My hand twitches, and the laptop nearly slides off the edge of the table before it’s caught by a large pair of tanned hands. “Good morning, little crow. Still alive, I see.”
Luciano throws himself down into the seat next to me, ignoring Dom’s glare. “This is exciting. Three hours with the bat.”
“Relative of yours?” I ask sweetly, and he grunts. “My mother’s second cousin. Or something.”
The old woman slips in through the door, her eyes landing on the three of us and widening as though she didn’t expect us to be here. Or didn’t expect us to come back. Stefano Asante slips in behind her. His eyes skate over us before he nods and heads to the back, slipping his headphones in.
Definitely should’ve skipped this one. Lorena Morelli jumps straight back into repeating the information she already gave us last time, and I can feel my eyes starting to glaze over. Dom looksa little sick when I look his way, and I can’t hold in my snort. Luc leans in. “If you laugh, she starts again.Don’t.”
All of us jerk, Dom snapping to full awareness as something smacks Luc straight in the center of his black shirt. He looks down incredulously at the splodge of white.
“Luciano.” The old woman wipes off her hands of chalk and points at him. “Repeat what I just said.”
His mouth opens, but nothing comes out. Dom snickers next to me.
“You. Corvo.” I straighten when she points at me. The distracted, dizzy appearance is gone, replaced by a shrewd eye as she stares at me. “Repeat it.”
“I… can’t say that I was paying attention.”
Lorena humphs. “And if you were being interviewed by thepolizia? What then?”
A dull flush spreads across my face as she stares at us, waiting for a response that doesn’t come.
“These are your final months,” she says finally. “You’ve spent years learning the letter of the law, and how to circumvent it. There isn’t much more I can teach you that would be useful at this point. But the mistake lies in thinking you know everything.”
She turns, flopping down into the chair. “Yourmistake wouldbe in underestimating anyone. We do not have the luxury of being lazy. Thepoliziawill drag out questioning for hours, repeating the same things over and over until your eyes glaze over. Until all you want to do is sleep. They will tie you up in knots, work you over and then trip you up on a technicality that puts you away for twenty to life.”
She smirks. “Unless you fucking wellpay attention. And I’m your great-aunt, Luciano Morelli. Not your damn third cousin. I changed your shitty diapers, you can at least remember the familial connection.”
Luciano chokes, and I lean forward.
Ilikethis woman.
“Now, then.” She reaches up and cracks her neck, the sound making Dom shudder. “Someone get me a fucking strong coffee, black, three sugars, and I’ll teach you some tricks they won’t have covered in youreducation.”
Chapter seventeen Caterina
We stagger out of Lorena’s lesson a few hours later. Dom shakes his head in disbelief. “What just happened?”
“A verbal smackdown we needed.” I flip through the pages of notes I took. Lorena is a fucking machine. I could have stayed there all day.
Luc pauses next to me, stretching his arms up and revealing a band of sleek, golden muscle. “At least she likes you. She seems to fucking hate me.”
“Probably the shitty diapers.” Dom’s words are deadpan, and I choke back my laugh. But Luc turns to me, any mirth wiped away and replaced with a purely business expression. “I want to speak to you.”
Scanning the empty corridor, I wave my hand. “Standing right here.”
He glances at Domenico, and my lips press together. Dom looks between us with a frown. “I’ll be down there.”
We both watch him leave. “Talk, Luciano. I don’t have the luxury of hanging around in deserted corridors at the moment.”
“I know.” His hazel eyes are dark as he faces me. He scans me up and down. “How are you doing?”
“I—what?”
His arms cross. “I’m asking if you’re alright, Caterina,” he says mildly. “No need to look at me like a slapped fish.”
I snap my mouth closed, mortified. “I wasnot!”
