Dante by Bethany-Kris

me or the substances I provide, I drop them without notice or a promise to return. I am successful because of my persona—this innate ability to be a beautiful ghost in their world with no name, no connections to their real lives beyond what I bring to them, and my talent of leaving as quietly as I came. They never have to worry about me staining their reputations, but I do deliver .”
    “You deal in big names,” Dante said.
    “Would you like a few?” Cat asked softly.
    “I have more than enough from my sources to know you’re very much sought after in the socialite, high-society, political, and celebrity worlds.”
    “Does that intimidate you?”
    Dante laughed, the deep sound striking Cat straight in the gut like a sledgehammer. “No, I find it admirable, actually.”
    “Because I’m a woman,” Cat assumed.
    “No, because you’re successful at all with people who have enough money to have any kind of drug dealer they want on speed dial.”
    Cat appreciated the fact Dante didn’t dance around what she truly was beneath her beauty and title. “Yet, they want Queen.”
    “They do.” Dante rested back in his chair, the papers in front of him seemingly forgotten. “How did you come about that name, anyway?”
    “Queens are untouchable. Someone thought it fit me and it caught on, I suppose.”
    “Who?”
    “It’s not important,” Cat replied, having no desire to explain the family similar to Dante’s she left behind in Italy.
    Thankfully, Dante didn’t push it. Instead, he went in a direction Cat hadn’t expected at all. “Why do you need a husband, Catrina? Seems to me settling down as a wife might hinder your ability to gallivant from state to state like you do, never mind you don’t seem like a woman who wants a man at your side as a partner.”
    “You read people well.”
    “I have to. I’m intended to be a boss of a major crime family. My success depends on my ability to pick people apart, weed through their bullshit, and cull the weak links before they can hurt me. Answer my question, regazza .”
    “My reasons for needing—not wanting—a marriage is purely selfish and partly for business security. I want to remain on American soil. This is where my clients are and where I have built the majority of my name. Unfortunately, my dual citizenship makes my standing shaky. Should I be arrested, which is unlikely, or if legal issues arise because of my Queen Pin status, I will be deported, and I won’t be invited back. A marriage would insure my stay here no matter what.”
    “That all sounds like business to me. Where’s the selfishness come in?”
    “Your last name, of course. Not only would it offer me a great deal of protection, as we’re always amassing enemies in our line of work, but it would also open up a few layers of new clientele in New York on my end. I’ve not touched a lot of New York, you see. There’s enough organized crime here without me causing a ruckus. As a leader’s wife, on the other hand, no one would say a thing.”
    Dante didn’t bat an eye. “Funny, when a woman wants to get close to me because of my last name, it’s usually because of the money that comes along with it.”
    “I have my own money, bello . I certainly don’t need yours.”
    “True.”
    “And if I’m honest,” Cat continued with a shrug of her delicate shoulders, “I’ve had a few close calls over the last year with the officials. It’s unusual. I need to take a step out of the limelight as the main woman for a while in my trade and let a few other girls I’ve had under my wing fly on their own. So yes, more assurance and protection for me.”
    Cat could hear the soft pat-pat-pat of his heel stomping to the hardwood floor beneath his desk. Even if she couldn’t, the way he quieted gave her every indication Dante Marcello might actually be considering Cat’s offer of marriage.
    “That’s all fine and great,” Dante said, his gaze snapping back to hers in an instant, “… but