Page 34 of Ride with the Devil

And I don’t know what he’s doing as a Sinner…

That one bothers me the most, and after the fourth straight game of checkers where I didn’t even come close—and I’m beginning to regret even bringing up this particular game in the first place—I finally blurt out the question that’s been haunting me for days.

“Okay. I gotta know. How did a nice guy like you get mixed up with all this mafia bullshit?”

Luca was resetting the game board. He’s the black pieces, I’m the red, and since I hate the tediousness of putting the pieces on the board, I let him do it.

He pauses. “Do you really want to know?”

Desperately.

I give him a nonchalant shrug of one of my shoulders. “Well, yeah. It’s just… like I said, you seem so nice. A good guy. You’ve been great to me. Five stars, you know? But then I remember that you’re part of the Sinners Syndicate. It doesn’t make sense. You’re not a killer or a dealer or any of that, are you?”

He shakes his head, letting the piece in his hand fall to the tabletop. “I thought you knew. I’m the driver.”

“Well, yeah. I saw you in the Devil’s car. I figured that was your job. But how does that happen? Become a mafia leader’s private chauffeur? I can’t imagine he hires out for that.”

Luca’s lips quirk in a crooked smile. “Nah. You’re right. I guess you could say I went to him and asked for the job. He didn’t really want a driver, but I was pretty motivated.” His eyes gleam at me. “And experienced, too.”

“You’ve driven around other murderers?”

Besides me?

“Not like you’re thinking.” He taps his fingertip. “I was a wheelman.”

A wheelman?

Oh.

“You robbed a bank. No. Not you. Some other guys did and you were the one who drove the getaway car? Really?”

I can’t keep myself from sounding impressed, and he knows it.

“‘Thou shall not steal.’ That was the first commandment I ever broke on purpose.” He pauses, reaching up, ruffling the top of his hair. “I break that one a lot.”

Right. Like he stoleme.

Wait…

Commandment?

I start to ask him why he would mention the Ten Commandments—especially since that’s a key on his chain, not a cross, so I didn’t take him as uber religious or anything—but I stop when I notice that he’s rubbing his forearm through his shirt sleeve.

That’s not the first time I noticed the nervous gesture, though it is the first time I call him out on it.

“What are you hiding under there?” I ask. “Is that your devil tat? I wanna see it.”

Luca drops his hand down to his thigh. “It’s not my devil. have my horns and tail on my bicep.”

All Sinners have a tattoo that mark them as members of the syndicate. It’s a Springfield thing. Devil insists his guys get a pair of devil horns and a forked tail as a symbol of loyalty to him and the rest of the syndicate. Meanwhile, the Libellula Family all get inked with varying dragonfly designs to mark their affiliation.

I knew Luca would have to have a devil tat somewhere. Maybe it is on his bicep, but he’s still hiding something under his sleeve.

And I want to know what it is.

I start to reach for it. If he doesn’t want to tell me, I’ll look for myself. He can stop me. If he does, I won’t push this. But if he lets me…

He doesn’t let me.

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