Page 116 of Thorns of Silence

My eyes fell to my daughter, then back to the rapidly disappearing man. I fell to my knees, my palms covering my face. That was the bulk of our money.Our security.

I tried to breathe, tried not to lose my shit in the middle of the airport, when a small hand came to rest on my arm.

I lifted my head and met my daughter’s troubled gaze. This wasn’t a promising beginning to our adventure.

Pushing my frustration and despair down, I swallowed and forced a smile on. “Everything will be okay,” I assured her.

I was beyond stupid to leave that backpack sitting carelessly like that. It served me right. If only Skye wasn’t the one who would have to bear the brunt of my stupidity!

I’d have to figure something else out.

It wasn’t until we boarded the plane and were in the air that I was finally able to breathe. It was only my second time flying commercial, and I knew having Skye with me would make it an unforgettable experience.

It was exactly five minutes before Skye dozed off. I, on the other hand, barely got any sleep in the hours that it took the plane to reach Athens. Worry about our lack of funds now and getting hunted by the Nikolaevs had taken root. I had the whole plan laid out but had never accounted for a lack of money. God, what would we do?

But as a little body snuggled farther into me, I found it hard to regret my choices.

I covered her up with the airline blanket while keeping an eye on the passengers around us—not that I expected to run into anyone from the underworld on a commercial flight to Greece. I flicked a glance at my purse, ensuring once again that it was zipped up and attached to my leg.

I was down to forty thousand dollars in cash. I could make do with what I had, but it would eventually run out. I knew that. So I would need to be frugal and find a job to support us. At least until I was twenty-five and could come into the rest of my inheritance.

As Skye slept, I connected to the internet and browsed accommodation options in Athens.

Money wasn’t something I’d ever had to worry about before. Yes, Grandma put us on a budget, but there was always the knowledge in the back of our minds that we would always be taken care of. I would have to get us home.

Except, if I did that now, I’d be sentencing my family and friends to death. The best-case scenario was that they’d end up being targets themselves.

I couldn’t dothateither.

By the time we landed, I’d found a small, out-of-the-way bed-and-breakfast. Since I didn’t have a credit card to book online, I jotted down the address and prayed they’d have a room available for us when we got there.

This would be our life, I thought to myself as I rubbed Skye’s back. I was finally with my daughter. It was up to me to make the best of it. For her, I was willing to do anything.

FORTY-SIX

DANTE

π?σω ?χει η αχλ?δα την ουρ?. Píso échei e achláda ten ourá. Man plans, God laughs.

He was certainly laughing at me.

I’d been scouring the world for Phoenix and coming up empty, until I got a tip from Marchetti who had passed on a tip from Lykos Costello. He had spotted a woman resembling Phoenix Romero in Greece. It was a long shot, but without any other leads, I followed it.

So here I was in Athens, staying at the Hotel Grande Bretagne.

Lykos Costello ruled the Greek mafia with strategy and ruthlessness. He made all the right moves. He worked himself up through the ranks, married the perfect girl, gained all the right connections, and threw the most lavish parties.

No one could get close to him. Not that I wanted to.

It was the reason I hadn’t reached out to him since arriving in Greece. A debt to the Greek mobster wasn’t exactly on my agenda. So, I kept my distance, but his men were constantly on my tail, which made combing the streets of Athens difficult.

“Boss.” Cesar’s gruff voice came from behind me. I had hacked into several of the surveillance systems in the city, allowing me to monitor streets from the hotel room. “I checked the databases of every hotel. The Romero girl isn’t here.” I craned my neck, catching a glimpse of my longtime bodyguard over my shoulder. “And Costello called again.”

I rolled my eyes. “Why do you keep answering his calls?”

“Trying to keep your ass alive,” he grumbled. “Why can’t you just visit the man, tell him why you’re here, and get it over with?” I flicked Cesar an annoyed look. His level of persistence had a habit of annoying me. “It’s not like the two of us can fight his entire organization while in his territory.”

“If you’re so scared, go home.”