The Road to Redemption (19 page)

“Yeah. It is.”
Damien turned back towards the pack house and Chris fell in beside
him. “I can give you some pointers, if you’d like.”

“That’d be
great. What about right now?” The boy grinned and began to walk
with a bit of a swagger.

“No, not
today. I have to meet someone.” They turned the corner. The pack
house was right ahead. He’d ditch Chris and might still have enough
time to get to the pool hall before Dante. “No more following me.
If you ever did manage to catch me unaware I could hurt you before
I realized who you were.”

Chris’ step
faltered and he rubbed the spot on his arm where Damien had grabbed
him. “My dad said you’re a rogue and rogues can be really
dangerous.”

“He’s right.”
Damien slid a sideways look at Chris wondering how he felt about
that fact. From the look on the boy’s face, it wasn’t a negative in
his young mind.

“That must be
way cool. Everyone would be intimidated by you. You can roam all
over the country doing whatever you want.” There was a definite
look of hero worship in his eyes.

“Having no
family. No friends. No pack. Never knowing where you’ll sleep or
get your next meal. People always suspicious of your motives.
Struggling to keep control of the animal inside you.” Damien tried
to counter the picture the boy was painting, but doubted it
worked.

They stopped
in front of the pack house and Damien checked his watch. Damn. It
was later than he’d thought. He reiterated his warning. “Chris, I
meant what I said. Don’t follow me.”

“Sure, Damien.
As long as you give me those lessons you promised.” Chris gave him
a cheeky grin before heading inside.

Damien waited
until the front door closed behind the boy and then walked quickly
towards his meet with Dante. He’d intended to be there before the
man, but that wasn’t going to be possible now.

“Chris, come
in here!” Sam called out to the young Lycan as he entered the pack
house. Through her office window, she’d seen him talking to Damien.
No problem with that except, she glanced at the clock, the boy
should have still been in school.

“Hey, Sam!”
Chris entered, his hands in his back pockets and a self-satisfied
smirk on his face.

“Where’ve you
been?”

“Out with
Damien.”

“At this time
of the day? Shouldn’t you be in school?”

“Nope. We have
the afternoon off. The teachers have a workshop or something.”

“Hmmm.” Sam
tapped a few keys on her computer and pulled up the school
calendar. Okay, the kid was telling the truth. “So what were you
and Damien doing?”

“I was
practising following him, but he caught me.”

Sam raised her
brows. “Following Damien. And how did he feel about that?”

Chris
shrugged. “I dunno. He said I was pretty lousy at it, but he’d
teach me some tricks. Not today, though. I think he was in a hurry
to meet someone.”

“I see.” She
drummed her fingers on her desk then nodded. “Okay. Head to your
room and start studying for that test you have on Friday.”

“But they gave
us the afternoon off!”

“Too bad.
You’re still grounded and your marks suck.”

Chris scowled
but did as he was told. Sam sighed wondering if she’d been as bad
at that age. Probably.

With Chris out
of the way, she slipped out of the house. Damien was meeting
someone. On the off chance that she could pick up his trail, she’d
try to track him down.

The pool hall wasn’t crowded; a few of the tables
were occupied, some patrons were seated at the bar watching a game
on TV. Damien stood in the entry letting his eyes adjust to the
darker lighting while his nose detected Dante’s scent…or at least
the lilac scent the dirt ball was using to hide behind.

He was at the
far end of the bar. Clever of him. Private enough for a
conversation, but public enough that the bastard would feel
relatively protected.

Damien
strolled across the room garnering a few glances from the locals.
The bartender raised an eyebrow and he shook his head to the silent
inquiry for a drink.

Sliding onto a
stool beside Dante, Damien fixed his eyes on the TV screen. The
game was loud enough to cover their voices from human hearing.

“Why the hell
are you still in the area?”

“Is that any
way to greet an old friend?” Dante feigned a hurt tone.

“We were never
friends.”

“Partner,
then.”

“No.” He’d
only ever had one partner, Reno, and the idea that Dante would even
consider himself to be in the same category caused his blood to
boil. “We were never partners. Circumstances might have forced us
to work towards the same goal, but that was as far as it went.”

