“We’ll have to agree to disagree then,” she said.
“If that’s how you want to play this.” I shrugged.
She took a step forward. I held my ground. I wouldn’t move for her.
She took my left hand and then my right. “Tell me about your life. What have you been doing? Are you married? In love?”
“Ballet,” I said. “That’s what I’ve been doing.” Once upon a time, she and I had connected over it. “And no, no man in my life. No time for that drama.” I’d be damned if I gave anything away to her. She couldn’t be trusted. She saw this situation in an extremely calculated way.
“I always knew you’d make it,” she said. “Even though you’re different from your mother and great-grandmother.”
“Differences make the world go round,” I said.
She turned the ring on my right finger forward. “How precious,” she said.
“What about you?” I said to redirect the conversation. “What’s life like for you now?”
She sighed out a heavy breath. “After I was sent away—the people were nice enough, but I lost everything, Mia,” she whispered, meeting my eyes. “Maman is all I have now. Well. Maman and Arsenii. They’re my world. Arsenii is…he’s not a good man, but he’s mine. Can you understand that?”
“I can,” I said. “I’m truly happy for you, Livia. That you’ve found love.”
“I know,” she said.
We stared at each other, and an awkward silence drifted between us.
“I have to go now,” she whispered. “I haven’t told anyone. About you. I wasn’t even sure if it was you. But your eyes are unforgettable, you know? I am sorry for what is about to happen. Again, it is not personal against you. So, before any blood has been shed in this war, I will give you some information for the sake of the friendship we once shared. All deals take place below ground.”
“We all know the Fausti family only deals above ground,” I said. “They’re not known to hide.” I wanted to be sure she had no clue the men probably doing the dealings were mine. This secret meeting was about us, but she’d have no hesitation using me to lead her men to mine.
“You are hiding behind a mask,” she said.
“Only to have some fun,” I said. “The girls in my troupe have been here before. Raved about it.”
She nodded and turned to leave.
“Livia,” I said, stopping her. “Good luck.”
“May the best family win,” she said. “Or should I say, may the worst family lose?”
She left me alone, but I wasted no time standing around. The pull to find Saverio was so strong, it felt like I had a compass inside of my heart. A compass that also could measure distance.
Looking to the right, I noticed a man standing guard at a door that seemed to lead down. I stood taller, took a deep breath, and steadied myself. I couldn’t use Livia’s name to get down.
Another plan then.
I walked right up to a group of three women who were standing close, laughing at something quietly. The guard had called the first one over himself, and she had grabbed the other two. Maybe only select women were allowed to go down?
“Love your dresses,” I said.
They started talking to me, telling me where they had found them. We chatted as the man guarding the door let us all through. He stopped the women who tried to come after us. Once out of his sight, I let the three women go ahead, following behind.
We were heading further and further into the bowels of the earth. A city under a city. The air became thinner and danker. The flames on the walls hissed at breezes I couldn’t feel.
Naked bodies were painted gold and tangled in this area, but almost like they were putting on a show.
More rooms.
I stopped short when I came to the end of a long passageway. It wasn’t like a hallway, but more like a route in a catacomb. My hand flung out to catch myself before I fell against the wall. My feet felt airy. They carried no weight at all. My entire body was weightless. My arms were like wings, but I had no clue how to fly.
