Dark Mirror: A Dante Jacoby Thriller (Dante Jacoby Series Book 3) by Matt Rogers

Author:Matt Rogers [Rogers, Matt]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-03-21T16:00:00+00:00

44

Dante’s standing inches from the floor-to-ceiling window pane, staring out at the wall of darkness beyond, when the chime of the doorbell echoes through the loft.

He limps to the door. He can’t resist looking through the peephole, even though he’s well aware it won’t make an ounce of difference. He understands the calibre of the people he’s messing with. They could have a gun barrel pressed to the other side of the peephole, they could have a hundred men out in the hallway: hell, they could just drop a bomb on the building if they were so inclined.

It’s why he put all his eggs in the blackmail basket.

He can’t meet the military industrial complex with force.

It’s just impossible.

His wellbeing depends on whether Eli cares for reputation and optics.

The peephole reveals Sarah Santos, her tiny form distorted by the fisheye lens. She wears faded denim jeans and an oversized pale blue sweatshirt, the cuffs stretching down to the tips of her fingers. Hair back in a ponytail; dark rings under her eyes; pale cheeks. Clearly she didn’t take the morning’s conversation well.

He braces for her inevitable shock as he swings the door open.

‘Hey,’ she starts, then gets an actual look at him. ‘Oh my God…’

He ushers her inside.

When he closes the door behind her, she takes him by the shoulders and tilts his face down toward her. Using the harsh fluorescent lighting coming off the open-plan kitchen as a spotlight, she assesses every contorted and swollen section of his features.

‘What’s broken?’ she asks finally, voice small.

He lifts his inflated left hand, still bound with grimy bandages. ‘Just this. Miracle, I know. I’m told it all looks worse than it is.’

Truth is, he isn’t sure. Sam hit him clean in the face after the medics cleared him at the ranch, so maybe the extra punishment popped an orbital or cracked a cheekbone, but he doubts it. Physically, he feels about the same as before he fought Sam.

Which blows his mind when he considers what should have happened.

It’s gotten him thinking: maybe first and second place isn’t quite so clear-cut. Perhaps, in actuality, Obelisk had very little to improve on in the years between his creations. He told Eli that Sam was the next generation, but Adam Benoit has lied before.

Most of his life was lies, in fact.

What if his claims about Sam were just marketing spin? Dante thinks. What if Sam and I are the same?

Which brings him to the next question: by far the worst.

What if Eli realises how valuable I am, how useful I could be?

‘Dante,’ Sarah snaps, tearing him back to the present.

‘Sorry. Yeah?’

‘I said, is this why you’re not at Sympatheia?’

He shrugs. ‘Either way, I don’t think that’s a good idea anymore. I’d just be hounded.’

‘Yeah. Nick called. Tonight’s the busiest yet.’

‘The busiest…’ he repeats in a daze. ‘Sunday night?’

‘Yeah. Crazy, right? But don’t panic. Nick tells me Steve’s on top of it all. Like he was born for it.’

Dante tries to remember what life was like before Eli stepped into the café that morning.

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