Page 79 of Ordinary Girl

“Yeah.” She smiles at me, but it’s one that struggles to reach her eyes. And I hate that I’ve come in here and changed the mood in a heartbeat. “Fire away.”

“I think he means in private.” Cady throws me a sideways smile. “Go grab some lunch. There’s not much left to do here.”

“Are you sure?” Ana asks, and she seems reluctant to leave. She was having fun, and I hate that I interrupted that, but there’s shit going down that involves her, that could mean her safety is impacted. And we need to stop it.

“Of course I’m sure. Go on.”

They exchange smiles and a hug before Ana slips out from behind the counter, grabs her jacket and follows me outside, taking the helmet I offer her.

“What’s going on?” she asks, leaning back against the bike.

“We just need to talk.”

“Okay. About what?”

I look at her. She’s not stupid, she already knows the answer to that question, so I ignore it.

“Come on. Let’s grab some food from the deli and get out of here.”

We head to a quiet spot down by the river, sitting down underneath a sprawling oak tree, our backs against the trunk.

“This is peaceful,” she points out, and I don’t miss the slight hint of sarcasm in her voice.

I pick up a stone and toss it at the water, watching as it bounces a few times on the surface before disappearing. “I come here to get away from everything. Not a lot of people know about this spot, but, if you look over there, through that small gap in the trees, that’s the park.” I jerk my head to the left. “If you look hard enough you can just about see the main walkway along the river. It doesn’t reach this far, which is why you don’t get many people heading down here.”

“How’d you find it then?”

“I like exploring.” I look at her and smile. I’m trying to lighten the mood, but she’s not playing.

“You told Skip, didn’t you? About my dad?”

“You know I had to.”

“Well, you didn’thaveto…”

“Come on, Ana. You’re not this naïve so don’t act like you are. You know he’s back for a reason, and that reason is he’s looking to get some kind of revenge for what happened to Sofia. For what happened toyou.”

“He doesn’t know what happened to me. He doesn’t know what they did… what theyalmostdid to me. How could he?”

I pick up another stone and throw it at the water. “He’s come for revenge, Ana. And the fact he’s working with the Blackhawks, or seems to be working with them…” I drop my head, rest my arms on my drawn-up knees. “Your father heads up one of themost notorious crime families in Europe, did he tell you that?” I look up, her eyes staring into mine. “He’s not their blood, but for some reason he’s now a very powerful man. A very dangerous man.”

“He didn’t tell me that. How do you know this?”

“Like I said, Ana, you’re not that naïve.”

She turns her head away, staring out at the river, silence surrounding us, just the odd screech of a bird or the faint hum of traffic off in the distance piercing it.

“We don’t know anything for sure, but his sudden appearance in a country the Balke family have previously had no business in tells us that this his reason for being here is, first and foremost, more than likely a purely personal one. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t something else going on: that he doesn’t have another reason for being here. And it doesn’t mean that he hasn’t brought manpower with him. Soldiers ready to do whatever he asks them to do.”

“He didn’t mention revenge. He said he wanted us to reconnect.”

“And I have no doubt he meant that. I have no doubt he’s come back for you–”

“I’m not going with him,” she interrupts, her eyes locking on mine. “That isn’t happening.”

She’s fucking right it isn’t. “I know.” I take a deep breath. “Skip wants you to keep seeing your dad.”

“Does he.”

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