“As someone who hasn’t thought twice about throwing people out of their homes in the name of the almighty dollar, I figure you need every gram of that weed to numb your conscience. Assuming you have one to begin with.”
He looks at me then. Those piercing cold eyes spear into mine with such intensity I can barely suppress the urge to take a step back. Has anyone ever dared to speak to Ruffo as I just did?
“I’m afraid I haven’t, Little Iris.” A dangerous glint flashes in those blue depths. “And evicting people from their homes is probably one of my least heinous sins.”
I look away. “No wonder you do drugs.”
“Drugs. Medicine. If it works, what’s the difference?”
“Doesthatwork for you?” I nod toward the joint in his hand.
“I always hope it will, but it never does. It doesn’t matter, though. Seems I’ve found something else that does the trick. A very special drug indeed.” He tosses the butt and crushes it beneath the sole of his shoe.
“Right. Well, for your sake, I hope it’s not something nasty like coke or heroin. I hear that stuff is seriously addictive.” MyGod, I can’t believe I’m having this conversation. With Adriano Ruffo, no less!
Even in the shadows, I catch a trace of a smile on his face.
“As it happens,it ismuch more addictive than coke.” His gravelly rasp sends shivers down my spine.
“Then you should consider giving it up before it’s too late.”
His lips curve another notch upward, and it makes him look a thousand times hotter. And wicked, at the same time.
“I’m afraid it already is, Little Iris.” He sticks his hands in his pockets. “Why do you care so much about some random people being evicted? They’ve been offered relocation to other places. Way better ones than the dump where they are now.”
“You might think it’s a dump, but to them, it’s their home. A place where many have lived most of their lives. Where they fell in love, raised their children. It’s not fair what you’re doing without ever talking to them.”
“Life is rarely fair.” He tilts his head. “Loved your placard, by the way. Very eloquent.”
My cheeks burn with embarrassment. Even though it’s too dark here to be noticeable, I quickly look away. I might strangle Evelyn for not telling me we’d accidentally switched signs.
“Do you enjoy working for the Spadas?”
I shrug, surprised by the question. “I like what I do. And I enjoy working for Ms. Zara.”
“That’s an interesting way to put it. Does that mean you don’t like working for the don?”
“I never said that.”
His lips twitch, almost like he’s fighting a knowing smile. Am I imagining things?
“Ms. Zara is a good friend,” I rush to add. “I’m glad to finally see her happy with a man who obviously adores her. They are great together.”
“Nice save.” A shadow of a smirk. “But you could have simply lied.”
A thousand wings flap inside my stomach, as they do each time this man is near me. In the maelstrom that’s sweeping through me, the knowledge of what he’s done fades away. Replaced by a sense of wonder. But only for a moment, until reality invades again.
“I don’t lie, Mr. Ruffo, unless I have no choice.”
“Hmm. Take my advice… If anyone other than me ever asks you if you have something against our don—lie.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “But not to you? Why?”
The light turns on in the storage room, spilling through the window and bathing Ruffo’s left side. Half of his face is lit by the yellow glow. The other, shrouded in night’s embrace. Two sides. One dark, one light. Which one is true? Which is the impostor?
The answer eludes me now, the same as the first time I saw Ruffo this way, half swallowed by the shadows. Back in Capo Brio’s library. The night this man turned my life upside down.
“Because I don’t like him,” he says, rather flippantly. “Massimo’s got good business sense, I’ll give him that. But I’m concerned his time in prison left him too fucked-up to be the right head ofla Famiglia. Time will tell, I guess.”
