“You’ll get paid,” Carmine muttered.
“It makes no difference to me either way, but I won’t work without it. Send the payment to my office. I’m sure you have the contact details. And while I think about it, stay away from my sister. She is not interested in you, and that’s not just my opinion, that’s hers. If you’ve heard anything about what I can do, then you know I don’t respond well to anyone who threatens my family, and that’s not a threat, that’s a promise. Viktor are you ready to leave?”
Viktor got up, and if Ant didn’t know better, he’d think Viktor was grumbling under his breath, giving Ant the impression that there was a lot more he wanted to say. But Ant didn’t see the point in feeding Carmine’s ego or paying attention to his threats. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard them, and it wouldn’t be the last. Catching Viktor’s hand as his mate stood up, Ant clicked his fingers and Able came out from under the table. The hairs on the back of Ant’s neck didn’t go down until they were well clear of the restaurant.
Chapter Six
“You’re angry with me.”
Viktor looked over at his mate. He expected Ant to say something like that, and truthfully he had been stewing since Carmine had decided to meet up with them at the restaurant.
The issue was that Ant wasn’t very good at picking up social inflections, which meant he’d missed all those little subtle things that annoyed Viktor about Carmine from the moment he saw him.
“I’m not angry with you,” Viktor said, perhaps more tersely than he’d normally talk to his mate. They were sitting outside in the backyard. Able had tired himself out from his run-around and play time and was flopped under the shade of a tree.
Viktor and Ant were sitting in chairs on the porch, watching the clouds move across the sky. At least Ant had been. Viktor had still been brooding.
“I keep replaying what happened at the meeting today,” Ant said. “I feel like there were a lot of context and subtle communications going on between you and Carmine, but I have no idea what they were or what they mean.”
You realize that at least.Although Ant had still agreed to help Carmine…
“Carmine was easier to understand,” Ant continued. “He’s a very angry and volatile man. He’s not somebody I want to be close to, and I would prefer not to have anything to do with him at all. But then I knew that about him the first time he and I met.”
“Then why did you agree to investigate the death of his sister?” The words exploded out of Viktor before he could stop them. But he genuinely didn’t understand. Ant was innocent in so manyways, and Viktor was doing his best to protect him, but it wasn’t easy when Ant was still determined to make his own decisions.
“Carmine is the type of rodent who will take over your whole house and bring in a million extended family members if you give him so much as a crumb of cheese on the doorstep. Worse, Carmine will keep doing it, year after year after year, until you can’t even think for yourself anymore, you’ve been so taken in with his brand of reality. I don’t understand,” Viktor added. “I need you to explain it to me, because this, in this case, I’m the one that doesn’t understand.”
Ant gave him a sideways glance. “You’re implying it’s usually me who can’t work out what’s going on, but you could be right, so never mind. It’s quite simple, really. I agreed to look at the case concerning Carmine’s sister for the same reason as I felt that you should take Tony in and have him charged with the Fallows’ murder. It was the right thing to do. If there’s a death of an innocent person, and the killer has not been brought to justice, then searching and doing all I can to help the victim get justice is also the right thing to do.”
“But you’re not helping her.” Nope. Viktor still didn’t understand. “By all accounts, this woman has been dead ten years. How are you helping her? All you are doing is opening yourself up to Carmine, and he will take advantage. I’ve seen him manipulate so many people…”
He broke off, letting out an angry huff. “Think about it, Ant. Just think about it. How did Bridget end up dating him in the first place? She’s a sensible woman, she’s got a good head on her shoulders, she’s really intelligent, and she can usually see a con a mile off, but she got taken in by Carmine enough that she agreed to date him. So why is it so difficult for you to see I’m worried about you falling for his lies as well.”
“But I didn’t get taken in by Carmine when I met him that first time.” How Ant managed to sound so calm about everything when Viktor was seething was something Viktor thought he’d never know. It was frustrating… And also arousing, because when Ant sounded like that, Viktor wanted to ruffle his feathers so badly.
Calm down or you’ll be sleeping on the couch.“Ant, you mean everything to me, and you know that it’s in my nature to protect you in every way I can. I’m worried because I don’t know what Carmine’s endgame is. But I would guarantee you anything at all that it has nothing to do with finding his sister’s killer.
“Don’t you see? There’s a good chance that Carmine has already found that person and has already dealt with them in his own unique way. Did you ever think about that?”
At least Ant was thinking about it, if that’s what the frown meant. “Why would he bring attention to the crime if he has already found the killer? That doesn’t make sense to me.”
“Exactly.” Viktor punched the air with his finger. “But it is that sort of thing that Carmine would do. Did you ever stop to think that possibly the reason why the Fates put us together was because I do know about how these people operate? You said yourself, I lived in the shadows for a long time. Even before the Tonys and the Carmines of this world were a blink in their mother’s eyes, I had seen the lengths, and the deceptions people will go to, to get their own way.
“This is what Carmine is doing to you. He’s manipulating you. I couldn’t tell you at the time, not with Carmine right there at our table. But I did tell him you wouldn’t help him with anything at all, after he referred to Bridget. Then you went and offered to help find his sister’s killer anyway. I admit it.” Viktor threw uphis hands, causing Able to raise his head. “I don’t understand why you could do that.”
“We’re allowed to be different, though, aren’t we?” Ant asked slowly. “We’re allowed to have our differences in the way we perceive things. You had all those thoughts going through your head, trying to protect me, but I couldn’t pick up anything through our bond when I was talking to Carmine, because he was giving me a headache.
“His energies were that loud, I suppose you could call them. They were buffeting my senses, and that rarely happens, unless I’m actually touching a person. His anger was overwhelming. He was... There was a frustration, a nervous energy, and I can’t help it, but that lent credence to his story. Surely you can see that?”
“I can see why you would think like that, yes.” Viktor reached over and took Ant’s hand. “But I also know that before this meeting, Carmine would have spoken to every contact that he’s got about you. He would have spoken to everybody he knows on the streets and any of the contacts he’s paying off at the police station.
“He’s likely got contacts in the Mage Academy. He would have spoken to previous clients of yours. He would have been investigating other tenants in the building where your business is. Before he even proposed this meeting, Carmine would’ve found out absolutely everything he possibly could about you as soon as he learned you took down Tony Manzano.
“Unlike Tony, Carmine’s not stupid. If you can take down a mob boss, then you’re a threat to him. What better way to neutralize that threat than to have your power on his side? He found out your soft spot and he used it. If you think about it, what better way is there to attract someone’s attention than to dangle thedeath of an innocent victim in front of somebody who is well known around town for being a decent person? Can’t you see?”
Ant nodded, but he didn’t agree, and that increased Viktor’s concern.
“Carmine wasn’t wrong in a lot of ways. I am skeptical. I am cynical. I do look at everybody, especially people like Carmine, and just wish them off the face of the earth. They annoy me. They frustrate me. And the way they manipulate people, his bringing up Jessie…”
