Page 43 of Dishonored

“Considering her father’s in jail, yeah.”

Caesar hummed under his breath. “So, just being alone with me would be problematic for her?”

“If caught, yes.”

The man she’d called Nico—the one who’d warned her while Aria was in the hallway with Caesar—now made more sense to him. Except, he’d been worried for her, and not necessarily judging or threatening her for being alone with a strange man.

“I think she has one of them helping her, then,” Caesar said.

Cain tipped his head to the side. “I would suspect so, yes. She would have to in order for her to pull of something like the club, right?”

“Why the makeup thing?”

“Ah, yeah.” Cain rolled his eyes, saying, “Just goes back to the appearance bit again, you know? She should dress down, not overdo it with her hair, and keep her face clean of makeup. Basically, it makes her look like a grieving woman—she’s not available to other men that way.”

“And she’s supposed to just do that when?”

“If her husband is out of town, or locked up.”

“Even for years?”

Cain shrugged again. “Guess so.”

“What the fuck?”

“Hey, people have things to say about Cosa Nostra, too. Like the fact we can’t even introduce a man by his name, and instead whether or not he’s a friend of ours. We all have our things, Caesar.”

“That seems a little drastic, though. And she clearly doesn’t follow the rules.”

“Or she’s being allowed to bend them a bit because of circumstances. She is heading the family right now, isn’t she? No one is going to care to listen to a woman who looks like she just rolled out of bed when her appearance is meant to be the first thing presented about herself, and it needs to be perfect.”

“Huh.”

Cain reached for his cup, and took another sip. “Camorra is a strange and dangerous thing, man. Their entire culture is bred right into their person, and they guard and protect it with everything.”

“How do you even know this shit?”

“Worked alongside a captain for a clan a couple of years back when we had an issue on the streets. Nothing big, really. We made friends for a bit.”

“And what happened to that?”

Cain smiled bitterly. “What usually does with Camorras. A war sprung up between neighboring clans, and he was taken out in the process.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah, but see, that’s also a part of their life. They wait for those moments knowing it’s going to happen. That it’s all a matter of time. It’s why I don’t think she’s actually scared to go up against your father—Aria De Rose wasn’t raised to be easily frightened of death. Not when it comes to her cause.”

“But the idea of being caught alone with me terrifies her enough that she’s willing to agree to meet up with me again even though that’s risky, and she’s basically already got what she wanted from me the first time around.”

What a fucking juxtaposition that was.

Caesar didn’t know what to do with it.

“What seems foreign to you right now is probably second nature to her. What I would be more interested in trying to figure out is why a woman like that is going to the lengths she is to deceive her husband—and everyone else in her life—and what she is trying to gain from it.”

“Questions, questions.”

His friend chuckled. “And not an answer in sight.”