was just leaving. They greeted me, then suddenly I was alone with my ex-fiancé.
He had a biggish office by 1920s standards. The windows slid up and down with rackety tick tick s, and the walls were molded in every place molding could be placed. Over the last ninety years, it had been painted bi-annually, rounding out the edges until the room looked like the inside of a wedding cake.
“Found her wandering the halls,” Gerry said before ducking out.
Daniel had on a thin blue tie and white shirt with the cuffs rolled to the elbows. His wooden chair was dressed in his jacket, and he was every bit the good-looking, hardworking crusader for justice. “Theresa, thank you for coming.”
“After the election, this beck-and-call thing is over,” I said.
He approached a chestnut table that must have come with the building and pulled out a chair for me. I sat. He leaned on his desk and crossed his arms instead of sitting with me. I crossed my legs and faced him.
“It’s been a tough few days here,” he said.
“I have a protocol review I can still make if you don’t have something to say to me.”
“I know how much you love those.” He smiled his big, natural white smile.
“There were threats something would actually get done at this one.”
“Then it’s not really a protocol review.”
I sighed. “This is about Antonio again? Just say it.”
“I need to know what he is to you.”
“Oh, God. Really?” I stood. “Dan, honey, you’re so far out of line.”
“It matters. It matters to my campaign, and it matters to me. I need your help, and in order for me to even ask, I need to know the nature of your relationship with him.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Have you had sex with him?”
“Daniel!”
“I need to know.”
“Is this a deposition? Are you taking notes? Where’s the court reporter?”
He sighed and dropped his arms. “We’ve reached a wonderful pause in a war that’s been going on for a few decades. We have the Carlonis for all manner of shit, and I’ll file charges when everything’s in order. But the other side? The Giraldi family? I have nothing. I have accounting files we got from the NSA, but everything looks clean. I need them looked at by someone with your eye.”
“And you don’t have a team of people?”
“They have skill. You have talent.”
“I think this is about more than my talent.” I couldn’t hold to that line for long because he’d asked me to look at the Carloni files months ago. He’d switched to their rivals, but his ideals about my talents were well known.
“We got Donna Maria Carloni on embezzlement thanks to a mole. Good mole. I got nothing with Spinelli,” he said.
“Who you can’t even prove is the head of any kind of crime organization, much less the Giraldis.”
“He’s committed a few murders to get to where he is, Tink. Just because I can’t prove it doesn’t make it any less true. And yes, I’m terrified of you being anywhere near him, and yes, this is two birds with one stone. I get your eyes on his books, and I get you to tell me where his malfeasance is. But if you’re sleeping with him, I can’t use you. I’ll have to fly a guy in from Quantico, and that’ll alert everyone that I have the NSA docs. They’ll be questioned and possibly yanked.”
“This is a hot mess.”
“I know.”
“The only way for me to avoid drama is to walk out right now,” I said. “But you have me curious. And you know I think you’re the best man for the mayor’s mansion.”
“So will you?”
“I had sex with him twice. But it’s over.”
He looked down to hide his expression, but I saw his fingers tighten. My first reaction was to tell him tough crap. He threw me away. It was my right to sleep with anyone I wanted. My second reaction was subtler.
“Do you have time for a personal question?” I asked.
He looked at me. I’d hurt him. I loved him, and I’d hurt him. I knew how he felt when he did it to me.
“I need it answered
He had a biggish office by 1920s standards. The windows slid up and down with rackety tick tick s, and the walls were molded in every place molding could be placed. Over the last ninety years, it had been painted bi-annually, rounding out the edges until the room looked like the inside of a wedding cake.
“Found her wandering the halls,” Gerry said before ducking out.
Daniel had on a thin blue tie and white shirt with the cuffs rolled to the elbows. His wooden chair was dressed in his jacket, and he was every bit the good-looking, hardworking crusader for justice. “Theresa, thank you for coming.”
“After the election, this beck-and-call thing is over,” I said.
He approached a chestnut table that must have come with the building and pulled out a chair for me. I sat. He leaned on his desk and crossed his arms instead of sitting with me. I crossed my legs and faced him.
“It’s been a tough few days here,” he said.
“I have a protocol review I can still make if you don’t have something to say to me.”
“I know how much you love those.” He smiled his big, natural white smile.
“There were threats something would actually get done at this one.”
“Then it’s not really a protocol review.”
I sighed. “This is about Antonio again? Just say it.”
“I need to know what he is to you.”
“Oh, God. Really?” I stood. “Dan, honey, you’re so far out of line.”
“It matters. It matters to my campaign, and it matters to me. I need your help, and in order for me to even ask, I need to know the nature of your relationship with him.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Have you had sex with him?”
“Daniel!”
“I need to know.”
“Is this a deposition? Are you taking notes? Where’s the court reporter?”
He sighed and dropped his arms. “We’ve reached a wonderful pause in a war that’s been going on for a few decades. We have the Carlonis for all manner of shit, and I’ll file charges when everything’s in order. But the other side? The Giraldi family? I have nothing. I have accounting files we got from the NSA, but everything looks clean. I need them looked at by someone with your eye.”
“And you don’t have a team of people?”
“They have skill. You have talent.”
“I think this is about more than my talent.” I couldn’t hold to that line for long because he’d asked me to look at the Carloni files months ago. He’d switched to their rivals, but his ideals about my talents were well known.
“We got Donna Maria Carloni on embezzlement thanks to a mole. Good mole. I got nothing with Spinelli,” he said.
“Who you can’t even prove is the head of any kind of crime organization, much less the Giraldis.”
“He’s committed a few murders to get to where he is, Tink. Just because I can’t prove it doesn’t make it any less true. And yes, I’m terrified of you being anywhere near him, and yes, this is two birds with one stone. I get your eyes on his books, and I get you to tell me where his malfeasance is. But if you’re sleeping with him, I can’t use you. I’ll have to fly a guy in from Quantico, and that’ll alert everyone that I have the NSA docs. They’ll be questioned and possibly yanked.”
“This is a hot mess.”
“I know.”
“The only way for me to avoid drama is to walk out right now,” I said. “But you have me curious. And you know I think you’re the best man for the mayor’s mansion.”
“So will you?”
“I had sex with him twice. But it’s over.”
He looked down to hide his expression, but I saw his fingers tighten. My first reaction was to tell him tough crap. He threw me away. It was my right to sleep with anyone I wanted. My second reaction was subtler.
“Do you have time for a personal question?” I asked.
He looked at me. I’d hurt him. I loved him, and I’d hurt him. I knew how he felt when he did it to me.
“I need it answered
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