It kicks her into gear but this time, she takes my hand and drags me out of the restaurant along with the swell of the crowd. Sirens and neon lights scream in the street as the police arrive. Fainaand I blend with the crowd until we make it across the street, then we slip into another alleyway and disappear into the night, leaving those assassins to face the strength of the Italian law.
Several hours later, I rest against the railing of the ferry carrying us across the water toward the city of Nuro on the island of Sardinia. Deep blue ocean churns beneath the hull, and a scorching sun bakes down on me, burning my paper-thin pale skin to a crisp.
I like it, though.
The heat of the yellow sun, the crash of the waves, the sound of the gulls calling above, and the scents of salt and marine life in the air. After last night’s chase through the city, it’s surreal to be here mingling with holiday goers in a white shirt and pants Faina swiped from God knows where. I thought I’d been doing a good job sneaking about these past six months, but Faina’s on another level.
Must be because she’s Russian.
“How’s the leg?” She appears next to me with a fruity drink in each hand. Both have their own colorful straw and vibrant little umbrella. Her loose blue sundress flaps in the wind and yet, despite the breeze, her gigantic sunhat manages to stay locked onto her hair. Even with sunglasses on, I can tell she’s staring at me.
“It’s fine,” I reply shortly, accepting the drink. “Is there alcohol in this?”
“What do you take me for?” Her plush, pink lips briefly wrap around her straw. “We don’t need to be caught unawares.”
“If we’re caught here, we’re dead. We’re on a ferry, for Christ’s sake.”
“Can’t you swim?” She smirks at me.
“Through water this deep? Where would I swim to?” There’s nothing but ocean surrounding us. The port we left is miles away, and while the island of Sardinia is in sight, it’s far too far away for any reasonable swimmer.
“Where’s your sense of adventure?”
“Somewhere back in the last pair of pants someone tried to kill me in.”
“Ooh, you’re sour,” she mutters, sipping her drink for a moment. Then she angles her body toward me and manages to drop her sunglasses an inch down her nose with a wiggle of her brows. “I’ll ask again, how is your leg?”
“It’sfine. Why?”
“You took a hard fall back there.”
“And?”
“You almost got trampled to death.”
“But I didn’t.”
“We’re in this together, and clearly, that’s an issue, so I think it’s reasonable for you to tell me what we’re dealing with.”
I keep my gaze fixed on the horizon. “It’s my leg. What more do you want me to say?”
“I heard you got hit by a car and your leg snapped in three places,” she says softly. “And then they took you and tied you up, forced you to balance on that leg so you’d hurt yourself.”
“You heard wrong.” Tightness sweeps across my chest and my throat closes as a chill steals down my spine.
I thought I knew torture.
It was something I prided myself on for my family. Between my sister and me, no secret was safe.
Until I ended up in the hands of the Triad and everything I knew was child’s play compared to them.
“You can talk about it, you know,” Faina says gently.
“Why does it even matter?” I refuse to look at her.
“I can make adjustments to my plan, but I need to know the extent, Cian. What if next time I don’t look back in time and realize too late that something’s happened?”
“I slipped, that’s all.”
