“Oh, my favorite,” I smiled.
“I don’t care what you do to him,” Gio eyed Kane before continuing. “But no guns. Get him in the back, knock him out, and Kane will transport him to the basement.”
Kane cracked his knuckles. “Sounds good to me, boss.”
Gio smiled for a moment before turning serious. “Oh, were you supposed to go out with Lauren tomorrow? I could see if Dominic is available.”
Wait…what? I turned to Kane and his body went rigid. “I’m not going out with Lauren tomorrow.”
“You’ll have to take her out sometime, son. She’s going to get suspicious if you don’t. I don’t need Arnold on my ass because you won’t do anything with her.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Kane muttered.
“So you’re dating now?”
“No.”
“Yes,” they replied at the same time.
Gio slammed his fists down on his desk. The guy had a short fuse. “Youaredating her as far as everyone knows. Don’t forget that. There’s a lot riding on your performance.”
I laughed and shook my head. Kane didn’t mention that tiny piece of information. Probably why he blew me off Sunday.
“And Iwill. Get off my ass about it. I have a job to do and I’m going to do it. My fake dating life can wait,” Kane gritted.
“Not for long,” Gio said under his breath. He was stressed. His eyes looked tired and his shoulders sagged, like the weight of the world rested there. “I need to talk to Danica alone.”
Once Kane was gone and the door was closed, Gio cleared his throat and interlocked his hands behind his head. “I want to talk about your dad.”
Fuck.
“Kane said that you weren’t going to say anything to him. About–”
“I won’t. I would never do anything to intentionally piss him off. I know he’s directed his anger at you before, and that’s the last thing I want.”
I spun my thumb ring and bit my cheek until I tasted blood. “If he hears about me talking about my work with Kane, he’s gonna flip his lid. I didn’t mean to say anything to him.”
“You don’t have to be nervous. I’m not telling him shit.” Gio turned his monitor back to face him as he pulled up his security system. His eyes scoured the screen before he was satisfied to continue. “I didn’t say anything to Kane, but…whatever Dante has you doing that involves crossing certainboundariesis unacceptable.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! He was never supposed to find out.
“So you’re saying you…don’t know everything that I do for you? For the business?”
“I’m saying it sounds like sometimes things go further than I was aware of,” Gio scowled. “I could wring his fucking neck for putting you in those situations. When you started working, we had an agreement that you would only do whatyouwere comfortable with. You can’t tell me you’re comfortable fucking these men.”
“I don’t…fuck everyone. Or many, for that matter. But things sometimes go further than I’d like,” I swallowed thickly before continuing. “I just do what I have to do. And yeah, my dad’s quite aggressive in his methods. And he gets pissed when I cut things off.”
“Jesus!” He yelled as he yanked open a desk drawer and pulled out a cigarette. He lit it and took a long drag, gazing over to the security cameras once more. He and Kane had an obsession with checking them. “I’m in a tough spot here. Your father has been my best friend since we were kids. We’ve built this empire together. But I can’t have his back when it comes to this shit. He’s gone too far. And I don’t know where the fuck to go from here.”
“Don’t worry about me, Gio. Really. I’m more than capable of handling myself, as you know. I don’t want this to cause any strife for you or your family. You’ve been through enough this year.”
Gio sighed and rubbed his temple with his hand as he puffed on the cigarette again. “You’re very kind and always have been willing to do whatever it takes to get a job done. But I cannot accept you using your body in a way that you don’t want to. Iwon’tallow it. You know that I think of you as one of my own kids. I’d never expect it of them and I don’t expect it of you.”
“I appreciate that.” And I did. My heart warmed knowing at least one man in my life wasn’t a selfish prick. But what Dad wanted superseded everyone else. “But I don’t want this conversation to leave this room. The less Kane knows, the better. And Dad knowing any of this would…be really bad for me.”
“I swear I’m not saying anything. I just want you to know that you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. I don’t care if Dante is my best friend. You come to me with anything he asks you to do that you don’t feel comfortable with. I mean it, Danica.”
I nodded and smiled. “Thank you.”