𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐌𝐞

51|| Jealousy

Dante // February 27
•••

"Is she still mad at me?"

I store the knife back into my suit jacket and give Lester a pointed look. "You send a group of assassins after her last night."

He shakes his head. "They weren't going to hurt her."

"Then why's there a cut in her arm right now?"

His face falls and even though I'm satisfied that I got to him, I didn't fucking want him to be so concerned for Celeste. She should be nowhere on his mind.

"You assured me she was dead," Tobias says, moving both our attention to the irritated man with the French accent. "I'm really not happy with this, Finley."

His wife had excused herself to go to the restroom a few minutes ago and if it hadn't been for my plan I would've left right after Celeste as well.

I know she's safe and soundly smoking outside, because that's what the three guards I'd ordered to shadow her had told me.

She'd done so well, both with talking and repressing her urge to kill both the Duponts, but something felt off during the conversation.

She'd made it clear how much she hated Tobias, yet the person she was most focused on had been Josette whom she'd spoken little to nothing about before.

And that's not all I took notice of. They'd spoken and acted like they had a history, one very different from the clear hatred Tobias and Celeste shared for each other.

Lester's voice snaps me out of my spiral and back into the conversation.

"Watch your tone, kid."

Lester never really knows when to step off of his high horse and right now that would be the smart thing to do judging by the anger and offense building up in Tobias's eyes.

"Don't take it to heart, Dupont," I say with a lazy smile. "Finley has made a habit out of lying to his business partners."

As if he finally realized the weight of the situation, Lester sends me a glare. "Like you're one to talk about credibility. You just showed up with the same woman that assassinated countless of your men as your date."

"I simply just wanted to remind Tobias who will come after him if he goes through with restoring the poison recipe."

He frowns at me and for a second I let my thoughts wander again.

This is the man who'd caused the three scars on Celeste's back. The man who got her so terrified of water that she had a full on ptsd attack in the rain.

I can't wait to see the day that Celeste takes him down to my cellar and follows through the entire list she'd ones given me.

"Is that a threat I'm hearing?" Tobias asks.

I shrug. "Just a reminder."

He chuckles but there's no humor in the sound. "If either of you think she's a reliable person to work with, I'd have to disappoint you. She's not wired properly. She's a psychopath who knows how to act in order to get what she wants."

"Huh," I hum. "And when did you come to that conclusion? When you were bullying little girls, or when you were full on torturing them?"

He narrows his eyes at me, not appreciating the comment. "I'm just warning you, Mr. Alessi. She has no personality of her own, she just mimics the one that'll get her somewhere."

I wanted to cuss him out, grab him by his collar and drag him to the restroom to wash his mouth out, but I refrained myself. The last thing I needed was for anyone to know Celeste was anything more than an asset to me.