Page 18 of Cold

ChapterSeven

ROMARE

I sat sidewaysin my seat, staring at everything around me. The night I left the Ivanov house I'd seen a little bit, but I hadn't paid that much attention to the world. Now that I was well fed, dressed in comfortable clothes, and excited about what was to come, I could enjoy it all.

Bouncing up and down in my seat, my eyes widened when we turned into a nearly empty parking lot. There was a cluster of cars in one area, but other than that there was nothing out in the far reaches of the dark.

"A mall," I whispered. "We're at a mall!"

Vito grunted. "Yeah."

My grin grew. When was the last time I'd been to a mall? It was stupid, but it was familiar, something I liked to do most when I visited America. My mother liked local shops when we were in Sicily, but in the states? It was anything goes.

I turned to Vito. "We're going in there?"

"Don't ask crazy questions," he said, but his voice held none of the usual irritation.

"But...what if someone sees us?"

"No one will." He parked the car and turned to me. "It's ten at night and this place is deserted aside from the workers that I have as security and the employees I paid enough money to be here. It's ours."

My heart raced. "You did that for me?"

"It's not a big deal," Vito said as he opened his car door and stepped out. "Are you coming?"

It's not a big deal.

He said that casually, but it was crazy. No one had gone to that length to make sure I was happy. And I admit, I was mopey back at the apartment. Old memories had carved their way into my brain and made me uneasy and sad. But this was a great way to uplift my spirits.

I hopped out of the car and caught up with Vito's long strides. When I pushed my hand into his, I held my breath and steeled myself for a fight. But he didn't pull away. He glanced down at me, made a "hmmp" sound, and kept walking.

Warmth spread through me. He didn't turn me away. My mood raised even more. We walked into the mall and two men dressed in all black locked the doors after us. Vito's guys. They had guns that I spotted in their waistbands and serious expressions. That was always the way Sergei's men looked too.

The more we walked through the mall, the more I noticed actual employees. All of them wore their usual uniforms, and when we passed, they smiled but kept their gazes from us.

"Why won't they look at us?"

"Part of their assignment," Vito said. "No one wants to be stared at on a good day."

I melted and leaned my head against Vito's arm. "Thank you," I sighed.

He nodded, but he stayed quiet as we walked through the mall. But I didn't mind. It seemed like Vito liked it best when things were quiet. But I didn't know how he did it. I hated to be left alone with my own thoughts. They screamed and pounded and tortured me until I found some way to occupy my mind. It was endless.

"Can we go in there?" I asked as I pointed out a shop with more clothes in it. "Tom's gotten me addicted to cool outfits."

Vito grinned and then quickly hid it. "That man."

I gazed up at him. "You don't mind him," I pointed out. "Even though you two fight, I can tell you like each other."

"How do you know?" he grumbled.

I shrugged. "I got really good at reading people when I was with...you know," I whispered the last part. "If you can tell if someone is in a good mood, or a bad mood, or if they're just off, then it can save a lot of trouble. A lot of pain."

Vito stopped and looked down at me. "Romare..."

"I don't want to talk about it," I said, shaking my head. "Rambling is the only thing that makes me feel better, but I don't want to talk about all that shit I left behind. You don't know what it's like to want to start over?"

Vito frowned. "I do, but in this case, you might not get the peace you're lookin' for," he said, that velvety Italian accent wrapping around me like a warm hug. "We still need to find Andrei."

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