The server that I got into wasn't much of anything, which is incredibly disappointing but also not very surprising either. After I got to my apartment yesterday, I started digging through it but realized that it was just a bunch of employee files. They might be useful at a later date so I transfer them to another laptop so that I can keep this one clean so that I can keep searching for a useful server.

Today, I finish up some more of the website like the Berardis want and I chat with Denise a lot. I spend my lunch hour locked in a bathroom stall with my laptop on my lap trying to plant a bug in the system since Dante is up on the roof and I don't want to run into him again. We may have similar experiences but that doesn't make us the same, or friends, and talking to him yesterday was a complete mistake.

The bathroom isn't very busy and nobody will think anything of it when they see my feet under the stall, they might only think that I'm just taking a really big dump.

Most of my hacking and searching hit brick walls. They are better at security than I had expected and hoped but I'm confident that I'm better than their system and after enough studying of it, I will be able to take it down. I am meeting with Sergei tonight though to give him an update on any progress I've made so I want to have something good for him other than just some employee files.

They're not even good files, they're the files of the people in this office, the people that as far as I can tell, have no knowledge of the shady tricks being pulled within these walls. At the very end of my lunch hour, I'm able to grab just a few more files from the server that I'd hacked yesterday. It's not much but just some calendar information that has Dante's schedule on it. I only can load this week from the file because I don't have enough time to let the whole thing load.

All I can find out right now is that he'll be out of the building for two hours tomorrow afternoon which is pretty great news. If I can get into his office, I can physically bug his computer. I won't immediately be able to get all of the data he has on his machine but I'll at least be able to monitor what he's doing by transmitting his screen back to Pantera.

After I can't feel my butt any longer and my lunch hour is up, I pack my laptop away in my tote bag and leave the bathroom to return to work. Tonight, I'll have to get into the security system to override the video footage so that it looks like nobody is in the hallway when in reality, I will be there picking the lock on Dante's office.

I can't set up a plan right now, I have to get back to Berardi business so I sit back down at my desk and try to focus on the website that I've been updating. I know that tonight, I'll be able to talk to Sergei and we'll get a plan together so that I can get in and out of Dante's office tomorrow without getting caught.

"The Tinder guy has a brother," Denise interrupts my train of thought ten minutes later as she is returning to her desk after her lunch break. "I know that you said you weren't interested but I really think that you'd like this guy."

"Why do you think that?" I ask her in confusion considering we've only had a few conversations and she doesn't really know me that well. The fake me or the real me.

"I don't know, he's cute and you're fucking gorgeous and it could be fun for you."

"No," I deadpan. "I've just started this new job and I have to go buy decorations for my apartment this weekend. I'm too overwhelmed right now to think about dating at all. Thanks for the offer but maybe some other time."

Standing over the divider between our desks, she purses her lips at me in distaste. "Fine," She finally gives in. "I'll leave you alone now but I'm holding you to that later down the road."

"You do that," I say with a small laugh, knowing that down the road, I won't be here. I'll either be back at Pantera or I'll be six feet under. This is definitely not a long term gig but Denise obviously doesn't need to know about that.

The day goes by slowly but eventually, the clock strikes five and it's time for me to leave. I grab my tote bag, log out of my computer, and say goodnight to Denise before I'm hurrying out of the building. Dante's office has his name on a plaque nailed to the front like his father's does.

That's a stupid idea, I think, because it's basically like painting a target on your back. At Pantera, our doors are blank. If you have a good reason to be going to one of our offices then you should already know which one is which. The Berardis are making it almost too easy for me.

As I'm passing the office, I try to subtly examine the lock on his white door but it's hard to get a grasp on how hard it will be to pick. If they're as stupid as they seem, it should be an easy pick but I can't imagine them being stupid enough to install weak locks on their office doors.

One can hope.

I don't even have time to go back to my apartment before I have to meet Sergei at a diner that's about forty minutes away. It's in neither Pantera or Berardi ground so we shouldn't run into anybody from either mob and it's far enough away that both of us can make sure that we're not being followed before we meet.

At the diner, I park the car only ten minutes late, and I rush inside to find the tall middle-aged man sitting at a booth by the window. He's very gruff and he's very strong. I've seen him kill many people without blinking or skipping a beat. I don't think that I'll ever reach that level of cruelty and although his stare sends a shiver down my spine, he does not scare me. He could probably take me in a fight, he's the one who's shown me most of what I know when it comes to fighting, but I also know that he's on my side, always.

