Page 55 of Corrado

“Doesn’t matter. I barely knew him, I was two when he died. He was old enough to be my fucking great-grandfather, too, fucking someone who could have been the same age as his granddaughter. Everybody wears stains, you know?”

“Huh.”

Shifting from foot to foot, Alessio added, “But it followed me after … probably didn’t help that my mother made a mess of herself. Overdosed when I was ten.”

Corrado never looked away from the table, but his jaw worked as he chewed over his words. Finally, he said, “It … wasn’t like that for me and Chris. Never chaotic, and we weren’t ever neglected. I sound like a selfish fuck to you, don’t I?”

“Sometimes.” Alessio laughed, adding, “But I don’t fault you for it.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

“Are you going to tell me what your brother is pissed off about, or what?”

Corrado glanced up from the table, a storm brewing in his eyes. “He wants to speak to our father.”

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen for a while.”

“But more our ma, I think, even if he won’t admit it.”

Alessio made a noise, dismissive and cold, although he didn’t mean for it to sound that way. “Yeah, can’t relate to that at all.”

“Sorry about that.”

“It’s all right.”

“It’s not—I don’t know what I would do without my ma.”

Alessio eyed him, chewing on the inside of his cheek as a million and one thoughts tumbled through his head. “What’s that like, anyway?”

“Hmm, what?”

“Having a mother that loves you. I wouldn’t know.”

Corrado shifted on the chair, never looking away from Alessio. “It’s …”

“Yeah?”

“Hard to describe. I love my ma.”

Alessio nodded. “Wouldn’t know what that’s like, either.”

“Recon and retrieval—Siberia, in a prison camp, we believe.” Dare tossed the folder to the desk, but Alessio didn’t bother to reach out and grab it. He was more focused on the image of the man in question that had apparently been missing for close to a decade. A prominent Russian mobster’s son, who had disappeared during a war with a rival family. “We’ve had eyes on who we trust is him. The team will go in with you after you’ve done your recon and sent information back for the plan to be finalized.”

Alessio’s brow furrowed. “How long is the assignment?”

“Three weeks to a month, depending on how things go.”

“And the client is—”

“The father, obviously. He knows it’s a risk to go in and try to get the son out, but one he is willing to risk considering the man will die inside the camp otherwise. You are not to get close enough without the team that you might get caught. Do you understand me?”

Alessio gave Dare a look. “I’m not an idiot. I know how to do proper recon.”

“I’m just—”

“If you’re not ready for me to do an assignment, then just say that.”

Dare swallowed hard, but straightened where he was standing beside his desk. “I do think you’re ready.”