“Tsk. Tsk.”
Dante took a drink, his eyes fixed on the TV screen. “You never
were a team player. Deirdre often commented about that.”

“Cut the crap,
Dante. I’m here because I have a job to do. Why are you still
stinking up the city with your presence?” He made no mention of
what he’d overheard at Marcello’s; it could provide him with some
leverage if need be.

Dante eyed him
speculatively, likely trying to decide how much he’d overheard.
Damien carefully schooled his features to reveal nothing.

Finally Dante
answered. “Chicago’s such a lovely place. And since I found myself
temporarily unemployed and without funds…”

“You resorted
to robbing old men? I gave you enough money to drag your carcass
somewhere else.”

“Perhaps. But
I’ve since found several new sources of income and they require me
to stay close by.” A slow smile spread over his face as he flicked
a glance at Damien. “Very close as a matter of fact.”

A sinking
feeling settled in Damien’s stomach. His experience with Dante had
taught him to never underestimate the man. If he claimed to have a
winning hand, he usually did.

“Okay, I’ll
bite. What are you up to?”

Dante didn’t
speak for a moment, no doubt savouring the moment before he sprung
his news. In the background, the faint thud of a pool cue could be
heard followed by the clatter of balls as they careened together
before dropping into a pocket. The sportscaster on TV was droning
out statistics, and patrons were exchanging good-natured gibes with
the bartender.

“How are you
coping with Sam Harper?” The non-sequitur had Damien turning his
head to look at the man.

“What does she
have to do with this?”

Dante
shrugged. “I heard she’s quite a tough little bitch.”

Damien gritted
his teeth at the term but outwardly didn’t react. The scuzzball was
up to something. “She’s an Alpha, what do you expect?”

“Ah! I’ve
heard rumours about her, that she’s not completely Lycan. There’s
some witch or Fae in her background, I believe.”

“Your
point?”

“Nothing. It’s
just that I’d imagine she’d hold a certain appeal to you. You were
always trying to champion the mixed blooded ones.”

He made a
non-committal noise. It wasn’t a fact he could deny, but it wasn’t
an issue in his dealings with Sam, either.

“Not going to
bite on that, are you?” Dante sighed. “Oh well, it doesn’t matter
to my little venture anyway. I have enough leverage as it is.”

“Leverage?”

“You wouldn’t
want her to know that you’re not the rogue she was looking for,
would you?” A self-satisfied smile started to spread over Dante’s
face. “I know a lot about you, Damien. What you used to be, what
you’re doing now, spying for Sinclair. It would be a shame if
Harper found out.”

Damien
stiffened in his seat. “Are you trying to blackmail me?”

“Yes.” Dante
looked him straight in the eye. “I need money and I’ll get it any
way I can. Friendship doesn’t stand in my way when it comes to
getting what I want.”

“Like I said
before, we were never friends.”

“Exactly.”

“And what if I
said I didn’t care?” Damien stalled for time, his mind racing.
Dante seemed to be going on a blackmailing spree. First Marcello,
now him. Who was next on the list?

“Really?
You’re going to disappoint Sinclair and his little family? Aren’t
they counting on you?”

“Kane doesn’t
need me here. He can build a case against the Chicago pack on his
own.”

“But if Lycan
Link were to find out that he’d sent you in as a spy, they wouldn’t
look kindly on him. And he was harbouring you before the pardon
went through. I don’t know how that would affect his chances for a
seat on High Council. Lycan Link can be so stuffy about things like
that.” Dante made a moue and shook his head. “Such a shame. He was
a promising candidate, too.”

Damien clamped
his mouth shut, trying to control the anger building inside him. He
couldn’t be the cause of Kane’s downfall. Kane had been trying to
help him, to give him a sense of purpose, when he’d sent him here.
And Sam…he was operating under false pretences with her, but for
some reason, he’d prefer she never found out and certainly not from
the likes of Dante.

“What? No
questions as to who my source is? No threats?” Dante gave up
staring at the screen and looked directly at Damien.

“Leave. Now.”
Damien spoke between clenched teeth. He could feel his muscles
bunching, a haze beginning to shimmer before his eyes as his wolf
struggled to escape.

