My lack ofhonor.
“Hi,” I whisper. He says nothing. “Aless—Don Castellani—I had an idea that I think might help.” He scoffs. “But I need to speak to you in private.”
Alessandro’s eyebrows shoot up, pulling his scar into a paler line.
“That’s not happening,” Jack tells me.
“Alessandro won’t hurt me.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about.”
I turn in astonishment. “You thinkIwould ever—”
“I think a lot of people have underestimated you,” Jack says, “and I don’t plan on being one of them.”
For the first time, Alessandro moves from the windows. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he says with a slight yawn. “I don’t need protection from a mouse.” Jack looks like he’s going to argue, until Alessandro holds up a hand. His voice is softer when he says, “Enough, Jack. You and Miller should wait downstairs.”
It’s the first time I’ve ever hear Alessandro use the hitman’s nickname, and I can see Miller is surprised by it, too. Things have changed.
How? And when?
Jack finally gives a reluctant nod and retreats, pulling Miller with him. “Come on, sweetheart. It’ll be okay.” Miller doesn’t want to leave me, that much is clear, but he lets Jack pull him into the elevator, his gaze still fixed on me as the doors close on them.
I square up my shoulders and turn to face Alessandro again. “Thank you for agreeing to see me.”
“Don’t thank me. Just tell me this brilliant new idea.”
I ignore the sarcasm, and get right to it. “I think Julianisthe one who looped the security footage that night, but I can’t figure out why. I want to talk to him and find out.”
Alessandro stares at me for a long moment before his bark of laughter makes me jump. “You don’t make demands fromme, little mouse.”
“I’m not making demands, I’m asking. I want to help, truly—”
“Oh, yes. You always want tohelp.” He’s sneering now, the cold indifference cracking apart.
I take a breath and try to find the same courage I had that first night we met. I’m grateful that the barrel of the gun I’m looking down today is only metaphorical—but I need to show him he can trust me.
“Last night you said I had no honor,” I begin slowly. “But that wasn’t true. And it wasn’tfair. I’ve been loyal to my mother my whole life. I did what she asked me to do. I made myselfsmall. A non-entity. All because of her crazy crusade. Maybe I even thought that if I was as obsessed with organized crime—with people likeyou—as she was, that she’d see we had something in common. That maybe…maybe she’d love me again. But it never worked. And it never will.”
Alessandro remains unmoved as I pause to catch my breath. “My mother is not like your mother. And you don’t understand how it feels to—to—” I swallow hard. “Your mother would do anything for you.”
I want to move closer to him, but I think my time is running out. Ihaveto convince him I can help. I change tack.
“I think Julian has to be the one who looped the footage, because your system is set up to alert the guards to external interference. Whoever looped it must have had internal access already, and your day-to-day guards don’t. But I bet Julian does. I’m not saying he killed your dad, but I think he knows something he’s not telling.”
“Ridiculous,” Alessandro spits out. “If Julian had anything to say that would get him released, he would already have said it.”
“Not necessarily. It depends what he actually knows.”
“There is no reason to believe he will talk toyou.”
I take a step toward him, judging his reaction. I take another step and then another, and his stance changes. Tightens up. I hate seeing his face all black and blue, can’t help feeling glad that Jack is just as banged up. “What happened between you and Jack?”
He shakes his head with an incredulous laugh. “You don’t get to ask questions. You are beautiful, but not so beautiful as to make me lose my mind. Not—again.”
Desperation makes me bold. I keep moving toward him until I’m only two feet away. “If not your mind…your heart?”
He almost takes a step back. Almost, swaying away from me, hesitating. But he stays where he is. Slowly, carefully, I sink down on my knees. “Please, Don Castellani. I want to prove myself to you, to show you that you can trust me. That you can…” I swallow. It’s too soon forthatword. “That you can trust me,” I repeat instead.
