"I have a twin sister," Dante says. "She's been missing for two decades, taken from our childhood home by a London gang. She’s the reason I fight so hard against human trafficking. She’s the reason I wanted to come to Bali. Last night, I receivedinformation that she’s being kept at the beach club we’re about to go to.”
Nico drops his dessert spoon. Everyone is quiet as they stare at Dante.
Dante's jaw is tighter than ever. He's physically here, but his mind has taken him to a place where all that exists is pain. I take his hand in mine again.
He glances at our intertwined hands and takes a deep breath like I just gave him life.
"She was trafficked when she was fourteen years old," Dante continues. "And I haven't seen her since. This is why my biggest goal in life is to put an end to this dirty business. I want to be the reason someone thinks twice before engaging in these practices. But it's only gotten worse over the years. They've only gotten more shameless. It’s about time that changed.”
He takes another deep breath.
"I knew I'd have to share this with you eventually," he says. "The only reason I didn't is because...I'm not used to sharing these kinds of things. And...thank you for coming here and supporting the cause even though it’s not personal for any of you.”
Everyone is still speechless. It's Nico who speaks up first.
"Of course," he says, standing to give Dante a hug. Dante dodges the hug and shakes Nico's hand instead, patting his shoulder awkwardly as he keeps him at arm's length.
Nico tackles him anyway in a side hug and presses his cheek to Dante's face.
"We'll find your sister, man," Nico vows. "We'll do our best to find all of the girls. We can't change their past, but we can make sure they have a better future.”
"Thank you," Dante says, patting Nico's arm. “I appreciate your help.”
Dante tries to pull away, but Nico squishes their cheeks together.
"And I'm sorry I was being so adamant about going sightseeing," Nico says. "I wouldn't have prepared such a colorful itinerary if I had known how serious this was for you."
Dante exhales, looking defeated as Nico clings to him.
"No, it was a good distraction," Dante says.
“Did you get revenge?” Dimitri asks.
“I had no connections at the time,” Dante says. “I couldn’t find the people responsible. All I knew then was that they were from a London gang.”
“Is the gang still active?” Max asks.
Dante shakes his head. “No, they broke apart years ago.”
Nico returns to his chair, looking lost in thought.
“Let us know if you need help finding them,” Nico says. “It’ll be a fun little task to find those parasites and flush them out.”
A heavy cloud settles over all of us.
There are so many horrors happening in the world. So many monsters lurking in plain sight.
I’m starting to understand that there are different types of people in the underworld. There are different shades of gray. And some of the villains have a better moral compass than the people who are supposed to be the good guys.
The rain has stopped now, so we hit the road once again.
Although Bali is a popular tourist destination, so much of it remains untouched. We travel through dark streets surrounded by dense forest on either side. I can hear the chatter of monkeys and other insects all around us.
And the air.
Oh my God, the air. It's so fresh that it's almost sweet. The scent of wet earth mixed with the wilderness creates a scent so alluring that I want to capture it in a bottle.
We slow when the club comes into view. It’s an oasis of light swallowed by wilderness.
