I nodded a bit and I thought I understood. This plan dangled by a thread, and if he showed even a moment of hesitation or weakness, it could all break down and come unraveled. He held it together through sheer willpower and nothing more.
I had to admit, I admired that about him. Even in the face of almost foolish odds, he still had a smile on his face, and a confidence that I truly envied.
20
Ren
The next week was one of the most boring of my entire life.
It should’ve been exciting. Our future hung in the balance, and a single misstep would’ve sent us careening off the edge into failure. Except for the most part, we spent it waiting around in some damp, dingy warehouse, shuttling back and forth from there and the mansion. At night I was so tired I ended up passing out on the couch, and in the morning Dante’s men would bang on the door at absurd hours and send us both packing off to the warehouse to wait around some more.
“Why does he keep making us come here?” Amber asked, pacing back and forth on top of a catwalk that overlooked the main storage room.
I lounged back against the wall, drinking awful coffee and trying not to fall asleep. “Punishment, I think.”
“Come on. At this point, it’s sick. I shouldn’t be anywhere near this place.”
“You’re not wrong, but Dante’s got an interesting idea of what’s right and wrong.”
“It’s been a week of coming here. Every day, we sit around, stare at the boxes down there, and do nothing.”
“I know.”
“And we have to just keep doing that?”
“Pretty much.”
She let out a frustrated grunt and threw herself down next to me. The whole catwalk shook and groaned, but we’d figured out already that it was as safe as anything else in this shithole of a building.
From the outside, it looked condemned. I figured that was on purpose though. The doors and windows were all locked and barred and controlled by a central processing unit. It was all pretty advanced stuff actually, but made to look as low-tech as possible. Clearly the Leone family wanted their precious stash house to blend in with the surrounding neighborhood, and it did a good job at that. We were deep in South Philly across the street from a U-Haul and next to a deli, and the smell of cooking meats drifted up through the windows sometimes.
I put my arm over her shoulders and pulled her tight against me. Even though we were exhausted and bored and annoyed, at least I was spending time with her. I had to admit, I probably would’ve murdered most people at this point, but I still wanted to be around Amber, which was a minor miracle. She didn’t seem sick of me, either, and for the most part we passed the time by chatting idly and making jokes and talking about where we wanted to go if we ever escaped this hell.
Around midday, footsteps echoed through the place as Dante climbed the rickety staircase. He paused at the top and looked over at us, huddled up there in the corner away from the rest of his goons. The building was dripping in muscle, guys with guns hidden in corners, behind boxes, basically anywhere they could. He stared at us for a long moment before he crossed his arms over his chest.
“Having fun?” he asked.
“Lots of fun,” I said. “We’ve been having a blast.”
“Good.” He came closer, holding onto the railing. “I want you to do an overnight tonight.”
Amber groaned. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
He glanced at her. “I’m not, not at all.”
“What the hell is this all about?” She climbed to her feet. “When Ren told you about this plan, nobody thought we’d be forced to stick around here and wait.”
“Oh, so you figured I’d have my guys do that?”
“That’s what you pay them for,” she said.
I put a hand on her leg. “Easy.”
She glared at me. “You go easy. I’m so tired, and all I do is sit up here and do nothing all day. How can you be so calm?”
I tugged at her leg and gave her a hard look. “Amber. Sit back down.”
For a second, her rage flared, but she managed to collect herself. She shot another look at Dante then stormed off, down a side set of steps that led back into an abandoned office section of the building.
Dante chuckled. “She’s not happy with me.”
“Can you blame her?”
“I guess not.” He tilted his head. “You know why you’re here, right?”
“I get it. I don’t like it, though.”
“You’re insurance, Ren. If you’ve tried to fuck me, I want you here, in harm’s way in case shit goes down.”
“Like I said, I get it.” I stared at him and clambered up to my feet, stretching my back. “You don’t have to make her stick around though.”