Page 50 of Diamond Angel

“It shocks me, sometimes,” he explains sheepishly. “The body just won’t do what it’s supposed to.”

“Age comes for all of us.”

He shrugs and drops to a seat on the concrete steps. Adam brushes past him through the front door a moment later. He runs over to the sandbox and dumps an armful of trucks into the trough.

“Uncle Illy, I’m gonna build a city. Watch me, okay?”

“I’m watching.”

He climbs into the sand pit and his little face scrunches up with concentration. Mila and I never had sand pits or tire swings growing up. We had martial arts classes and gun training instead. For a long time, we thought we were lucky to be taught those kinds of skills. It made us different. It made us special.

But that was before we realized it was because we were beinggroomed.

I turn my back to Adam and face Archie again. “Are you all packed?”

“Should I be?”

My silent glare is all the answer he needs.

He smiles sadly. “I figured as much; I just had to ask. I suppose you need me close for that inevitable accident, huh?”

I stiffen. He’s seeing visions of car crashes and pianos falling off roofs right when he happens to be walking beneath them. Death around every corner.

“It would be easier on them,” Archie continues softly. “If I wasn’t around, I mean. If there was distance between us before I…disappeared on them.”

“You’re not staying behind, Archie.”

“I wouldn’t run.”

“Forgive me for not believing you.”

He goes silent for a while, his eyes glistening with old regrets. “You want me to come back with you for a reason, don’t you?” All I do is look at him, and he nods. “I don’t have any information, Ilarion.”

“Yes, you do. You have something.”

“It’s been five years.”

“Exactly. Five years and Benedict Bellasio has become a virtual ghost. But I know he’s still out there. He still targets my men when we least expect it.”

“How many have you lost?”

“Enough to be irritating. Mostly low-levelvorswho were caught on their own.” I crack my neck, grimacing as the faces of dead Bratva men float through my mind’s eye. “But it’s enough to get the message across loud and clear. He didn’t disappear with the intention of staying that way; he left in order to come up with a plan, a way to hit back at me.”

“And you think I’ll be able to help you?” Archie asks uncomfortably.

“You were his rat,” I remind him. “The man trusted you—”

“Benedict Bellasio doesn’t trust anyone,” Archie insists. He almost laughs at the suggestion. “It took me a long time to learn anything significant.”

“But eventually, you learned. Someone had to teach you,” I point out. “You will know secrets, and those secrets are going to help me zero in on where he’s been hiding all this time.”

Archie sighs. “I disappeared, too, Ilarion. He must have changed the locks and the passwords that I knew about, just to cover his bases.”

“Benedict doesn’t have many options left. But neither do I. So you’re coming with me.”

“You’re asking me to dip my toes in again, Ilarion. That’s a death sentence.”

“Grandpa!” Adam calls. “Look what I made!”

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