Page 30 of The Deeper Game
“What’d you hear?” Odin asked. “From who?”
“Vanessa Foy heard about it and she’s telling people.”
“From Bolo. Fuck,” Odin said. “That was fast.”
“We have big plans next week,” Matteo said. “Do we need to put them off?”
“Hell no.” Zeus slid in on the other side of me, squeezing in close. He brushed a strand of hair from my forehead and kissed me. “Heya, baby,” he said.
“Hey,” I whispered.
“Like that. We can’t have your attentions divided,” Matteo said. “There’s a lot of recon to do in the next few days, and here you are conducting some side investigation? Not that I blame you.”
“We got this handled,” Zeus said. “You watch how sizzling fast we catch this guy.”
“I sat on the bank on my own all afternoon,” Matteo said. “I didn’t mind taking your shifts, but it can’t happen anymore.”
“The Prime is important to our family,” Zeus said. “We’ve got the bandwidth to do both. Nobody fucks with us.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Matteo said, looking off at Thor across the room.
“Yeah, yeah,yeah?” Zeus said. “You got a problem?”
I stiffened in my seat, thinking Zeus might haul off and hit Matteo. The veins on Zeus’s neck became dangerously defined. I was starting to feel dizzy off the sheer testosterone.
“Nobody fucks with you. We all get that,” Matteo said. “But reactingisletting them fuck with you. They are fucking with you already.”
“You’re saying we should let this go unchallenged?” Zeus said.
“No, I’m saying somebody is fucking with you, and I’m pointing out that you’re dancing like a puppet. That is the feeling I’m getting off you right now.”
“A puppet?” Zeus said, voice all scary calm.
Gulp.
“Yeah, like a puppet,” Matteo said. “As in, you’re not in control of your actions, and that has the potential to jam up our job with the Prime. So maybe we should postpone it so you can put your attention on this thing.”
“The HVAC project will be over with if we wait,” Odin said. “Zeus won’t be on the inside anymore. We lose our advantage if we postpone.”
“We make a new plan,” Matteo said. “We still have the codes. And not to be insensitive, but…” He looked over at me. “You’re the driver. We can’t be inside there relying on you if there’s a potential of somebody chasing you off or…”
“Gruesomely attacking and killing me?” I asked. “Because that would really mess the job up.”
“Not to befucking-ginsensitive,” Odin bit out, offended.
Matteo shrugged. I liked that he was being forthright. And yes, I’d be alone out there. The guys would be in the ducts.
I looked over at Zeus. “It’s not a bad point.”
Zeus grunted. “That’s why we’ll nab this guy before the job.”
Matteo gazed across the bar. “I don’t want to postpone, either. But I want to go in right.”
I followed his gaze over to a stately woman in a silver gown who was glaring at Matteo. Macy, one of the Gigis, aka the Giraffes. She was flanked by Jenny Gigi and Angel Gigi. The girl jewel-thief gang.
Macy pushed off the bar and headed our way, followed by her friends in a formation like three fighter jets. Angel wore a yellow party dress with a tiara—she always seemed to go for tiaras. Jenny had on a slinky dress that was practically poured onto her.
“Oh, God,” Matteo mumbled under his breath.
