"Little Tim, what do you need?"
Dante spoke up with a small smile while taking his hand off Tim's head after ruffling it. Tim mumbled that Dante shouldn't call him 'little' while trying to fix his hair. Once Tim was sure that his hair was back to normal, he nodded and spoke to Dante.
"I got the info you asked for on the Bellagrini transports. A guy I know at the port said a shipment of Nitroglycerin from Russia was arriving soon. I think they're trying to make more bombs."
Dante clicked his tongue in irritation once he heard this and thought about it for a few seconds. If the Bellagrinis were making bombs, then it was likely that they would try to attack the Dante warehouses again. That couldn't happen. Dante had to make sure that they never got that shipment! If Dante remembered correctly, then Nitroglycerin was a very combustible liquid. If the Bellagrinis were transporting it, then they would need to use specially built trucks to make sure that the compound didn't combust unexpectedly. And if they were moving across the Stockham roads, then there would definitely be a point during the trip when there would be low security guarding the shipment. If they attacked, then they could destroy the entire shipment without much effort.
Dante turned to speak to Tim, but Tim was already smiling in a knowing way, and Dante could tell that Tim had the exact same idea. Dante smiled and ruffled the boy's hair again.
"Take a few dozen men and take care of it. Philip will be your contact, and Raul will be in charge. Make sure that shipment never gets to their estate."
Tim saluted exaggeratedly before he turned and ran off again! Dante smiled as he watched the boy go, and Philip shook his head with a small sigh.
"That boy needs to grow up. He's too childish for the sort of things he does."
Philip spoke in exasperation as he saw Tim running like a kid who had just heard there was ice cream! Tim was in charge of handling very high explosives as well as other compounds that could destroy an entire city block if mishandled. Philip didn't know if it was a good idea ot leave something so dangerous in the hands of someone like Tim. But Dante told him not to bother Tim. In their world, everyone had their own way of coping with the things they did. Some people were willing to give up their emotions and become stoic so that they never felt bad for all the lives that they took, but others, like Tim, were on the other end of the spectrum. They dived deeper into their emotions and held onto them like a drug that made them forget their sins.
"Let him deal with things in his own way. As long as he isn't slacking off, then there is no need to bother him about his attitude. Now go take care of the mission and make sure that his group reports back every thirty minutes with updates."
Philip nodded and saluted Dante before he turned and left him alone. The sound of footsteps coming down from the upper rooms drew Dante's attention and Dante turned to see that it was Angelina. She was now wearing a simple pair of joggers and a baggy t-shirt that fell down on her shoulder to expose some of her cleavage, and Dante found his eyes wandering towards the part of her upper breast that was peeking out from her shirt. Angelina caught Dante looking at her, and she smiled. There were red rims around her eyes to show that she had been crying, but she seemed to finally be okay now, and she allowed herself to fully appreciate Dante's attention as she came closer.
Once she was right in front of Dante, she spoke up calmly.
"So, father is really gone."
Dante nodded once, and Angelina sighed. It was almost like she had been holding onto some hope that all of this was just a big joke, and it was only Dante's confirmation that made her finally realize that it wasn't. The next time she spoke, there was a sad smile on her face.
"You know, I expected something like this to happen eventually. Father has been sick for a long time, and I could tell that he was getting worse even though he tried to hide it from me. You know, Father spoke about you a lot whenever he called. In the last few months leading up to his death, it was almost like you were the only thing he could talk about. He told me how you went fishing with him, and how you drove him around town to see the sights whenever he was bored. I know it must've been hard for you to handle that while also doing your job as a cleaner."
Dante shook his head.
"My first priority as a member of this family is to make sure the boss and his family are well protected. I took care of the boss because he needed someone to be with him in his final years. And now that he is gone, I'll keep my promise to him and make sure that you and your siblings are taken care of. No matter what it is you need from me, no matter where you are, I'll always be there to help you."
Angelina's face was set in a look of absolute surprise as she glanced up at Dante. There was a look of complete seriousness on Dante's face at that moment, and Angelina could tell without a shadow of a doubt that Dante was speaking nothing but the truth. Angelina gained a blush as she felt her mouth splitting into a smile, and she quickly stepped closer to Dante and leaned up to kiss him on the side of the mouth.
Dante was surprised by the action, and his eyes narrowed towards Angelina while silently asking for an explanation, but Angelina just shook her head.
"If I didn't know any better, I would have thought you were proposing marriage to me, Dante. But I guess this is just who you are deep down. Thank you for looking after us. I don't think we can ever show you enough gratitude for what you've done for our family. And… I'm sorry for what I did when we were kids."
Angelina looked into Dante's eyes and she saw a flash of anger pass through it when she apologized. But it was gone just as quickly as it came, and Dante nodded to Angelina while speaking.
"You're always welcome, Angelina."
Angelina didn't fail to notice that Dante had not accepted her apology, and she felt a strange pain pierce her heart when she saw the complete apathy on Dante's face. When they were just kids, Angelina had not been very kind to Dante at all, and there was an incident that almost led to Dante being kicked out of the family because of her. If not for her father speaking up for him, then Angelina was sure that the Matron would have killed Dante that day, even though it was all Angelina's fault! But Dante never brought up the incident, and he did his best to avoid it whenever she tried to bring it up with him.
Angelina shook her head and forced a smile on her face while stepping back. She put her hands behind her back to emphasize her breasts even more, and she gained a coy smile when Dante's eyes trailed down to her cleavage for a moment. Dante raised a brow at her curiously, and she grinned as she passed and headed towards the meeting room. Once she was gone, Dante let out a breath and turned to look out the window at the side.