start scrolling. “If this guy’s been around long enough to be trusted near a meeting like that, he’s in here somewhere.”
The files are a mess because there’s a bunch of photos, and some of them are grainy. I scroll past familiar faces, looking for the guy with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. Amalia’s proximity and her perfume keep distracting me, but I do my best to focus on my task.
After a whole lot of scrolling, I finally spot him.
“That’s him,” I say. “Elio. He’s been with Dominic for years. Handles logistics for the shipments.” I let out a low whistle. “Logistics? So he’d have access to times and routes.”
“So he could definitely be a mole too,” Amalia says.
If Elio handles logistics and he just lied about a room being clear, then either he’s the mole himself or he’s protecting whoever is, or both. And a guy with that kind of access, who’s scared enough to lie to his own people, is a guy who can be useful.
“He’s nervous,” I say. “You don’t cover for someone unless you’ve got something to lose.”
“Or unless you’re the one who’ll go down if they get caught.” Amalia straightens up and crosses her arms, frowning at the screen. “If Dominic’s pulling everyone who touched the last two shipments, Elio’s name is on that list. He knows they’re coming for him.”
“Which makes him useful to us.” I lean back and look up at her. “A scared man with access. We get to him before Dominic does, and either turn him into our source, or we hand him over and buy our way into Dominic’s good graces.”
She nods, still frowning at the screen. “We’d have to be careful about it. If we spook him or play it wrong, he’ll run to Dominic and tell him about us, and then we’ll have a problem.”
I want to say something, but Amalia bends toward me and presses her lips against mine. All my thoughts scatter, and I reach up and slide a hand into her hair, kissing her back before she can decide she made a mistake. She makes a small sound against my mouth and grips the front of my shirt. The chair creaks as I shift toward her.
Amalia deepens the kiss, her tongue sliding against mine with a hunger that matches my own. The little desperate sound she makes in the back of her throat goes straight to my cock.
