Page 271 of Lars

“I don’t kill women or children. Ever.”

“What if they ordered you to?” she asked.

They meaning Dario and his brothers.

“They wouldn’t.”

“That’s a first,” she muttered. “Mafiosos not willing to kill someone.”

I thought about Dario – all the kindnesses he had done me, all the times he had offered to help me, all his plans to build a better world than the one he had inherited from his father.

I especially remembered what he had told me in the hallway – the part about being my friend and how I could always speak my mind.

“They’re different than you think,” I said.

“How so?”

“You should ask Niccolo or Dario. It’s not my place to talk about the family’s business. But let’s just say that they aren’t your ordinary, everyday mafiosos,” I said, making fun of her term for them.

“Hm,” she said absentmindedly. Then she hit me with a barrage of questions. “Are you Swedish?”

“I am.”

“Niccolo said you saved Dario’s life twice in prison.”

I thought about saying, Probably more than that, but knew I could just as easily say, He saved MY life, too.

In the end, I simply agreed.

“I did.”

“And that’s why they trust you?”

“It is.”

“Were you in the military, too? In Sweden?”

“I was.”

“That’s why you’re such a good shot?”

“Partly.”

“You’re talkative, aren’t you?”

I grinned. “I would talk more, Alessandra, if I knew my secrets were safe with you.”

“What secrets?”

“Who I am. What I’ve done. Who I work for.”

“I already know those things.”

I almost laughed. DO you now.

“And I see no need for you to know more,” I replied.

“Then why bring me here?”

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