Page 14

I’m completely and utterly screwed.

NINE

Sam

Ican tell the moment she realizes that I'm not just anyone who she witnessed committing a crime. That I'm the head of the Costellofamiglia.And now that she knows my name, I have even more reason to keep her.

It's not selfish, I try to tell myself. I'm not doing this because Iwanther. I'm doing this because I need to protect my interests. Obviously.

"I'm going to need you to wear this," I tell her, grabbing the hood the guys had put on her previously from the nearby table.

"No." She shakes her head rapidly, her hands darting out as if she might push me away if I try to put it over her head. "Where are you taking me?"

The cool demeanor she was wearing vanishes now that I've told her I have no intention of letting her go. She's nervous. Her hands form tight fists, her eyes darting around, a bead of sweat gathering at her temple. She's becoming more frantic, a caged animal running out of options. I don't blame her. I'd be nervous too.

My mind drifts back to the one and only time I was kidnapped, with a sack over my head just like this one. It was the same night my mother died. I wasn't nervous, though, not back then. I was confident. A cocky kid who had so many lessons on what to do in a kidnapping situation that I was convinced I would come out of it unscathed.

But I guess emotional scars are different than physical ones.

I bend down so I'm at eye level with the girl. Reaching forward, I brush away the hair that's clinging to her face, tucking it behind her ear. Her eyes are glassy when they meet mine, and I can tell that she's losing the composure she's been working so hard to keep.

"I'm not going to hurt you," I tell her, my tone calm.

"How do I know that? How can I trustyou?" Her words are an echo of my earlier ones.

"I guess we have to earn each other’s trust," I say simply. "But right now, I'm gonna need you to go out on a limb and trust that I'm just putting this hood on while we move locations. Once we get to my house, I'll take it off. No handcuffs, no other restraints. Just this."

"I can't go to your house," she says, sounding exhausted. I think this whole event is starting to set in, plus I don't know the last time she ate. I have the urge to get her back to my house so I can feed her and tuck her into the guest room to rest.

"Why?" I know this is just going to be another run-around that will result in me getting what I want, but I ask anyway.

"The bar. I have a job to do; I run the place."

"You don't have any employees?"

"Not enough."

"Okay, I'll send someone to help while you're with me." Simple. Problem solved.

"No." She shakes her head. "Joey won't want to work with anyone you send, and it's my bar. I own it."

Sal, her father, has been running that place for years. He must've left it to her. I rub my temple. "Olivia, you're going to have to work with me here. I said I'll send someone to assist. If you say no, there's no other option."

She eyes me warily, unsure if she should be accepting my help. And maybe she shouldn't. I am the reason she's in this mess, after all.

"Anything else?" I ask, seeing the look on her face. She wants to say something more.

"My grandfather," she whispers.

"Gino." I know her grandfather; the bar is named after him. He was a friend of my nonno’s, both of them Italian Americans. He was always a friend to the family, even after his son got into a lot of gambling debt, but he never joined us. Never became a made man. It gives me even more of a reason not to kill his granddaughter. He should be helpful in keeping her in line.

"He has dementia. I have to care for him. You can't take me…"

There's sadness in her tone, a grief that she's holding on to. I can't imagine what that feels like, having a grandparent whose mind is slowly deteriorating. I feel for her, but I can't just let her go back home like nothing ever happened.

I run a hand through my hair, the solution to this problem not coming as easily.

"I'll send someone over to check on him, and I'll figure it out. Okay? Your grandfather will be fine, I promise."