Page 17 of Mafiosa
I shook my head. ‘No, thanks.’
‘Go on.’ Nic winked at me. ‘He’ll be impressed.’
I didn’t dare look at Luca.
‘Go on,’ he said, his voice silky. ‘Why don’t you show me, Sophie? Show me what you’ve been up to out here all morning.’
‘I’m too cold,’ I said. ‘I don’t want to.’
‘Come on,’ said Nic, bewilderment colouring his tone. ‘You were so excited before.’
‘Was she?’
‘I’m tired,’ I said. ‘I don’t want to right now.’
‘I want Luca to see what a good teacher I am. Let’s show him what a good team we are.’ I knew Nic was teasing me, but that was not the right thing to say in the moment. Not the way he lingered over the wordteam. I could practically feel Luca bristling.
‘No,’ I said, my answer firm.
‘Fine,’ said Luca quickly. He was over this. Theatrics weren’t his thing, thankfully. ‘Some other time, perhaps.’ He turned to Nic, his tone clipped. ‘Valentino is holding a meeting in tenminutes. Libero Marino is back in Chicago.’ He gestured behind him, in the direction of the house. ‘He wants to speak to you about doing some recon in the city.’
Nic seemed to grow to twice his size in that moment. ‘Whatever he needs.’
He was so…malleable.
I frowned, scolding myself for thinking less of the boy who had just been helping me. Nic was what he was; there was nothing to be ashamed of. He was a soldier. That was his calling and he was good at it.
Luca simply nodded. ‘We’ll follow you inside.’
Nic took his leave, grinning at me over his shoulder. ‘We’ll reconvene this afternoon?’ He left the question in the air, and when I didn’t respond, he sealed the answer with a wink. ‘This was fun.’
And then he was gone, and the door was falling shut behind him, and I was wondering if I could scale the walls of the barn and slither out through a window before Luca gave me the tongue-lashing that was so obviously building up inside him. Would it be worth the drop on the other side?
I raised my chin. I would not be afraid of him or his words. He wasn’t my keeper. He didn’t control me. I could do what I wanted.
‘I wanted to learn,’ I said evenly. ‘And you wouldn’t teach me.’
He didn’t even blink. ‘So you found someone who would.’
Why the hell did I feel so ashamed of myself? I hadn’t done anything wrong. Nic was proud of me. Nic washelpingme. He was giving me the confidence I needed to walk this new path, and Luca was intent on taking it away. Screw that. ‘Nicwants me to be happy.’
Something flitted across Luca’s face. ‘Nicolò wants you to be like him.’
‘Would that be so bad?’
That look again – fleeting. I caught it that time. Betrayal. He thought I had betrayed him.
‘Say something,’ I said. ‘Get angry if you want, but don’t just stand there glaring at me.’
Show me you still care. Show me something real.
The silence stretched out.
I just wanted it to make sense.
A muscle feathered in his jaw. ‘I don’t have anything to say to you, Sophie.’
And then he was gone. But the guilt remained, burrowing deep. I added it to the great, heaving pile already teetering inside me.
