The spoon fell out of my free hand. “Depending on how the term is used—”
“I know.” Evelina nodded. “It’s not used in the straightforward context of throw oneself in the air. It’s linking the pleasure of sex and the ascent to heaven.”
I didn’t talk to many of the girls in my troupe about anything but work, but I’d heard them talking about this place before. They had said it was a “place for pleasure.” The literal translation: I’m horny.
“Why—”
She held up a hand. “Work.”
Even so. There were rooms just for people to have sex in.
“Evelina,” I said after a few minutes.
“Yeah?” She stopped what she was doing and looked at me. “I’ve already picked my color. Here it is—”
I stopped her with a hand. “No. I mean—it’s a pretty color, but that’s not what…I mean, I want to go.”
“Where?”
“ToS’envoyer En L’air.”
“Um…I don’t—”
“Please.” Even though the real reason was because I was about to lose my mind from the thought of Saverio being with someone else, I didn’t really want to tell Evelina that. Saverio was her brother. She’d tell me he wouldn’t do that to me. But she really had no clue how hard I’d been fighting him. “Ihaveto go.”
“Because you never do anything fun? Or because Saverio is there?”
I hesitated but then told the truth. “Both,” I whispered.
“You know he’s going to kill me for this, right?”
I blinked at her for a second. I’d never asked her to do anything like this before, and I was surprised at how quickly she agreed.
“We’re going?”
“Yeah.” She shrugged. “We’re the daughters of two of the most dangerous men in the world. I can disable what I need to. You’re a kick-ass ballerina. What can go wrong?”
“How are we going to do this?”
“First, we’re going to finish our nails. We’ll tell Guido we’re going to bed. I’ll handle the security system. We’ll go out through the window. I know the men’s rotations, so that won’t be a problem. I have a car parked outside the gate. So at least I won’t have to hide you in the trunk.” She grinned at me. “I’ll reactive the security system after that. Deactivate when we get home. Repeat. Do you have dresses?”
I nodded.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“I am.”
“I mean, you could always text him—”
“No,” I said. “I want to go. Especially if this meeting is about me.”
“Not directly. They’re trying to locate the arms dealer Livia is married to. He stays under the radar, but tonight we have word that he has a meeting at the club. That guy with the—” She motioned to her head, mimicking tall hair.
“Elio,” I said.
“That’s him. He has connections. Been there before. So it was easy enough for the men to go in as friends of his. Although I saw the way Saverio was looking at him. What’s going on?”
I waved a hand. “Later.”
