Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70320 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70320 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
“That’s admirable, not stupid at all. Let me give you some advice then.” She stubs out her cigarette and stares at me. “When Peter comes asking, tell him no. Whatever it is, tell him no, and go back home as fast as you can.”
Chapter 3
Peter
Adrienne avoids me when I get back to the apartment that night and it feels like a relief.
I sit out on the balcony and stare down at the quiet street below. I sip wine and lean back in my seat, staring at a couple as they walk down the alley together speaking Greek. Their laughter echoes up and I wonder what they have to be so happy about.
Back home, there’s still a war raging. There’s been a war raging on and off for years now, and I can still picture every single one of my friends and soldiers and comrades that have died over the years. My father and uncle and all the other crime lords believe it best to make amends with the Italians and turn against the Russians, and it feels like they’ve forgotten the names of the dead.
I haven’t forgotten. I hold them close to my chest and think of them every night before I fall asleep. I think of what they gave up for the family and what I do with the hard-fought wins they earned. It breaks my heart to see the state of our world now.
And now I’ve been sent away. All because I don’t agree with my family’s leadership. All because I remember the dead.
The balcony door opens and Adrienne steps out. I look over and try not to let her catch my gaze as it moves from her mouth down her body and back up against. She’s wearing yoga pants and a tank top, and it’s hard to keep my eyes from bearing down on her for too long. I have to remind myself that she’s a punishment, not a reward.
But the girl’s beautiful. Frighteningly beautiful. The scars and bruises don’t do a thing to dampen the intensity of my attraction—if anything, the way her nose is slightly crooked and her lip is puckered from the still-healing wound makes me want her that much more. She’s flawed and she knows pain, just like me.
“I had lunch with Katarin Balaska today.” She sits in the chair next to mine and takes my wine glass. I say nothing as she takes a long sip. “It was nice, actually. We talked about you.”
“What did she have to say?”
“She said this job you’re on is a lot more complicated than you’re making it out to be.”
“I doubt Katarin knows what this job is.”
“You were meeting with my half-sister, weren’t you?”
I open my mouth to deny it but shut it again.
So Katarin does know about my meeting. The meeting her husband set up. But why would she tell Adrienne about that? My understanding is Adrienne and Reina don’t know each other, and even if they did, I wouldn’t get Adrienne involved with a woman that’s as deeply tied into Le Milieu as Reina. This may be Greece, but the French mafia is dangerous, and there’s a reason why I was tapped to handle them.
I speak very slowly. “Yes, I was meeting with Reina, but it doesn’t mean anything.”
“How can it not mean something? I’m here in Greece with you, and you’re meeting with my half-sister.”
“Do you know her? Have you ever spoken to her?”
She shakes her head. “My mother had her before I was born and she’s always lived in France as far as I know.”
“Then it doesn’t involve you at all.”
She runs her finger around the rim of the glass. “Katarin said you’d ask me for a favor soon. Was she right?”
“In Katarin’s world, if there’s a tool handy, you have an obligation to use it.”
“Is that your way of saying no?”
“No. You’re not involved in this.”
“What is this exactly? What does my half-sister have to do with you and your family?”
I take a deep breath and slowly blow it out. The smell of cigarette smoke drifts up from nearby which means someone’s smoking below. I consider bringing her inside, but I have nothing to hide. If that’s one of Balaska’s men down there eavesdropping, let him report this conversation back to his master.
“Reina works for some people the Balaskas wish to work with as well. I’m attempting to make contact between her organization and the Balaskas.”
“You’re the go-between?”
“A neutral third party attempting to negotiate a reasonable contract.”
“You make it sound like it’s a business deal and not something obscenely shady and illegal.”
“Shady and illegal things can be business too.”
She puts my wine down. I take it back and drink, and I swear I can taste her lips on the glass, like sweet summer rain pooled in a cold mountain spring. I stare into her eyes and wonder if she’s noticed the way I look at her. Adrienne is a burden I don’t want and a distraction I can’t afford, but that doesn’t mean I have control over what drives me.