Page 2 of Dreadful

She’s trying to play it off, but I can tell I’ve hurt her feelings. Once we’ve escaped, it’ll be safer if she doesn’t know that the Boss’s son was used in some twisted revenge plot by his own uncle. And if she’s down here, her family has already betrayed the Mafia in some way.

At that last thought, my curiosity gets the best of me, and I can’t let it go. “Okay then, what if you at least tell me why you’re here?”

“Um…my parents died. There’s no one left for me, so I’m here.”

My brow furrows. With what she’s going through, there’s got to be more to it than that. I open my mouth to ask more questions, but she interrupts me.

“What about you? I told you why I’m here. Now you go.”

Crap. I should’ve known she’d ask me the same. I search for a way to explain while still keeping her safe.

“I think…Claudio wants my dad’s business. If I’m not, um…around, it’ll be easier to take over. He’s always been jealous.”

That last part might be too much, but I’m grateful when she answers back with more information.

“Someone took my dad’s business, too. Why are people so mean?”

I shrug even though she can’t see me. “I don’t know. That’s my world.”

Is it your world, too?

“Antonella let me play in the garden today.” She’s changing the subject, but I’m afraid to push her more so I let her. “She showed me her favorite flower, the Queen of Night tulip. I also got to help her in her greenhouse.”

My mom andziaAntonella love that garden. Mom used to study plants before she gave up her job to be a Boss’s wife, and I think she misses it. I don’t care about flowers, but I’d give anything to go outside right now.

“Ugh. No fair. She always takes you outside.”

She giggles again. “Well, at leastyoudidn’t have to go to confession yesterday.”

“Confession? What doyouhave to confess? You’re just a kid.”

“I don’t know.” Her voice gets low and soft like she’s embarrassed. “The priest says I’m a liar.”

“A liar?” My fists ball up. “Which priest was it? Tell me, and I’ll—”

“You’ll what?” she grumbles. “He’s a grown-up. There’s nothing we can do, especially not down here.”

I huff and shake my head. “Fine. Tell me the plan again.”

“Ooh, I figured out the rest of it today.” Her excitement makes her talk fast, but it’s nice to hear her happy again. “We’ll sneak up to the kitchen and go out the dog door into the garden. There’s a bunch of black and purple flowers that hide holes where the wall is broken.”

“You were able to find all that while Antonella was babysittingyou?” My brows furrow, and I narrow my eyes at the wallpaper, trying to imagine the girl on the other side.

“Psh. Once she has her gossip magazine, she doesn’t pay attention to me. Tonight, we’ll use those holes and get out of here.”

“Okay, sounds good. But, before all that, with the man, how are you going to get past—”

“The butler. The maids. The gardener—”

The lyrics begin in a hurry this time, and I sigh as her footsteps pad away from the vent. The girl’s stubborn. Once she decides she doesn’t want to talk anymore, nothing I say will change her mind.

As always, she’s refusing to talk about this huge part of the plan. The one I have nothing to do with, and I’ve had nightmares imagining her going through alone.

“—The driver, capo, and priest… The judge, godmother-and-father, to them I beg to leave. To them I beg to leave.”

We’ll get out of here. I swear it.

She never stops singing as nighttime darkens my room. Eventually her nerves seem to get the best of her, making the words all run together the faster she goes.