“I know,” she said simply and kissed me.
I pulled back. “You won’t be able to sway me, even if part of me wants to do whatever you ask.”
“Shut up,” Dinara murmured.
I allowed her to silence me with her lips. I wasn’t sure what secret Remo would reveal about Dinara. I hoped it wouldn’t make me waver, wouldn’t make me want to help her even against Remo. My brother had done some twisted shit in his life, and I feared the thing with Dinara’s mother was another on that list. I often disagreed with what my brothers did but I stood by them. What if Dinara’s secret made that impossible? Maybe that was why Remo had kept the secret to himself, and maybe now that I was closer to Dinara he’d reveal it for the very same reason. To test my loyalty.
My father hated my mother. Every time I brought up her name loathing edged itself into every hard line of his face. He wanted her dead. No, he wanted her to suffer and die. A simple death wasn’t enough for him. As Pakhan he had the means to kill almost anyone, to make their last hours as excruciating as possible, and he certainly didn’t have qualms about it.
But my mother was in Camorra territory, at the very center of it in Las Vegas, under the watchful eyes of none other than the Camorra’s Capo: Remo Falcone.
Remo Falcone was only a distant memory of a young girl and he was what stood between me and my mother. Impossible to bypass, without help. My father wouldn’t help me. Not unless Remo handed him my mother so he could kill her himself. And Adamo?
Maybe Adamo could help, but would he? Using him to get information had been easy, but what I needed from him beyond that….I wasn’t sure if I should even consider asking. But did I have a choice?
This was too important to let emotions get in the way, especially when I wasn’t sure about their extent. Could anything between us even last?
But unlike Adamo I couldn’t let the past rest. It didn’t let me. And not pursuing revenge? Impossible.
The past was my burden.
Sometimes at night the memories were fresh and I woke with the scent of my mother’s sweet perfume in my nose, my skin covered in sweat. I hated those nights, those dreams, that made me feel small and weak, destroying everything I’d worked so hard for.
The past
“Come on, Mandy,” my mother said as she dragged me out of the car and toward a brick building. I didn’t like that name. But maybe it wouldn’t last. My last five names hadn’t. I missed my real name. Ekaterina, or Katinka, how Dad always called me. But it was bad.
“Mandy, hurry!” Her voice was tight with fear. Men had taken us with them, away from the house we’d lived in for weeks now. They had put us into a car and driven us to a place with a big neon sign above its entrance. A woman’s legs flashed in bright colors and between them the words Sugar Trap blinked. I didn’t fight her hold, only trudged after her. I lowered my gaze to the floor how I had been taught when we walked through a bar. It smelled of alcohol and smoke, but above all, of a heavy perfume, even stronger than the one Mom wore. I almost stumbled when we headed down steep steps. But a man with gray eyes caught my arm. He released me and Mom pulled me even closer.
We arrived in a room without windows. Another man waited inside.
He was very tall, with dark hair, and stood with his arms crossed. His expression terrified me. It promised trouble. But I knew that even a smile didn’t mean anything. Pain often followed sweet words and kind smiles. His eyes were almost black and so was his hair. He only briefly looked at me then he narrowed his eyes at Mom and her boyfriend Cody. Cody had a bloody nose. I didn’t know why, but I wasn’t sad. He was a bad man. A different kind of bad than Dad. Worse, even if Mom didn’t see it. Mom hated Dad. She said I needed to hate him too.
“You know who I am?” the tall man asked. His voice was deep and confident.
Mom tightened her hold on my hand. I glanced around. The gray eyed man leaned against the desk, watching me. He didn’t smile or glower. He didn’t do anything, only looked as if he could see below my skin to the dark parts of me. I stared down at my dirty feet in my flip-flops.
“Of course,” Cody said. His voice trembled. My head shot up and I looked at him. I’d never heard that tone from him. He sounded terrified. Sweat glistened on his forehead and he looked about to cry.
“Who am I?” the man asked. He wasn’t very old. His voice was low and calm, but Cody’s face scrunched up.
“You are Remo Falcone.”
“And?”
“Capo of the Camorra.” He swallowed audibly. “I’ve been dealing for you, Sir, for almost six months. But I’m nobody you would know.”
Cody sounded so demure. When he ordered me around, he was always confident and angry. Why was Cody so scared of Remo Falcone? If a man like Cody felt that way, I should be terrified.
“You were supposed to sell crack and weed, but I hear you build a little lucrative side-business with the help of the lady over there. Maybe you thought I wouldn’t notice because I was too busy establishing power.”
Mom’s hand around mine was painful. I’d never heard anyone say the word lady with more disgust.
“What’s your name, woman?”
My mother twitched. “Eden.”
“I’m sure that’s your real name.”
Mom didn’t say anything. Like me she’d had many names in the last few months. “How long have you been doing your side-business in my city?”
Mom looked at Cody.
“I didn’t know what she was doing!” he croaked. “Today was the first time, I found out.”
“What a coincidence that you happen to find out about it the same day we catch you.” Remo nodded toward the gray eyed guy who had set up a laptop in front on the desk and was staring at it. “My brother grabbed a few discs from your place. I assume they won’t prove your words to be false, right?”
Cody paled.
Remo turned to Mom again. “How much money did you make?”
“I—I don’t know. I never got money.”
“You got a roof over your head and enough drugs to forget the past and black out the present too, right?” Remo walked closer to Mom, towering over her and me. “In my city I make the rules, and no one goes against them.”
“I didn’t know,” Mom said. “It was Cody’s idea.”
Cody glared but lowered his head when Remo turned to him.
“How much further does your business reach? Are there others we should know about?”
“No, it was only us.”
“Is he telling the truth, Eden?” Remo asked.
“Y-yes. We only just started.”
“Only just started. Sounds as if you had big business plans without involving the Camorra.”
Mom tugged a strand of her beautiful red hair behind her ear and gave Remo that smile she usually only gave her boyfriends. “I could tell you about the customers. I’m sure you could make so much more money with it. We were never professional. If you and your Camorra organized everything, you could make millions.”
Remo smiled, but it wasn’t a nice smile. “You think so?”
“You should take a look at this,” the other man said. Remo turned and headed toward the desk. He looked at the laptop for a couple of minutes. Silence reigned in the room. The faces of both men didn’t show any emotion as they watched the screen. Remo shoved away from the desk. “Did you sell these videos on the Darknet?”