Page 128 of Silent Schemes

“Say it.”

Her lips barely move. “To pay the debt.”

I nod. “And after the debt is paid?”

She hesitates. “I… I don’t know.”

I glance up at Enzo. “You don’t care what happens to her?”

He flicks ash onto the carpet. “Family is family, but business is business.”

I stand. “Get out.”

The Lombardis file out, leaving the girl on the floor.

Enzo smiles like he’s pawned off a sick dog. “If she runs, just kill her. Less trouble that way.”

Korrin waits until the elevator dings, then looks at me. “You gonna use her, or fix her?”

I shrug. “She’s here to work. That’s all.”

He laughs. “Bullshit.”

I ignore him, look down at the girl. “Get up.”

She does, slow and deliberate, clutching the elbow of her opposite arm the way someone does when they’re cold or trying to keep the pieces together.

She stands, but not straight.

I gesture to the inner office. “There’s a desk. Your computer. Password is ‘freedom.’ Don’t fuck with the other files.”

She blinks at that, like she thinks it’s a trick.

Korrin watches her limp away.

When she’s out of earshot, he murmurs, “She’s not gonna last a week.”

“She only needs three days,” I say.

He laughs, but there’s no humor. “Still think you don’t have a heart?”

I pour myself a drink. “The less you care, the longer you survive.”

He shakes his head, goes back to his coffee. “Tell yourself that as long as you want, brother. Sooner or later, even the dead come back.”

I watch the closed door.

I picture Sienna, somewhere in Europe, maybe with a kid who has her eyes.

Maybe my ruthlessness.

I finish the drink, and for a second I think about throwing the glass.

Instead, I set it down and pick up a pen.

That’s the problem with ghosts, even when they’re gone, they haunt every move you make.

But maybe Rosalynn Lombardi can be the distraction I need.

A distraction I’ve needed for the last five years.