As I debate it, my second phone finally blares to life not long after darkness falls.
It’s Guido.
“Sir.”
“You told me not to call,” Guido says, his voice strained. “But I need to know. Is my daughter safe?”
“Yes, sir.”
“She is unharmed?”
“Physically, yes. Otherwise, I’m not qualified to tell.”
“I need details.”
“Not over the phone.”
Guido is silent for a moment, then his exhausted sigh betrays his age. “I’m fighting my best over here, Falco. I’m trusting you, do you hear me?”
Trust. What a fragile concept. I’ve already broken his trust, and he doesn’t know it yet.
Pushing Aerin could make her reveal the truth to her father before I successfully get her back into the protection of her family, but it’s odd to me that she hasn’t mentioned it.
Maybe I really did dream it.
“Falco?”
“Sorry, sir. I was thinking. I swore to you that I would keep her safe, and I will do so. Has there been any news about your son?”
“No,” Guido replies tightly. “But no news is good news.”
“Yes, sir.”
Guido hangs up without a word, and a cold silence envelops me as darkness fully falls outside.
Giacomo’s disappearance irks me.
Given Aerin’s rather hermit-like existence, having mercenaries target her on the only evening that she leaves the estate is suspicious.
Is Giacomo also a target?
He didn’t hide the fact that Aerin was his sister, which means they could have chosen to target her instead as some kind of power move.
The night passes slowly, and I don’t sleep again.
This place is too unfamiliar, and I keep most of my attention on Aerin as she tosses and turns in the bed.
Sleep appears to escape her too for most of the night. When she wakes the next morning, she’s extra irritable.
“Noodles again?” she grumbles, staring down at the noodle cup in front of her.
“It’s all we have. Eat.”
“I don’t want noodles again. It’s all I ate yesterday.”
“We’re out of caviar. Eat.”
“I don’t even like caviar,” she snaps. “You think because my family’s rich, all we eat is fancy, disgusting food that costs a kidney?”
