Page 151 of Beautifully Ruined

He reaches over and pulls it back to him. Then he rubs the back of his neck, which makes me narrow my eyes.

“What?”

“There’s one more thing I didn’t tell you earlier. Uncle Gino offered to ‘take care’ of Ivan for us.”

“Then we should take that. It’ll clear up a lot of paths.” I sit up from my fruitless attempts to see if there’s some kind of magical door into information we need on The Dungeon site. There isn’t because otherwise Enzo would have found it, but I have to do something.

“It’s Gino. It’s for a price.”

Of course, it is. I sigh. “What’s the price?”

Enzo shrugs. “That’s the thing, and we both know it. Whatever the true cost is, and if it’s something we can deliver or stomach, won’t ever be known until Gino comes calling, asking for that favor to be repaid.”

“So, you want to leave it?”

“Of course, I do, but you’re right in this, too. You were right that I needed to ask Gino. My uncle won’t ask us to deliver the heart of someone, but it could be bad.”

I look at him and sip my whiskey. “We deal in bad.”

“It’s still a risk,” Enzo says. “But so is letting Ivan plan whatever revenge he’s likely planning. He went to ground, and I don’t think it was just out of fear we’d hurt him.”

“Agreed. He’ll be strategic. He’s still here, laying low, which means he’s planning revenge. If he finds out we’re on to him…”

“He’ll maybe strike but end game will be he’ll disappear very fast. And he’ll definitely go back to Russia. If he’s there and knows he definitely needs us gone, he’ll be way more dangerous than he is.”

“So,” I say, “we need to deal with him while we can.”

“Yep.”

He drinks some more of the whiskey, then says, “I gotta ask, man. Do you think Joseph’s on to you?”

“The man’s never met me.”

“Violet. I mean Vi. Someone got her in there, so…” He trails off.

“I got her in there, but I don’t think that would have worked if she didn’t have the credentials and she wasn’t seen as an asset. Having a good intern who’ll go places looks good, you know?” I say, like I know what I’m talking about.

I do to the extent that Violet’s an asset any way anyone looks at it.

“Walsh isn’t going to take on someone if he’s suspicious.” I shrug. “His political offices are his sanctums.”

“Your girl’s not the quiet type. She’s not going to wilt quietly in a corner. She’s more the Boudicea type. She’ll make noise and fight, and you know it.” Enzo eyes me as he takes another swig of his whiskey.

“Shit.” I sigh. “Then we need to find this Gianna before Walsh gets spooked.” Before Vi rattles cages she needs to leave alone. “Vi’s gonna be okay. But if he’s the one behind his kid disappearing, that means he knows where she is. If he suspects anything, he’ll get rid of the evidence. First thing he’ll do is have Gianna killed.”

“Because to him, she’s dead anyway.” Enzo looks down and taps on his computer. “If she’s not already, that is.”

“Why not kill her immediately?”

He shrugs. “Money. Come on, you know this. Right now, she’s as good as dead, but she’s worth something so as long as there’s no chance of him being discovered, she’ll breathe.”

If, as he says, she’s not already dead.

Suddenly, my senses prick, and I turn right as Vi wanders into the kitchen, looking half asleep and thank fuck she’s wearing clothes.

She frowns, taking us in, along with the whiskey. “Why didn’t you wake me? I told you to wake me. I’m not a child?—”

“Then don’t act like one,” I say. “You were clearly tired, so I didn’t wake you.”