Dino/Theresa: Kiss For Luck

Theresa’s hands shook slightly as she went through the equipment in her bag, double checking that everything was where it should be and was in perfectly working order. She’d been using most of them over the last few months but her training, and common sense, told her to never take it for granted that a particular piece of equipment was going to work. You were just asking for the universe to smack you upside the head if you slacked off. It was true every time, but her current plans made it even more vital. This wasn’t a mission where she could risk something going wrong because she was lazy.
Enough things can go wrong already. She pause to rub her temples in an effort to ease some of the tension there. Dammit. A headache was another thing she couldn’t afford. Not when the job was going to be a massive enough challenge as it was. This was the sort of thing you needed at least two weeks of planning and a full team to pull off. Not three days and one person. Not the jewelry place she needed to hit, she was used to dealing places like that alone. No, it was the cybersecurity place that was going to cause her a headache.
She couldn’t even call Veikka for tech back up, not when she wasn’t sure how he felt about Mercury. He really had no reason to help her outside of a tenuous friendship. They’d been trained together, went through missions together and got along...but was that enough for him to betray their employers? He might turn her in himself if he thought he was in danger. Or worse, if she didn’t tell him it wasn’t a sanctioned op, he might let something slip. Mars was smart. He might catch on what to her real plan was if word got about about the place she was trying to hit. This was already enough of a risk as it was. If she asked for anything beyond the three-days grace she had weaseled out of him, he would move before she was ready.
And then Luca will… she looked away from her preparations then, and scanned over the rough maps she’s managed to acquire for her targets, and the notes she’d jotted down on them. The lines seemed to blurr for a moment and she rubbed her eyes. “I need a break,” she muttered to herself, “and something to eat.” Every bit of her nerves was screaming at her to not stop for anything, but she had been a professional long enough to know she needed to a break before she made herself sick or got so weak she couldn’t complete the job. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been preparing, but a glance out the window showed it was evening. It must have been over a good couple hours then. Dino hadn’t ever asked her anything about what she was doing, even though she had warned him that someone was after his life. You would think that would make him suspicious of her. The threat had only popped up after she started staying with him after all. So why didn’t he check in on her more? You would think he would have figured out what was going on!
She slipped out of her room, into the hallway. There was no one around, which was good. She didn’t really want to talk to anyone right now. As she made her way down the hallway she couldn’t help but think this was far to fancy for a place where she felt this….comfortable. Which was the entire problem. The mansion was only supposed to have been a place to rest and recover. A limited time shelter, that just happened to be better than most of her other bolt-holes. She had stayed much longer than she should have. Which was why everything had gotten so complicated.
I’m too emotional, she thought bitterly as she walked briskly down the hall. A good agent remains detached from everything. That’s...not something I’m good at, sometimes. Or very good at at all, apparently. Mars must know that, that’s why he only ever sent me in for smash-and-grabs instead of giving me the longer undercover assignments...
As she turned out into the landing for the stairs that lead down into the rest of the house, she came to a dead stop. Dino paused as he finished climbing the stairs and saw her. He smiled slowly, as if he had been waiting for her.
“There you are,” he said cheerfully, and she found herself taking a step toward him, “I was coming to see if you were hungry. Dinner's almost ready.”
He held out his hand to her. Her first instinct was to reach out to take that hand. It was a minor thing but it was a type of trust and physical closeness she hadn’t realized that she wanted so much until she had been staying at the Cavallone mansion. It was also something that she couldn’t afford to indulge in right now. Instead she just crossed her arms, gave him a teasing smile and tried to walk by him.
“I’m honored,” she said, keeping her voice light, “but you better watch it. All this attention is going to end up spoiling me.”
“Maybe that’s my goal?” his tone was playful, but the look on his face was anything but. He side-stepped just enough that she would have to push him aside if she wanted past him to the stairs. He frowned slightly, “Are you all right? You still look exhausted. If you want to rest I can bring something up to your room and we could…”
“I’m fine,” she snapped before she could stop herself, then quickly said, “I’m just a little tired is all. It’s nothing big. You should be more worried about yourself, don’t you think? You’re awful calm for someone who knows someone wants them dead.”
That got a chuckle out of him. “I’m used to it by this point,” he said lightly, and she remembered who exactly he was. Not just a mafia don, although that would have been more than enough to have someone after your blood, but one of the youngest mafia dons in the current generation, and one of the most successful, at least in terms of consolidating his power. At that though, she actually managed to give him a sincere sort of half-smile.
“Right, I forgot, you’re just that good about taking care of yourself.” She took a step back, looking for way to get around said boss. She needed to get out of this conversation before she said something that she regretted.
“I’d like to think I am,” he said mildly, “and it’s not like I’m here alone. I have my men for backup if I needed.”
“You’re bragging about their loyalty now? It’s almost enough to make me jealous” she said, and wondered if she should go back to her room. If he had looked angry, or even wary of her she wouldn't have cared. But unless he was one of the best damn actors she had ever seen, he was actually worried. For some reason that just made the guilt sharper.
“No, just saying that I have room to worry about someone besides myself,” he said, and started to reach out for her again, but drew his hand back. “Are you sure you’re okay to head out tonight? It might be better if you rested for a day.”
There was a brief flash of annoyance that she hid as she leaned back. He didn’t need to tell her how to do her job!
Though at least now she knew that he was keeping on eye on her. She just wish she knew why that hurt, even though she had just been thinking it was something he should do. She just gave a little laugh out loud, “Oh? What makes you think I was planning something like that? Spying on me, Mr. Cavallone?”
“I don’t have too, not when I know you were asking about tools, and spent a few hours holed up in your room,” he gestured back down behind the hall behind her. “Everytime you’ve done something like that, you’ve slipped out for a heist. I like hearing about your work, but I don’t want you getting hurt again.”
She thought he meant that. It was odd hearing it from someone other than Luca, even though it was nice.
“I’m pretty good at taking care of myself. Don’t worry sorry,” she winked at him, realized he had moved aside a little and started to walk past him, “besides, this is has something of an...urgent deadline. Can’t let my fans down after all.” She hadn’t meant for any bitterness or desperation to creep into her voice. But Dino brought his hand up suddenly resting it against her shoulder as she tried to go by him. There wasn’t any real pressure, certainly not enough to really stop her, but the touch started her and she halted.
“Theresa,” he said, and she wondered again why she had given him her real name. It made her look up, meet those dark brown eyes of his that always seem to hold her there, “...are you really all right? If you’re in trouble, or anything, you know you can tell me about it, right?” his smile was almost heartbreakingly genetle. “After everything I’ve been through, I’m not going to judge. I’ll help if I can, so please Theresa…”
Her breath caught in her throat. For a moment she just teetered on the edge of telling him, of something something. Then common sense slammed her again, and she just gently brushed his hand off. He might be willing to help now, but once he learned that she was the one who was supposed to put a gun to his head she doubted he would feel the same. She really didn’t want to see his face once he learned the truth.
“You’re worrying to much,” she said instead and tried to give him a smile. “I’ll be fine. I know my limits, all right?”
Dino let out a sight, “I’ll hold you to that,” he said. Then he quickly leaned down, and suddenly she felt the soft brush of his lips on the corner of her mouth. She started and stared at him as he pulled back. Her words had died in her throat. “Good luck,” he said, “and be careful out there, all right? And remember, I mean what I said. If there’s anything I can do, just tell me.”
It took longer than she would have liked for her brain to re engage, but she still managed to smile at him eventually. “I’ll remember,” was all she could manage coherently, as she continued past him towards the stairs.
If she stayed near him she was going to drop her guard, and she couldn’t risk that. Not when there was so much at stake.