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God, I’m probably seeing things, it can't be real. Why wouldshebe here?
But when I follow a group of students between the tables to keep myself hidden and slip into an empty seat next to an old couple, I hear Louis's voice. "...wanted to ask you."
"Well, it better be something important. If my husband finds out about this, the two of us will be in big trouble."
My eyes widen at the sound of her raspy voice, my hands grip the edge of the table, and my heart sinks into what feels like icy water. Why is Aunt Olga here? What the hell? My mind still refuses to believe that it's her, so I focus on their voices, hoping to prove myself wrong.
"I know, and I really appreciate that you—"
"Get to the point, boy."
Yeah, it's definitely Olga. What is she doing here, though? Is there some kind of a deal with the Italians that I don't know about? I frown, blankly staring at the table to focus on my hearing.
Louis clears his throat. "Yes, sure. Uh, I don't know if Elena mentioned this, but I'm in some sort of trouble with Sasha."
I purse my lips. What trouble? I think everything is perfectly clear.
"Apparently, she thinks that I killed her mother, but I have no idea what she's talking about. So I was hoping you'd be able to clear it up. She was your sister, after all, wasn't she?"
By the time Louis finishes his question, I can barely hold myself back from walking over and digging my dagger into his neck. Can you imagine the audacity? He still wants to pretend like nothing happened, and it makes me sick. He's such a goddamn—
"Well, it is a complicated story."
I blink. What? What is she talking about?
Olga sighs, and that’s already a bad sign. She doesn't show her emotions for nothing…but I know she did love her little sister, and the sadness in her voice makes my own throat tight with grief.
"I assume you didn't know Valya, but she was a very kind and naive woman. Ever since we were little girls, I knew she wasn't made for the life of a Mafia family. She wasn't good at fighting or tracking…well, your people. So our parents quickly married her away to Nikolai Travin, a wealthy and brutal mobster from Moscow."
So they didn't care about her. They knew what kind of a man my father was, but they didn't care. I can't help but tighten my hands into fists just thinking about it. Olga is right, Mom was too kind for the Mafia life, but her parents just handed her to a monster.
"He quickly moved here to be closer to Yuriy, and a year later, Alexandra was born. My sister was obsessed with her, and she even learned how to stand up against Nikolai to keep Sasha safe. Or at least, to keep her from being injured. He is…not a very human person."
"Yes, that much I know." I can barely hear Louis mutter over a burst of laughter at the next table, but even that is enough to hear how grim he is—and something in my chest tightens in response.
"You're very observant, huh?" Olga smirks, but by the time she continues, her voice turns grim as well. "So when they found out that Sasha got pregnant before marriage, Nikolai was furious. Valya had bruises for at least two weeks, but somehow she managed to talk him into keeping the child. I don't know if you remember that time, but relationships between our families were tense."
Louis huffs. "Weren't they always tense?"
"No, not like that. You tortured our people, we set spies deep in your family, the police were plotting against us, and pretty much everyone was on edge."
"Wait, when was this?"
Olga hums. "Some nine years ago?"
"Oh." Louis pauses. "Yes, I remember."
"Then, you should remember how tense it was. Who in their right mind would openly go into the enemy's territory?" Olga's voice suddenly turns angry, but I can hear something deeper behind it. "But that was what Valya did. Our patrol caught her on the Italian border trying to sneak there on foot in the middle of the day."
Wait, what?
"I tried to talk to Yuriy and convince him that Valya would never plot against us, but he was deaf to my words. He always is. When Nikolai arrived to get Valya, Yuriy told him that she was a traitor and couldn't be trusted anymore. He—he told Nikolai to kill her to prove his loyalty, and…"
No, no, it's not true.
"...Well. You can guess what happened after." Olga's voice is cold and grim, piercing the invisible cotton in my ears that muffles all other noises around me.
It's impossible, I don't believe her, I—
