Page 29 of Made of Steele
Drew honestly hated leaving Teagan behind. He half expected her to follow him, but he kept checking his rearview mirror and didn’t see her car. Or any suspicious vehicles at all. He took a circuitous route to be sure no one was tailing him. That was as much of a part of his daily routine this past year as breathing was. It had to be if he wanted to keep breathing.
He pulled into the World of Crafts lot and sat for a moment to get his game face on. Changing to Dylan’s personality wasn’t usually hard, but today he struggled. He wanted to remain Drew, and he suspected Teagan played a big part in that. Too bad. He couldn’t be Drew again until he wrapped up this investigation.
He took a fortifying breath and strode up to the door. The moment he pushed it open, he smiled at Betty, the longtime company receptionist. “Jingle Bells” played over the speakers and the space smelled like cinnamon from the basket of pinecones on the counter.
“Hey, good-looking,” he offered his normal greeting.
She grinned, revealing a missing incisor. “Wondered if you’d be coming by today.”
“Are you kidding?” He leaned on the counter. “Couldn’t miss seeing my best girl.”
She laughed and waved a hand. “Vito tells me you went to the ballgame with Teagan Steele.”
Vito was a bigmouth, as were the other brothers to some extent. Not when it came to their illegal doings. For that, they were as tightlipped as a child refusing to take his medicine.
“Tell you a secret.” Drew leaned closer to Betty. “We never made it to the game. I took her to dinner first, and we sat and talked until it was too late to go.”
Betty watched him carefully as his mother might in this situation. “You like her, then?”
“I do.” He glanced at the female guard who was trying hard to pretend not to listen. “How about you? What do you think of her?”
Betty’s lips puckered. “She’s polite enough but always focused on business. Vito says she works all the time. Not sure when she’ll find the time to go out with you on a regular basis.”
“Look at all of this, Betty!” He ran his hands over his body like Dylan would do. “What woman could resist?”
The guard snorted, but Betty laughed. Dylan was a larger-than-life personality so this behavior fell well within the parameters he set, but he could easily imagine he was turning the guard’s stomach, and she might warn her boss to steer clear of him.
“The brothers in?” he asked.
“In the office last time I saw them. Go on back. I know they’ll be glad to see you.”
Dylan blew her a kiss and stepped past the guard. He caught a roll of her eyes. The woman looked like her radar for slimy guys was beeping. He should be offended, but her reaction only meant he was doing his job and doing it well.
He headed to the office in the back. The door was open, and Sal was talking. Drew came to a stop.
“You have it?” Sal asked. “You’re not lying to me, are you? You have it? The real deal?”
If his words didn’t convince Drew to stop and eavesdrop, Sal’s tone would.
“I need to see it. Now!” Sal’s tone had risen even higher, breaking like a middle school boy in puberty. “Fine. Let me know when the shipment arrives.”
Quiet reigned for only a moment.
“Aldo,” Sal called out. “I need you to prepare for a three-million-dollar purchase.”
“Three million?” Aldo’s voice squeaked. “We don’t have that kind of liquid cash.”
“Then we accelerate the money we get from Dylan. Use his cash until we can free ours up.”
“He won’t like that,” Vito said, a warning in his voice.
“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” Sal’s tone had turned deadly serious, putting a hitch in Drew’s confidence.
“What about Rossi?” Vito challenged. “He said washing Dylan’s money was a trial, and three mil is way beyond a trial.”
“Let me worry about Rossi.” Sal’s confidence might be completely misplaced. At least that’s what Drew thought when it came to the man he’d seen last night. He didn’t seem to take kindly to not being listened to.
That could blow up in Drew’s face. And what about the three mil? ICE would never cough up that kind of cash to give these guys to wash.
