"You like it, don't you?"
"What?" I managed to breathe.
"The fear, Miss Night," he mused, "you crave it."
_______________________________________
Sabina Night owes Antonio Marafi her life.
But when he asks her to spy on the Russo crime family, Sabin...
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Despite Marafi's rapidly approaching deadline to meet, I seemed to have nothing but time during my days. Gio had covered my shifts at the club and ensured that anything I could've needed or wanted would be delivered to me.
He and Audrey swapped shifts of watching and taking care of me. The two of them had taken the doctor's orders far too literally and never took their eyes off of me. The two of them also had taken to ignoring me when I told them that they didn't need to constantly watch me and ignoring me when I tried to convince them that I was feeling better.
Which is why I was relieved that Cass was the one who came to watch over me for the few hours that Gio had to step away to work. Marafi's deadline was tomorrow and I'd already formed a plan to meet him. Gio would be pissed, of course, but I wasn't altogether sure that I would be leaving the meeting alive anyways so maybe I wouldn't have to experience his wrath. His betrayal.
Cass was a nice change of pace from the two of them in that he left me to my own devices. I hadn't completely healed, not by far, but the pain was now a constant ache rather than sharp and needling in my side. I was, contrary to the views of my two constant caregivers, more than capable of cooking meals for myself and showering alone. Fortunately, Cass was not as overbearing.
"So," I began casually, stirring the vegetables on the stove. Cass' head peaked up from the book he was reading. "You and my sister... what's up with that?"
He rolled his eyes, shifting in the chair and looking back down at his book. "Nothing."
"Yeah. Why is that?" I asked. "You bothered me about it and now you're just... what? Content to not even try?"
"I didn't— it doesn't matter. It's none of your business."
He seemed to have answered despite himself and after his response seemed disappointed that I'd tricked him into engaging with me.
"You're the one that made it my business," I pointed out.
"No, I—" he seemed to think better of it again. "It doesn't matter. She made the choice."
"And that's good enough for you?"
He glared at me. "You're asking me to disrespect your sister's choice?"
"I'm not telling you anything." I shrugged. "I just think it's a lot of time and effort wasted for you to just give up now. Maybe I think it wouldn't be so terrible if you looked out for her. Kept an eye on her just in case."
The two of us went back to the silence as he ruminated on my words. I'd been protecting Audrey for so long that my instincts were shouting at me to make sure Cass never looked at her again. But if, for some reason, I wasn't around to protect her anymore... well, maybe Cass could do a better job than I had done. He seemed willing enough if his sour mood at the topic was any indication.