“I will. For
the moment.” Dante chugged the last of his drink. “But you’ll be
hearing from me.”

“I should have
killed you in that alley.” A growl rumbled up from his chest.

“Probably.
Mercy always was your downfall.” Dante nodded towards the front
window. Through the layer of filth that coated the glass, Sam could
be seen walking towards the establishment. “Your ‘boss’ is looking
for you, so I’ll be on my way.” He stood, a wince of pain crossing
his features.

Damien curled
his lip, pleased that the man’s knee hadn’t recuperated yet from
their fight. No doubt his dissipated lifestyle was ruining his
Lycan metabolism. “Watch your back, Dante. I’m going to hunt you
down.”

“If you can
find me. I’ve played this game longer and harder than you have,
Damien. And I’ve always won. Next time we meet, I’ll be expecting
payment for keeping my mouth shut. A couple of hundred will do…for
now.” Dante limped away, and Damien wondered what the chances were
that he’d be able to kill the man in broad daylight without anyone
noticing.

The bastard
had the nerve to hold the door open for Sam as she walked in. His
inner wolf growled when the man eyed her like a piece of meat. If
Dante ever touched her, there wouldn’t be enough pieces left to
identify. The idea was extremely satisfying.

Sam stood in
the doorway, her stance was confident, as if seedy pool halls were
her everyday environment. For some reason, he tried to picture Beth
here and knew his little mate would have been out of her element.
She would have looked about with wide-eyed fascination, and stuck
to his side in case trouble should break out. Beth wasn’t a
fighter. Sam, on the other hand, would probably grab a pool cue if
a fight broke out and ram it into the stomach of any troublemaker
who dared come near her. Yeah, the two women were like night and
day.

Sam nodded to
the bartender as she crossed the room. He immediately poured her a
drink and was sliding it down the bar by the time she reached the
far side of the room. Sitting in the seat Dante had vacated, she
flicked a glance at the empty space on the counter in front of him
and then at the TV screen.

“No drink, so
you’re not here to tie one on. Must be that you had a burning need
to watch the game, right?” She blinked at him innocently and gave
him a sweet smile before belting back her whiskey. It was so
incongruous that he laughed.

“Uh huh.
That’s it.” He twined two fingers together and held them up for her
to see. “Me and baseball are like this. Don’t try to keep us
apart.”

She snorted.
“Yeah, right. And I like to make tea cosies in my spare time.”

“Really?” He
tried to keep a straight face but failed miserably.

The corners of
Sam’s mouth twitched despite the fact she was glaring at him. “So
what’s the real story? You’ve been sneaking off on your own every
day now.”

“No, I
haven’t.” He countered. “If I was really trying to sneak off, you
wouldn’t have caught me.”

“Okay.
Sneaking was the wrong word, but the question is still the same.
What gives, Damien?”

He thought
quickly, wondering how much to say. “I was meeting someone. He had
information to give me.”

“Lilac Man?”
She sniffed the air and made a face. “The same guy you were talking
to at Club Mystique the other night?”

“Yep.” She
made no mention of the supposed robbery at Marcello’s, and Damien
gave a silent sigh of relief. She still hadn’t realized Dante and
the thief were one and the same.

When he
offered no more, she huffed and prompted further. “Does this
information have to do with your current job? With me and my
pack?”

Damien
hesitated. “Yes, but I need to verify a few facts. ‘Lilac Man’
isn’t always reliable.”

“And that’s
all you have to say?”

“Actually,
no.” He winked at her. “Wanna play some pool?”

Sam hit him in
the arm. Hard.

“What was that
for?” He rubbed his bicep.

“You’re trying
to distract me from asking more about Lilac Man.”

“Yep, that’s
my plan, but I really don’t know much about shooting pool and
thought you could give me some pointers while we talk.”

“How do you
even know I play?”

“The bartender
knows you.”

“Maybe I just
come here to drink.”

“Do you?”

“No.”

“There you
go.” He stood up and tugged her towards an open table.

Sam gave a
sigh and followed. “Okay. But if I win, you have to share the
information Lilac Man was giving you.”