Mano looked away, sighing and blinking fast. “You said you wouldn’t ask questions.”
“Sorry.” Ody backed off.
Still, curiosity twisted in his chest. What did the tattoos mean? The wings. The cross. The ankh. It all pointed to something Mano clearly didn’t want to share.
His eyes dropped to Mano’s neck, lingering on the silver cross resting against his black shirt. “How’s the clasp? Can you open it?” he asked.
“What clasp?”
“The chain’s,” Ody clarified, pointing.
Mano touched the cross on the shirt. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean?”
“I haven’t touched it since then.”
“You never take it off?”
Mano shook his head once. “Enough. Either say something else or don’t talk,” he snapped.
Ody swallowed and checked his phone to give Mano space. After a few seconds, something came to mind. “Have you spoken to Stella? Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. Kash, on the other hand…”
“What?” Ody leaned forward, concerned.
“He told her he could gather twice as many people, and if he catches me with her he’ll crush me.” He let out a mocking laugh.
“What?”
“Relax. He won’t do anything,” Mano said, meeting Ody’s eyes with complete calm.
“How can you be so sure?” Ody asked.
“It’s so obvious you’re a good guy,” Mano replied, then added, “Once they saw I could round up twelve people, they got the message. They won’t risk it.”
“And how do you know I’m a good guy?” Ody asked with a frown.
“Good guys don’t know these things.”
“And you’re a bad guy?” Ody raised an eyebrow.
“They usually call me an asshole, but isn’t that the same?”
“You’re not an asshole,” Ody said instantly.
Mano gave a sarcastic smirk and looked away. “Have you seen enough to know?”
“Lately, yeah,” Ody said. “And you’re nothing like Kash and the others.”
Mano’s smirk faded, his eyes dropping for a second before meeting Ody’s again. They held each other’s gaze until the waiter approached with their food. “Here you go.”
“Thank you,” Ody said as he split the chopsticks apart.
Mano frowned. “He didn’t bring a fork.”
“A fork?” Ody looked physically offended.
