AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’m numb to the bone by the time we pull to a stop, and he holds the door open for me. “You’re going to have to stay with the car,” I tell him. “If you come with me, it will only be trouble for you.”
He inclines his head in acknowledgment, and I head down a row of nearly identical grave markers. There is just enough light from the stars overhead for me to see, but these autumn days have gotten shorter and shorter. It’s already nearly dark.
That time of year, I tell myself.
It’s certainly cool enough for me to need a jacket, but I’m still sweating, carefully navigating between gravestones.
Nerves are always going to get the best of me and I wonder if this ever gets easier.
I don’t have a map of the place, but the land slopes enough for me to see a slight dip just ahead. From the high spot, I’ve got a good vantage point, and the round figure of Drago swims into view. Only a handful of graves separate him from the two waiting cars on the other side of the grass.
This is it. There's no going back now.
I keep my pace even as I cut through the markers, all these lost family members and friends buried here so their people might one day come to visit them. The graves offer a sense of closure to some and a macabre fascination to others.
They’re neither to me.
Souls leave once the body dies; you’ll never convince me otherwise. And if my old nanny was really buried here, then seeing her grave won’t give me the conclusion I need.
Drago glances up, and his lips lift in a dry grin when he sees me. “Welcome.”
“I’ve always considered irony to be its own language, and sadly, I’m not fluent.” My own grin is uneasy. Her grave is there, right in the periphery of my vision. I just make out the carved letters of her name amidst the lichens and dirt of too many years left unattended.
“Are you not? You understand why I chose to meet you here? It is rather easy to guess.” He crooks a finger at me. “Now, please step up and let me search you. I need to make sure you’re not carrying any weapons.”
I keep my smile pinned in place, jaw clenched as I hold my arms out to the side and allow him to probe me. Drago keeps his touch clinical.
He’s a fucking monster. The monster holding my father hostage, if that’s the truth. And rather than standing here bandying pleasantries and waiting to be ambushed, I widen my stride and let my eyes fall on Drago.
“What do you want?” I ask once he’s finished.
“Do I have to want anything?” he asks cryptically.
His word games are another waste of time. I shoot him a hard stare and then jolt at the loud belch of a horn. The train tracks nearby rumble, and half a breath later, a freight train rattles by, carrying a long trail of cars.
“Where is my father?” I struggle to be overheard among the din.
So that’s why he chose this time. It’s starting to make sense.
“I’m the one who is going to ask questions, Miss Balestra. And If you behave, then I promise to dispose of the video we took of you and your beau the other night.”
“Do what you want with the video,” I snap. I'll probably regret that later. At the moment, my blood has heated, and for the first time in a long time, I’m too furious to back down. “There’s something going on, and I want answers. You targeted me, you attacked my family, and now my father is missing. It doesn’t take a genius to know you had something to do with it.”
I feel like he’s tricking me into another trap. I need to keep my wits about me.
“You believe you’ve finally figured out my plans, is that right?” His voice is sharp and clear.
Which only irritates me more.
“Figured out your plans? I don’t care about your plans. I want you to suffer for what you’ve done to my family. Not for me.” I step up closer. “I don’t give a flying fuck what you do to me, but don’t you dare come after the people I care about. If you had an issue with us, then you should have played by the damn rules.”
“The rules,” Drago repeats, scoffing. “Rules are nothing but ignorant people attempting to make sense of the world around them by imposing meaning and order. I don’t play by those rules. This meeting today is for one reason alone.”
I have to think. My stomach flutters. I’ll gladly slit this man’s throat for the trouble he’s caused. Whatever he wants today, I have to be ready for any possibility.
It’s time for a new tactic. “Then tell me the reason. It’s to say goodbye, isn’t it?” I take another risk and step forward, brushing my hand over his cheek. His eyes widen before they narrow in suspicion and I have to grit my teeth to touch him without slashing my nails over his cheeks.
“If you think a seduction attempt will make this easier for you, then I’m sorry to tell you, it won’t work.”
