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She pales. “What?”
“Listen, this sounds worse than it will be. Gailo and our men, they know how to hit the crap out of me without hurting me too badly.”
“But-but it will hurt? They’re going to hurt you?” Her voice is tiny and shaky and I want to gather her up and run away. To hold her and shield her and give her a different life altogether. And the worry—the care she still holds somewhere inside herself, for me—is enough to make me fall to my knees.
“And you, Ellie.” Robbie says.
“Robbie!”
“What?” She gasps.
I hold out my hands as if to settle all of us. “Gailo will make it look like he’s hurting you to get me to talk. That’s the only believable option. Your uncle wouldn’t take me for a snitch after a few punches. It’s got to be something a mafioso understands. Laying hands on an untouchable, hurting what’s mine, that he will believe.”
“I can’t. No. Mark, this is more than I thought. I can’t.”
“You can, sweetheart.” I grab her hand and this time she lets me. “You can. It won’t be real.”
Robbie shuffles in his seat. “And, uh, we need to get moving. The press is starting to wonder where their superstar senator is. Delgado is trying to hold them off, but it’s been two days of missing meetings and not answering your assistant. So Gailo is en route back to you now with the team.”
“Alright,” I say without looking. Ellie has her eyes shut tight and keeps shaking her head and muttering soft cries of protest I can barely make out.
“Make sure you put the old clothes back on. She’ll need to refix her hair, all that. You all have been held for two days with little food and water, no showers, maybe a wound dressing but that’s it.”
“Copy.” I say.
“Clear as Day.”
“Dark as Night.” I reply before cutting the feed.
“I can’t, I can’t, I can’t,” She repeats over and over, probably unaware that she’s talking. Unaware that I’ve taken her into my arms and am wiping her tears with one hand while cradling her with the other.
“Shhh, Ellie.” But I don’t think she can really hear me. She’s in shock all over again and we haven’t even started. “I’ll be with you every step of the way. It won’t be real. Shhh.” I carry her upstairs to her room. She wraps herself around me and cries the whole way. I hate myself all over again. She could’ve been spared. If I’d just thought of her in that moment, left her at that pizza shop. But I can’t think straight around her. I feel as much of a mess as she sounds when I set her down on the bed. She’s sniffing and mumbling and throws her face in her hands.
I go and get her outfit from the hamper.
“Eleanna.” I take on a tone that I hope will get her to stop crying, stop thinking. “We have to do this now, then it’ll be over. Put this on, mess up your hair. Put on some makeup and make it smudgy, like Robbie said, okay?” She’s still shaking her head, so I switch to Spanish.“Quieres salvar a tu hermana? ¿Tu mamá?”Do you want to save your sister? Your mom?I push her.“¡Ahora, Eleanna!”
She gets up with a sob and snatches the fabric. She heads to the bathroom and slams the door. I stand outside, listening. She’s not moving.
I lean into the wood frame. “I’m going to change, and when I get back, you need to be ready. We’ll get this over with and move on to the easy part.”
“You mean the part where I spy on my own family? Is that the easy part?” She cries through the door.
“Yes, it’ll be easy for you, you’ll see. You’re so strong, Ellie. You can do this. I know you can.”
She sniffs and then in a huff she says. “I hate you.”
My chest caves. All the air leaves me, and all the blood rushes to my feet. I swallow. “It’s about time,partner.”I say, sounding bitter. And I am. But not at her. At myself, at my mission, my brotherhood, my whole sick, sad life. I sigh. “Five minutes.” I leave to get ready.
This is going to be a new, fresh hell for both of us.
CHAPTER 39
Eleanna
Don’t throw up. Don’t throw up.
“This must be done in one take, guys. It can’t look edited or doctored.” Gailo says as he adjusts a camera on the tripod in the corner. It’s set up in view of Mark, who is in one of the chairs where we sat a few hours ago. The second chair is set up facing him, a few paces away.
