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“Fine,” I say, forcing my grip to relax. “Where’s our friend?”
“He’s, uh…” Luca winces.
I look at my little brother. It’s always been difficult for him to hide his emotions from me. “He’s doing drugs in the bathroom.”
Luca looks down at the table. I almost grab him and force him to meet my eye. Purposefully, I keep my hands in my lap. I’m not usually this on edge, but Scarlet’s text surges around my head—the fact that somebody would dream of doing that to her,mywoman, except she’s not my woman. I don’t even know if she has a boyfriend. She asked me to help, not because she wants me, but because I’m Elio Marino. That’s all.
“Did you do any with him?” I ask.
“What?” Luca snaps. “Is that a joke?”
“Had to ask.”
“I don’t do that shit.”
“We don’t do business with people who do, either, and yet here we are.”
I take out my phone and type a message to Scarlet.Do you have any idea who these loan sharks are?
No,she replies half a minute later.My dad might, but he walked out last night. I could ask my mom, but I doubt she has any idea. This is a pattern with my dad. He does get-rich-quick schemes and then leaves us to handle his mess, but it’s never been this serious before. I’m scared.
I read the final declaration, and my gut is all twisted up. The fact she’s scared just makes me feel so damn sick. She should never have to be afraid of anything—definitely not some lowlife who’d intimidate a woman in her own home.
How old are you?I ask.
“Who are you texting?” Luca says.
“Why does it matter?” I look up. “Our good friend is busy in the bathroom, isn’t he?”
“It’s just… you were smiling.”
“I was?”
“Yeah,” Luca says. “It’s weird.”
I wonder what that says about me, the fact my own brother finds it strange if I crack a smile. I’m sure it’s nothing good.
“Who is it, then?” Luca goes on.
“It doesn’t matter,” I tell him, which is a downright lie. Nothing and no one has ever mattered more.
My phone vibrates again.Nineteen. Why?
That’s a good question. Considering our current conversation, I have no good reason to ask her age, but I had to know—nineteen. That means she’s less than half my age. She’s young, fertile, and naïve, and if she’s smart, she wouldn’t want anything to do with a man like me. She’d run if she knew all the hungry thoughts racing through my mind.
Only a scumbag would do that to a nineteen-year-old woman. What did he look like? Any distinguishing features?
He was wearing a balaclava,she replies.He had green eyes. I think he was maybe five foot six. Around there, anyway. His voice was like any voice you’d hear around this neighborhood. I’m sorry. I know that’s not helpful.
You don’t have to apologize,I tell her.I know this can’t be easy.
“Elio, he’s coming back.”
I hate how Luca says this, as though we should snap to attention just because Russel is… Wait, what thefuck?
“Why is Dad here?” I ask Luca.
“I don’t know,” Luca whispers, sounding just as stunned as me.
