“You could’ve called, you know.”
He doesn’t smile. “Start talking.”
“My name is Grace. I’m dating—”
“No,” he snaps angrily, leaning forward again. “Don’t feed me that bullshit. Tell me the truth. Tell me about Riley.”
My heart’s in my throat and I think I might puke. I’m shivering from the cold and I desperately wish Calvino were here so he could hold my hand.
“Riley is my cousin,” I say slowly and decide I can’t avoid this, so I might as well tell him some of the truth. “She’s dead.”
“That’s right,” he says, calming somewhat. “Riley is dead.”
“She was dating a guy named Louie. Someone if your organization. I came out here to find him and kill him and get my revenge for Riley. That’s the truth.”
He lets out a soft laugh and shakes his head, looking truly bewildered. “Does Calvino know?”
“Most of it.”
“And yet he brought you around anyway. Fascinating. What was he thinking?”
“I’m not sure.” I grind my teeth trying to come up with some way to wiggle out of this, but I don’t think there’s an easy solution. The more I say, the more obvious it’ll be that Calvino had a hand in everything I’ve done so far.
“Here’s the thing I bet you don’t know yet.” Vince pushes back his chair and stands. He walks a few feet away and begins to pace from side to side. I get a good look at my surroundings for the first time: bare stone floor, bare stone walls, with several racks filled with bottles. I’m in a wine cellar, a fancy rich people wine cellar. There’s a drain in the middle of the floor, and I wonder how many people have bled into that over the years.
“I met your cousin,” he says, not looking at me, and I feel like I’m frozen, like I was thrown onto the ice and left to die. “She was a pretty girl, although there are a lot of pretty girls in this town. But still, there was something special about her, although I think you know that already, don’t you? Riley was interesting, and my men didn’t really appreciate her, not really, although I kept her far away from them as much as I could. Still, Louie was a good excuse, a loyal soldier, and smart enough to keep his hands to himself.” Vince stops and looks at me with a deep frown. “Louie didn’t kill your cousin.”
I don’t know what to say. I open my mouth but there are no words, and my fingertips are tingling probably because the blood flow to my hands is cut off. I try to stand, but I don’t have the strength.
He knew Riley. He’s talking like he knew her, truly knew her, not just as some passing girlfriend of a soldier but as an actual person in his life. He knew her and I don’t understand how or why but the fear is so sharp it’s slicing through my insides, tearing me to ribbons.
“How do you know?” I finally manage to get out and my voice sounds like a croak.
Vince doesn’t even look at me. He just keeps pacing back and forth. “There were too many eyes on her and she knew too much. That’s the problem with my family, as soon as you get close, you know too much. Most of the guys, they take loyalty oaths, they follow the old codes of omerta, but Riley? She was just some damn girl trying to survive in a town that wanted nothing more than to smash its jaws down and rip out her throat. I wanted her for one job and one job only, but that was too damn much.”
“Vince. Please. Who killed my cousin?”
He stops pacing and glares. “It doesn’t matter anymore. Why the hell do you need to know? Riley’s fucking gone and she’s not coming back.” He takes a few steps toward me. “What do you want with my family, Grace? Why is Calvino with you? What are you doing here?”
I feel desperate, my heart racing, my mouth dry, and I’m so tired I can barely speak, but Vince knows who really killed Riley. He seems to know and I need him to tell me, otherwise my entire life’s been worthless, my entire existence has been for nothing. Even if I’m going to die soon, at least I can die knowing the truth. He said he needed her for a job, but Riley didn’t mention working with anyone, only that she was dating Louie. Vince thinks that was a lie, a cover, a front for something else, but god, what?
What did you get yourself into Riley?
Don’t worry about me, girlie, worry about yourself. Riley’s voice in my head. Always there, always teasing.
But before I can beg, his phone starts ringing. He walks away, down a short hall, and answers. I hear only a slight murmur as he talks to someone on the other end and reappears after a short conversation.