Chapter 135

Dante sat at the head of the long wooden table, with one hand resting against the arm of his chair while the other held a glass he hadn’t touched.

The room was large enough to swallow sound, with concrete walls, bare floors, and a single row of overhead lights.

Only the faint hum of machinery somewhere beyond the walls disturbed the stillness.

Courtney stood beside him. She had been there for nearly twenty minutes without saying a word.

Her arms were folded loosely across her chest, and her eyes remained fixed on the two empty chairs positioned several feet in front of the table.

Dante hadn’t told her much. His men had simply dropped by at her place, and ordered her to join them in the Black Sedan car.

They blindfolded her down here. Also, she noticed that this was a new warehouse.

One of the doors at the far end of the warehouse opened.

Courtney’s eyes moved toward it.

Two men were dragged inside.

Two of Dante’s men held the first man by his arms while another dragged the second forward.

Their shoes scraped against the concrete.

The first man stumbled. "Please."

Dante didn’t look up.

The man swallowed. "Mr. Dante—"

Dante lifted one finger, hussing him.

The man immediately stopped speaking. The guards forced both men to their knees.

Courtney looked at them carefully.

She recognized neither of them. They looked ordinary, and that was always the disturbing part.

Men who were capable of ruining lives rarely looked like monsters. They looked like men who could smile politely at a stranger and then disappear someone without losing sleep.

Dante finally lifted his eyes. He looked at the two men. "Do you know why you’re here?"

The first man nodded quickly. "Yes."

Dante waited.

The second man shook his head. "No, sir."

Dante’s expression didn’t change. "You were given one responsibility." He said softly.

The men remained silent.

"One." His voice was quiet, almost conversational. "Your location was not supposed to exist."

The first man’s breathing became uneven.

Dante continued. "You were supposed to disappear completely." He leaned back. "With no addresses."

His eyes moved between them. "That was the arrangement."

The second man swallowed. "Yes, sir."

"And yet..." Dante’s mouth curved slightly. "...two hours ago, Adrian Ashford found you."

Courtney watched the men’s faces change.

The first man’s eyes widened, and the second lowered his head.

Dante raised an eyebrow. "No?"

"I swear, Mr. Dante, I didn’t tell anyone."

"You didn’t have to." Dante placed his glass on the table. "The point of hiding is that nobody should be able to find you." He leaned forward. "You failed."

The first man shook his head frantically. "We moved as soon as we realized."

"You moved after he found you."

"Yes, but—"

"Two hours." Dante’s voice remained calm. "Two hours ago, Adrian located you." He paused. "If you hadn’t moved when you did, I don’t know what would have happened."

The first man lowered his eyes.

Courtney watched Dante.

Dante looked at the guards. "Bring them forward."

The men were pulled to their feet. They stumbled toward the table.

Dante studied them. "You exposed everyone connected to that location."

The second man shook his head. "We didn’t mean to. It was a System glitch."

Dante’s gaze moved toward him. "You didn’t mean to?"

The man’s lips trembled. "We were careful."

Courtney remained silent.

Dante looked at the first man. "Do you know what your mistake cost me?" He asked calmly.

"No, sir."

The other man’s brows pulled together.

Dante leaned back.

The man’s face fell. "We can fix it."

Dante said nothing.

"We can leave the country." The first man spoke quickly now. "You’ll never hear from us again."

Dante’s eyes remained on him. "You don’t understand."

The man’s voice weakened. "Understand what?"

Courtney looked at him.

Dante stood slowly. He walked around the table, and stopped directly in front of them.

"You were given a simple task." He looked down at them. "Hide." His gaze moved to the first man. "You couldn’t."

Dante looked at them.

The first man clasped his hands together. "I have children."

Dante’s expression remained unchanged.

"Please."

The second man nodded frantically. "I’ll do anything."

Dante considered him. "Would you die for your mistake?"

The man’s face drained of color.

Dante nodded slowly. "I thought so." He turned away. He returned to his chair, and gently sat down.

For several seconds, he simply looked at the two men. Then he sighed. "Thankfully..."

The men looked up.

"...I’m feeling very kind today."

Relief hit their faces almost immediately.

The first man’s shoulders sagged. "Thank you."

The second exhaled shakily, but said nothing.

Dante’s lips twitched. "However..."

The relief disappeared.

"...just one of you lives." Dante reached beneath the table.

Courtney’s eyes followed his hand.

He pulled out a handgun, and placed it on the table. The sound of metal meeting wood echoed through the warehouse.

Both men stared at it.

Dante leaned back. "Choose."

Courtney looked at the gun, then back at the men.

