“Maybe we could just kill her. You know what they say: the easiest solutions are usually the best ones. Personally, I think Dario had the right idea. Obviously, he’s a coward, so he’ll be too scared to act on it, but if you decide to snap her neck, I don’t think Carmelo will really have a leg to stand on.”
I donotwant to look at Lia right now, but I can’t help but spare her a glance, and my chest grows tight when I notice her expression. She’s grown white as a ghost.
Why am I so fucking soft?
“Or,” drawls on Damien, “we can just tell Carmelo Moretti to fuck off.”
Lia’s eyes widen, and the sudden flicker of hope in her eyes makes me ball my hands into fists.
“The only person I want to tell to fuck off is you,” I growl.
Damien merely shrugs. “Whatever. I’m just saying—”
“Well,stopsaying.”
“I’m only saying,” he continues his maddeningly calm way, as if he can’t tell how badly I’m reeling in the back seat from pain and anger, “is that itisa possibility.”
“It fuckingisn’t,” I hiss out, “so shut the fuck up. The don told us to bring her to him, and that’s what we’re going to fucking do.”
“Okay. Well, I told his goons we’re not going to Idaho. At least, not yet. I called off the plane.”
Lia blinks her eyes in clear confusion as I sit up abruptly.
“What the fuck, man?”
“I thought we’d go on a road trip.”
“What thefuck?”
“Come on, it’ll be fun. A little bit of bonding time. I’ve always wanted to see the Midwest anyway. Heard it’s ugly as fuck. Haveyou ever had ambrosia salad, man? It’s like this fruit salad with mayonnaise. Doesn’t that sound gross? I’ve always wanted to try it.”
“Damien,” I say, my voice strangled from the way I’m trying to control my homicidal rage. “What the hell is Carmelo going to say when he finds out we’re not going?”
“Probably a whole lot of things,” shrugs Damien. “So what?”
“So, are you fucking nuts?” I hiss. “Do you have a death wish or something? Want to piss off the entire family?”
He stifles a yawn. “You know, Logan, if you want to get ahead in life, you have to stop being a patsy.”
“I’m not a fucking patsy,” I growl. “But I also like the idea ofliving.”
He doesn’t answer me, merely shrugging yet again.
“So what exactly is your gameplan?” I snap after a moment. “What are we doing withher?”
I spit out the last word, and have the satisfaction of seeing the flicker of hope in Lia’s eyes die down, replaced by hurt. Though a tightness in my chest has me looking away quickly.
“Well, Damien?”
“Well, I guess that’s up to you,” he says slowly.
“If it’s up to me,” I snarl, “then we’re bringing her back to Carmelo.”
In the reflection of the rear-view mirror, I can tell that Lia’s features have hardened again, and her eyes no longer tell me a thing.
“Got it, man,” says Damien.
“Okay.”
