“Something like that,” concedes Tragen, pressing the gas pedal to the floor, which makes the car jump up and down the country road. “Though she didn’t escape.”
Fuck. Stress, adrenaline, postdrome, and an empty, nauseous stomach have me feeling like I’m on the verge of passing out.
No. Get it together, Quill. You’re the only chance Piper has. No one else but you is on her side. So get it the fuck together.
I’m very well aware how unlucky my cricket is when the only person on her side is a fucking psychopath.
And Josh.
So basically, just me, because there’s no fucking way Josh could manage to do a single thing.
Maybe having a psychopath on your side is not such a bad thing, after all, because who else would be ready to kill every single person on Earth without batting an eye, just to save you?
“How did she leave the apartment if she didn’t escape?” I question, trying to calm my racing heart.
“Someone took her.”
“Okay.” I take a deep breath to keep myself from slitting his throat in frustration. “Whotook her?”
“The mafia.”
I snort loudly.The mafia. Right. Are we in a fucking Scorsese film now?
Tragen tears his eyes off the road for just a second to look at me. “Youdoknow that before Devil was a thing, the mafia was, don’t you?”
I don’t answer, leaning against my seat, my migraine beatingdown on me, wondering what kind of a fucking shitshow this is.
“The Devil foundersstartedtheir career in the mafia,” continues Tragen. “They quickly rose through the ranks, but they could never hope to be in real positions of leadership, because they weren’t Italian. They weren’t made men. So there were tensions there. And then the underboss Coltello, wanted to kill the capo—Moretti. And then there was Logan Colt.”
“Logan Colt,” I echo.
“Yeah. Logan Colt was the catalyst to the all-out war that completely fractured the mafia, turning the two factions against themselves, allowing Devil to finish the job. The Moretti family was exterminated, and Coltello and his acolytes went into hiding.”
I really couldn’t care less right now, either about Logan or about the mafia, but since I’m in a car waiting helplessly to get to my girl, I guess I’ll bite. “Why was Logan the catalyst?”
“Because he fell in love with the capo’s son’s wife. The don’s son was Carmelo, and he was an abusive prick who raped a girl named Lia. She was the daughter of a made man, and she fell pregnant, so she was forced into marriage with him. She tried to run away with her daughter, and Logan was given the task of hunting them both down. He was madly in love with Lia, and helped raise her daughter until she was four.”
I close my eyes in exhaustion. I literally don’t care. No part of me is capable of experiencing the least emotion, except where it concerns Piper.
“You don’t seem very affected by my story,” observes Tragen.
“I really don’t see why I should care about your little mafia sob story. My mind is kind of elsewhere.”
“Don’t you understand?” snaps Tragen. “That daughterisPiper.”
I blink open my eyes and stare at him in confusion. “What daughter?”
“Didn’t you listen to a single thing I’ve just said?” he fumes. “The girl who was raped by the capo’s son. The girl whom Logan was in love with. She had a daughter. And that daughter is Piper.”
I rub my eyes, utterly lost. “I don’t understand. Piper… Piper has parents. Orhad. She never spoke to me about any of this. Anyway, her early years were spent in California, and…”
“Have you ever heard of a thing calledadoptive parents?” thunders Tragen. “Or of witness protection? Piper Day—AKA, Aurora Moretti—was handed off to Laura Day by Logan Colt after her mother died, to keep her safe. Until very recently, we all believed her to be dead. Now that we know she’s not…”
“She’s in a lot of danger,” I suddenly realize, as my mind finally manages to wrap itself around Tragen’s words. “You said there were factions in the mafia. And she’s the last living member of the capo’s family. So Coltello must want her dead. Her legitimacy in the mafia also makes her a target for Devil. Maybe Logan isn’t strong enough to protect her from the others. And you…” I turn slowly to him. “What do you want?”
Instead of answering, he smiles proudly. “Finally thinking with your head, I see.”
“What do you want?” I insist, my lungs feeling like they’re being strangled by my heart.
