Page 31 of Ashes

But I can’t tell her what bothers me.

There’s no need.

Why would I tell her that I was stuck having flashbacks again?

That, as a boy, I stumbled upon my father fucking my mother while she was crying and begging him to stop.

Except, he didn’t stop.

“Are all those women in the club there willingly?” Paola asks.

“They’re supposed to be.”

“But?”

“But we both know many dangerous people don’t like to play by the rules.”

“Right.” She sighs.

“We need to agree on something else. If you want to come back.”

“Of course I do. We need to win that stupid competition or whatever it is, and then we’ll talk to Gianni. Do you think he’s secretly recording everything? And where’s the poker room? I didn’t see anyone playing.”

“We’re new, so we were only allowed access to one of the rooms. And if Gianni’s smart, he’ll be collecting information and use it when it suits him. But he has to be careful too because he’s messing with a lot of men who’d want his blood if their secrets leaked out. He’s good at protecting himself, but everyone has weaknesses, including him.”

“What did you want us to agree on?”

“When we return, everyone will expect us to do something, especially if we want to participate in that competition. But if there’s something you don’t want to do, you might not be able to tell me, so I need you to come up with a signal. Something you’ll easily remember. Something you can use even if you can’t speak. Once you use that signal, we’re done.”

Surprise flickers through her eyes.

“And I don’t care if we lose this opportunity. There’ll be another one, but you have to promise me you’ll signal to me if you ever get uncomfortable with something we’re doing. All right?”

“Yeah.” She lifts her hand, crossing her fingers. “How about this?”

“Sure. That’ll work.”

As I start the car, she’s still looking at me, as if she’s trying to figure out my secrets.

When I glance at her, she looks away.

Yeah, she’s nowhere near an ordinary mafia princess.

She’s something else.

And I’d like to find out what exactly she’s hiding.

It’s a surprise she hasn’t tried to escape, but maybe she didn’t lie to me and she truly wants to figure out what happened to Alex.