Dante worked quickly on his computer, the faint light of the screen etching hard shadows on his face. Raven, on the other hand, stretched out on the couch, browsing through a magazine she discovered under the coffee table. It was two years old, had a faint scent of wet wood, and had an article titled "10 Ways to Know If Your Cat is Plotting Against You."
"You have five seconds to begin acting like you care," Dante told him without glancing up.
Raven stretched. "I do care. I just show it differently."
"By browsing through a magazine on killer cats?"
"You'd be surprised how applicable it is."
Dante exhaled, combing his hair with his fingers. "I discovered who offered the bounty on you."
She sat up straight away, throwing the magazine on the floor. "Oh, great! Who is it that despises me so much they're offering a bounty on my head? I mean, I have a few ideas, but I'd love to hear your expert opinion."
Dante spun the laptop around so she could see a blurry security photograph of a guy in a pinstripe suit, seething.
"Vincent Morelli," he growled.
Raven narrowed her eyes at the screen. "Vincent Morelli. Vincent Morelli. Oof, that name rings a bell."
Dante glared at her, unimpressed. "That's because he's one of the city's most notorious crime bosses. The type of individual people don't easily forget."
Raven tapped her chin, lost in thought. "Hmm. No bells ringing. Are you certain?"
Dante pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yes, Raven. I'm certain."
She waved her hands. "Okay, okay. No need to get all murdery. Just explain to me why he's so angry at me."
Dante flipped the laptop back in his direction, scrolling through some documents. "It appears you… accidentally sabotaged a significant business deal of his."
Raven gasped. "Sabotage?! I would never!"
Dante raised a brow. "Want to hear how you did it?"
She crossed her arms. "Hit me."
He spun the screen one more time, and it turned up a stream of fuzzy images that looked to be security-camera footage of a dock. A photo had some men in business suits looking like they had lost their last friend. Another displayed crates—pretty pricey-looking crates—bobbing in the ocean. And sitting right in the middle of all of it…
Was Raven.
Standing beside what looked like a forklift.
Raven blinked. "Huh. Well, that's unlucky."
Dante's tone was monotone. "You crashed a forklift into his cargo of illegal guns and pushed it into the harbor."
She cringed. "To be fair, forklifts are more difficult to operate than they appear."
Dante let out a sharp breath. "It was not yours to operate."
"I was curious!"
Dante glared at her.
She cleared her throat. "Okay, okay, in my defense, I believed I was assisting. I was attempting to dislodge a crate.
Dante leaned to the side. "And instead?"
Raven cleared her throat. "And instead, I might have, could have, definitely, by accident tossed the whole shipment off into the ocean."
Dante kept his eyes shut for a very long time. "That shipment was worth millions, Raven."
She whistled softly. "Oh. Yeah, yeah, I guess I get why he's upset."
"Guess?"
"Well, I mean, it wasn't like I did it on purpose!" she defended. "It was an honest accident."
Dante leaned forward. "You torched a complete arms deal between two syndicates. Have you any idea what that sort of trick does to a man like Morelli?"
Raven clicked her fingers together. "Uh… makes him dislike forklifts?"
Dante was five seconds from losing it. "It makes him appear vulnerable. And in his world, appearing vulnerable causes him to lose influence."
Raven massaged her temples. "Well, now I feel guilty.
"Do you?"
"No."
Dante paced, getting up and rubbing his head. "This isn't funny, Raven. You don't just botch up a crime lord's operation by mistake and hope he forgets about it."
She huffed theatrically. "Fine, I'll say sorry! I'll mail him a nice letter! 'Dear Mr. Morelli, I regret my forklift mishap deeply and would like to offer my most sincere—'"
Dante interrupted her. "You can't be serious."
She smiled. "I'm just stating, a little bit of niceness goes far."
Dante rubbed his hand across his face. "You are unbelievable."
"Thank you."
"That was not a compliment."
She rolled onto the couch, looking very much too contented for someone who had a price on her head. "So, now what? Do we haggle? Do we flee? Do we—"
Dante's phone went off. He looked at it, and his face grew shadowed.
Raven sat up. "What? What is it?"
Dante breathed slowly out. "Morelli's men know where we are."
Raven's eyes opened wide. "Oh. Soooooo… maybe we do run?"
Dante reached for his jacket and his gun. "Yes. Now."
Raven sprang to her feet, wincing as her shoulder ached. "Right. Totally. Just one thing first."
Dante turned. "What?"
She nodded towards his coffee cup. "Can we not take that with us?"
Dante glared at her for a solid two seconds before shaking his head and moving towards the door. "You're lucky I need you alive."
Raven smirked as she trailed along behind him. "Come on. You'd miss me if I were dead."
Dante didn't respond. But she was fairly certain he rolled his eyes affectionately.