The first man slowly looked at Dante with questioning brows.

Dante gestured toward the weapon. "Choose."

The man’s mouth opened. The second man stared at the gun. His breathing became heavier.

Dante said nothing.

Courtney watched the silence stretch.

Then the first man slowly turned toward the other. Their eyes met. His first man’s lips parted.

"We’re not doing this."

The other stared at him.

"We’re brothers." He added.

Courtney’s eyes narrowed.

The first man shook his head. "We grew up together." His voice trembled. "You remember?" He asked the other man.

The other man swallowed, but said nothing.

"We lived in the same house."

The second man’s eyes filled with something that looked dangerously close to tears.

The first man looked at him. "We’ve been through everything together."

The second man nodded.

"So we’re not doing this."

The second man looked toward the gun, then back at him. His jaw tightened.

The first man reached for his shoulder. "We die together."

The second man looked at his hand, then at his face. The man’s eyes moved toward the gun again.

Dante watched.

Courtney watched Dante. There was no emotion on his face, and no impatience.

The second man’s eyes remained on the weapon. His breathing became ragged. Then, his eyes dropped.

His hands shook.

Dante’s expression remained unreadable.

Then the second man moved. He moved fast. Too fast for the first man to understand. He lunged toward the table.

Courtney’s eyes widened.

The first man shouted.

The second man’s hand closed around the gun, and then the first man grabbed him from behind.

They crashed against the table. The gun nearly slipped from the second man’s hand.

One of Dante’s men laughed, and another shook his head.

Courtney stared at them.

The two men were fighting. Like frightened, desperate, and messy animals.

The first man grabbed his brother’s wrist. "Stop!"

"Let me go!"

"No!"

"Let me go!"

The first man slammed him against the edge of the table.

The gun slipped slightly.

The second man tightened his grip.

The first man tried to wrench his hand away.

"I don’t want to die!" The second man blurted out. "And you are not my brother."

The words tore through the room.

The first man froze.

The second man shoved him away. "I don’t want to die!" He stumbled backward.

The first man stared at him. His face looked almost broken. "You’d kill me?"

The second man didn’t answer.

"After everything?"

"I don’t want to die!"

"You’d kill me?"

"I don’t have a choice!"

The second man lunged again.

The first man caught him. They crashed to the floor.

Dante remained seated.

One of his men leaned against the wall, watching with a grin. Another murmured something that made the next man laugh.

Courtney turned toward them.

They were entertained. Her gaze moved toward Dante.

Fear stripped loyalty away. Fear made people choose themselves. Fear revealed exactly what someone was capable of when survival became the only thing that mattered.

Dante’s fingers rested loosely against the arm of his chair.

His eyes remained fixed on the struggle.

Courtney looked away. She didn’t want to know what that said about him.

The fight continued.

The first man managed to pin his brother’s arm against the floor. "Listen to me!"

"Get off me!"

"Listen!"

"I don’t want to die!"

"Neither do I!" The second man headbutted him.

The first man recoiled.

The second scrambled backward. His hand remained closed around the gun.

The first man looked at him.

For a moment, neither moved. He slowly stood. His breathing was heavy, and his lip was bleeding.

He looked at the man he’d called his brother. "You know what?"

The second man’s chest rose and fell rapidly.

"You were right."

The second man stared.

"We don’t have a choice."

The first man took one step toward him, then another.

"But I thought..." He swallowed. "...I thought you’d choose me."

The second man tightened his grip.

The first man stopped.

Dante watched.

Courtney could feel the tension in the room.

The first man slowly lowered his hands.

The second man lifted the gun.

Courtney’s body stiffened.

The second man’s face crumpled. For one brief moment, his finger hesitated. Then fear won.

The gun went off.

The sound cracked through the warehouse, and the first man dropped.

Everything became still.

The second man stood frozen as smoke curled faintly from the barrel. His hand trembled violently.

He stared at the man on the floor.

One of Dante’s men stepped forward. The second man immediately dropped the gun. It struck the floor.

The man looked at Dante desperately. "I did what you asked."

Dante slowly looked at him.

The man’s chest heaved.

The man swallowed. "I can go?"

Dante studied him. For a second, the man actually looked hopeful.

Dante’s expression remained calm. "Yes."

The man exhaled.

Then Dante added, "You can."

The man’s shoulders loosened.

Dante looked toward his men. "Take him out."

The man immediately frowned. "What?"

The guards stepped forward.

"No." He stumbled backward. "You said I could go."

Dante nodded. "You can."

The man looked confused.

"That depends on them."

The guards seized him.

He began struggling. "No!" His voice echoed through the warehouse "Please!"