“Thanks. That cunt was awful, but I will forever be grateful for her teaching me how to make this.” Hana is correct, her mother was an obnoxious, controlling woman. Luckily, she was murdered alongside her father.
Hana and I share the same grandmother, as her mom is my father’s sister. We all stem from fucked-up family members.
Our families have been inthisbusiness for over a hundred years, and we have seen it all.
“I’m so glad my parents are dead.” I shake my head in disbelief, and she catches up on that.
“Are you surprised I said that?” she asks me.
“I’m not. It just came out of nowhere.”
“Just like your knife against their throats.” So, yes, I killed her parents. A year after my father’s disappearance, her mother tried to revive our organization, but she failed miserably. She had absolutely no contacts, no special skills, and no charisma. After a while, she became unbearable and abusive toward Hana. My cousin always had balls on her, but her parents really fucked her up for a while.
Hana couldn’t take it anymore and asked me to do something about it. So one night while she was out with her friends, I snuck into her house and slit her parents’ throats. No muss, no fuss.
“Yeah. So, what are you doing tonight?” I ask her as I light a cigarette.
“I’m going to a club with Anja and Kenan. You?”
“Be safe. I’m going to—” A thought strikes me. “Did you say Anja?” She nods at me.
“She is studying to become a nuclear physicist like her dad, right?”
“Yes. Do you want to become one?” I shake my head.
“Yeah, fuck no. I don’t have time for a PhD.” I put out my cigarette as she lights one up. “And if I recall correctly, she is brilliant and made something for us a while ago?” Hana’s eyes widen as the realization settles in.
“She made Velorum mist with her dad. Why, do you need some?” I wiggle my eyebrows at her.
“Consider it done. How do you want it?”
“In a small package with big impact.”
After Hana and I discuss everything, she leaves to get ready. At around 5 p.m., her friend arrives and delivers me two small packages.
“Little hummingbird, I hope you can breathe tonight.”
32
Lana
Could this night become any worse? First, my boss literally asked me to wear a dress for New Year’s Eve so I can appeal to customers. I only had one dress for that occasion, a yellow one with thin straps that fell just below my knees. And to top my awful night off, I was the last server standing. All of my other colleagues left to go to a party, and after 10 p.m., the diner died down, and now I’m the only one in the restaurant with my boss.
“Clean everything up, Lana. I’m going to close in about five minutes. Hurry the fuck up!” He is in a fucking awful mood.
Fucking asshole.
The diner is a hole-in-the-wall, and when I look outside, nobody is on the street. Everybody is probably gathered in the center of Sarajevo. Every year, the city hosts a big free concert, and every single inhabitant of Sarajevo goes to it.
Even though work has been fucking hard today, it can’t keep my mind off Marco. A seemingly quiet and ordinary man who shook me to my core. For years, I have been an expert at keeping myrealidentity a secret. The real me was something else, and I wish I could say that I hate it, but I don’t. It shaped me into the woman I am today.
Nonetheless, I had to evade my past because it could interfere with my future.
I must—
“Lana, come here, now!” Before I go to my boss in the kitchen, I check my phone. I snuck it into my apron because it’s fucking dead in here. When I check my phone, my heart stops.
From the looks of it, you haven’t quit. You had your chance.
