ChapterEight
Iwas not happy at how early my morning had to start, but Porter hadn’t been taking my calls since that night at the docks. That was unacceptable. I didn’t have a line on what was going on with him since our plan had turned out to be a fucking failure.
I’d been played by someone, and it still had me in a terrible mood.
Unfortunately, since my English teacher, who was an undercover FBI agent, wasn’t answering me when I called, that meant he would be feeling the brunt of my rage.
I’d wanted to make sure I’d made it to class before anyone else. This wasn’t a conversation to have with witnesses. The Valentino boys still didn’t know who he was, and I wanted to keep it that way. Porter didn’t know it yet, but he was not only my trump card, he was also my get out of jail free card. I had every intention of bleeding Gio out. Porter was going to make sure it was logged as justifiable homicide.
I would make my dreams come true, and then walk away as if nothing had ever happened.
The classroom was still dark when I entered the room. My under caffeinated self was internally grumbling at the fact that Porter wasn’t in the class yet. I really wasn’t in the mood to patiently wait around for him. Not that I had a choice in the matter.
Hoping up onto Porter’s desk, I swung my legs back and forth. Class starts in ten minutes, so Porter shouldn’t be too much longer. That didn’t mean I wasn’t worried that the Valentino boys would arrive before him. They would be on the lookout for me, and since they’d missed me coming into the school this morning this would be the first place they looked.
I needed to have this conversation without them. I didn’t have any plans on exposing Porter for who he truly was. At least not yet. I still had use for him.
The hinges on the classroom door squeaked loudly in the dark quiet room as Porter finally decided to make an appearance.
I didn’t turn the light on when I’d entered the classroom, so it took a moment for my eyes to adjust when he flicked the switch. I didn’t move from the spot I’d taken up residence in as I watched him move into the room. He was deep in thought. I could tell since he didn’t notice me right away. He took four steps into the classroom before he lifted his head and found me sitting on top of his desk.
“It’s not nice of you to not answer my calls, Porter. With your lack of communication, I could only think something terrible happened to you.” The sugary sweet sound of my voice echoed through the room and the fake smile I plastered across my face was feral. I was being petty, but I wasn’t happy that I had to track him down.
“Let’s not pretend you give a shit about me.” He apparently wasn’t in the mood for me today. Or any other day it would seem since he wasn’t answering my phone calls.
“You’re right, I don’t care. At least not about you in particular. There’s no point in lying about it. I do care about your connection with the FBI. I also want to keep tabs on you, your team, and what you’re doing. I can’t take the chance that you’re up to something I don’t know about that will blindside me later.”
I had no doubt that Porter and his crew of FBI agents were looking for ways to take down Gio and his syndicate. That couldn’t happen. Not before I got what I was after. Keeping one eye on them all was the only way I would be able to make sure they didn’t get in my way or do anything that would fuck everything up for me.
“From now on you will answer me when I call. No more putting me off or ignoring me.”
“You’re really good at making demands. Do you have any idea how much shit I got into when we ended up with nothing to show for the night at the docks? I haven’t had an ass chewing like that since I was a rookie. I don’t appreciate being made to look like a fool.” The knuckles of his hand holding onto his bag turned white with the stranglehold he had on the bag. Did he honestly think I intended for that night to go the way it did?
“I don’t appreciate being shot in the stomach and then taken hostage by the son of a mob boss either. I was under the impression that I had good information that would lead us to a group of girls that needed saving. I didn’t have any nefarious intentions to lead you on a merry chase just for the fun of it.”
Why couldn’t shit just go the way it was supposed to? Here lately it would seem everything was getting all fucked up without me even trying. Who knows what would happen if I actually put some effort into it.
“It would seem that your information wasn’t as good as you thought it was. Next time perhaps you should double, or triple check your facts before you take an entire FBI team out somewhere and it all ends up as a bust.” He moved to stand next to the desk and tossed his bag up beside me. He perched his hands on his hips as he stared down at me. I was amazed at his height. Even with me sitting on top of the well-used wood surface he towered over me.
Not that it mattered.
Even standing above me the way he was didn’t intimidate me as I’m sure he was hoping. I knew more than a handful of ways to kill him without leaving any evidence of what happened. The only issue I would have would be getting his large body out of the classroom without anyone discovering what I'd done.
“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind for next time.” Hoping off his desk, I looked at my watch. Students would be filing in the class any minute, so we needed to bring this meeting to a close.
“Look, everything should be over soon. Don’t ignore my phone calls, and don’t interfere with what I’m doing. Keep your guys clear of Gio and the boys. You can do whatever you want once I’m finished. Do we understand one another?” I honestly couldn’t care less about Porter and his men. I needed them but I’d never planned on him to begin with, so I could live without him.
If he stepped out of line, I wasn’t so sure he’d be part of the land of the living.
“I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to help you with anything. I’m being monitored closely now.”
“I don’t need you to do anything for me except stay out of my way and keep everyone away from Gio. That’s all I want you to do right now. Later there will come a time when I need more from you. When that time comes, I’ll let you know.”
The sound of the bell ringing echoed outside the closed door and let me know it was time to put a stop to our conversation. Porter didn’t look happy about the way the talk went, but I didn’t give a fuck.
It was time to get everything back on track, and now he had a key role in them. It couldn’t be said I wasn’t able to adapt to changes when I needed to.
Students started to move into the classroom as I took steps away from Porter. There was less than five feet between the English teacher and me when Nico ambled into the classroom.