“It’s beautiful,” Leonore says, watching the sunrise. “How did you find this place?”
“Before my sister met her husband, her deadshit boyfriend at the time broke up with her. When I picked her up, she was walking along here holding her heels, mascara running down her face. We stumbled across this, and I sat on this very bench with her, having to listen to her sob over the dipshit who found himself in a grave twenty-four hours later. Though they do make good coffee and hot dogs.”
Leonore gives me a look. “Does your sister know?”
My lip curves up. “She still thinks Ithreatenedto kill them. She never looked much into the fact that they all suddenly left town.”
Leonore shakes her head, though she seems unsurprised. “She probably knows.”
I lean back. “Well, from what I’ve heard, her and my men gossip, so probably.”
She laughs then, wiping her mouth again. I like the sound of her laugh; it’s rare.
“Careful, Silas, you almost sound like a person,” she says as she leans back, kicking her boots back and forth.
It’s strange in the sense this feels like a twilight zone, but after everything that went down with the Nero family, it’s refreshing.
“I don’t want to hear that from someone who’s been given the reputation Grim Reaper.”
She casually shrugs. “Did you know that in multiple cultures, the Grim Reaper is a woman? Besides, I don’t care what the families call me. As long as they hand me the cash and don’t cause me any trouble, they’ll never have to find out.”
“Like the client this morning?”
Her lips curve into a ruthless smile. It’s far from friendly; it’s savage and takes pleasure in the fact. “Oh, I think he found out. Still, it’s strange to think of you as the head of the Vescari crew, casually sitting here eating hot dogs and drinking coffee from a paper cup. I thought you were all expensive cars and custom suits with men who did everything for you.”
“I don’t need anyone to wipe my ass. My men are selected for their abilities.”
“You must choose well because from what I’ve heard, your men are very loyal.”
“My men are family. Not blood, necessarily. But family in the sense that every man in my organization knows he belongs to something bigger than himself. Something that will protect him.” I take a bite of my hot dog and chew slowly, thinking about the Nero crew, because that was their downfall. I can’t stand those who have no loyalty. “A man who fights for family fights harder than a man who fights for a paycheck.”
“I don’t think fighting for a paycheck is so bad.” She casually shrugs. When I look at her, she’s still watching the sunrise. Her voice lingers, that distance remaining—secrets hiding in the shadow of her gaze.
“Tell me about your family,” I say.
But the shift in her is instant. It’s like a robbery is in progress, all the security panels just flew up around her, and she’s immediately closed off.
“Nothing you need to know,” she says with an edge of venom. But I remain silent, and when she looks at me, she lets out an exhausted breath. “Nessa and Larissa are my family. Well, they were.”
“What do you meantheywere?”
She turns back to the sun breaking over the skyline. “The truth is, I don’t know where we stand. I love Larissa like she’s my own and Nessa like a sister. But her being with Ben is problematic, and I’m sick of picking up the pieces.”
For most people, I would advise to cut ties. It’s the most efficient, but I suspect that they genuinely are her family here in Boston.
“What about your parents?” I feel the frosty wall erect between us.
“Let’s not talk about them either.”
“No boyfriend or husband I should know about?”
She brings her gaze back to me. But she doesn’t say anything, and I can see the cogs working behind her eyes. Most likely asto whether she will run. Yet I love it when she runs, because it means I can chase her again. Fuck me, I wonder what my sister would say if she heard my inner thoughts. Most likely laugh and call me pussy-whipped.
“No,” she says finally.
I know when I’ve pressed her too much. This is the most she’s shared with me, well, ever, and I have to take my time creating hairline fractures in her armor.
I let it go because pushing her will only drive her further behind those walls.