"I have good news," I say as my greeting, sliding into the booth on the opposite side as him. "I haven't gotten much information but I've got enough to know that I have a window of a couple of hours tomorrow to get into Dante Berardi's office."

"What do you need?" He asks me, his voice low and only very slightly accented with Russian. He was born in Russia but he came here when he was only ten so his accent has mostly faded.

"I need to unlock his office door, I need to stall the security cameras, and some backup ready in case something goes south," I instruct him. "He's going to be out from one to three but we should plan for one to two just in case whatever he has planned doesn't take as long as he thinks it will."

Sergei nods at me. "I'll get some guys together."

"Don't be obvious," I warn him even though I know that I don't actually have to warn him about that. He knows how to stay under the radar. "Don't get me killed."

"When have I let you down before?" He raises his eyebrows at me. He has saved my life many times before, I will give him that much credit. "You will be fine."

"Yeah," I sigh and lean back in the booth. "You guys are so sure about that, huh?"

"We are," He confirms with a nod and then takes a drink from his coffee mug just as the waitress greets me at our booth and asks me if I would like anything and so I order a soda and a side of fries. When she walks away again, Sergei continues talking. "Your father would not have put you on this mission if he thought that you'd be in danger. I would not support the idea, if I thought you could be harmed."

"Would you not kill a Berardi if you found a spy?" I question him with raised eyebrows. "Because I've seen you do it."

"You are not just part of Pantera," He reminds me. "Vera, you are Anton's daughter and that makes you important."

"That makes me a target," I argue. They've been trying to get to me ever since I was twelve. They got to my mother and it absolutely crushed my father for years, the bitterness of her death still drives his malice to this day. The Berardis know that by killing me, my father will have nothing left to fight for and he will be at his most vulnerable. They want me dead. "I am a tuna swimming in the middle of a shark frenzy, wearing a fake fin and hoping that they don't notice. As soon as my fin falls off, I will be torn apart."

"If your father wants you to be a tuna, you will be a tuna," Sergei uses his strict voice, reminding me that I may whine and groan about this all day long but it will not change the fact that I am stuck here. My father's wishes are my commands and that's the way it is. "We will keep you safe and you have no choice but to trust us and get it done."

"I know," I give up. "What do we have on Dante Berardi?"

"We have a lot. He's made a name for himself," Sergei tells me. "He's very dangerous."

I raise my eyebrows at Sergei. "Aren't we all?"

That makes him crack almost a smile. "Would you like his file?"

"No," I shake my head at him, knowing that I have no real reason for the information that we have on Dante. I would like to know more about him because I think that we are similar but I keep telling myself that we are not the same. I know that I have killed people, but only about ten and although that's more than most, it's not comparable to the number Dante must have. He's very good at what he does, and I imagine that he enjoys it, or he wouldn't try so enthusiastically.

We are not the same and I need to keep my distance.

"Connect us to the security system from the inside," Sergei continues on, I ignore my questions about Dante to get back on the topic at hand. "We will listen to the radio from outside of the building to make sure that everything is alright."

I nod, understanding the simple plan. "I should be in and out within fifteen minutes, you don't need a big team, just a few guys. With the cameras on static footage, they won't see you by the entrance but don't go inside unless there's trouble."

"This is a very easy plan, we don't need to go over it in so much detail," He reminds me.

I look up at him with a narrow glare. Does he not think that this is a big deal? I know that he and my father don't think that they would kill me if they catch me but I know that they will and he's just acting like this is no big deal. Am I really that expendable? "Fuck you," I finally spit out at him before I stand up from the table without getting my food or drink and I storm out of the diner without another word from Sergei. I do usually get along very well with him but I'm kind of over his and my father's nonchalant attitude toward this whole mission.

I'm sure that me sneaking into Dante's office tomorrow will go smoothly, it really is a fairly simple mission. However, I know that their nonchalant attitude is not just for this small mission but for this entire undercover thing. I know that if they keep up this way, I will be dead within a week.

And although the kiss of sweet death does seem like such an easy way out of this and I sometimes wish that I could just be with my mother, I do not want to die and I sure as hell do not want to die by the hand of a goddam Berardi.

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Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Americans!