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“Nicholas, the Greek?”
I nod. “We trust him. The day after Gio and I made the arrangement, he seemed anxious about putting anything on paper. He told me my father’s position in the Order had been leaked and that I should leave. Back then, I thought he’d lost a few marbles, speaking nonsense. I didn’t know what Order he meant or anything.”
“And what do you think now?”
“The man tried to warn me.”
Severio smirks. “About what?”
“You. He was trying to warn me about your arrival.”
“Ah. And what do you think about my arrival?”
I contemplate not telling him the truth, but I get a sense that if I lie, he’ll know. “It’s most unfortunate.”
5
MARKED
CRISTINA
Isecond-guess my decision to tell the truth about how I feel about Severio’s arrival on the island and how it affects my plans, but he seems to be a walking lie detector. Either that or I’m a bad liar. Probably a combination of both.
But my answer doesn’t anger him or affect him in any way. He seems indifferent.
“What did you do with Nicolas, the Greek?” he asks.
“My mom sat him down in the kitchen, gave him a couple of antianxiety meds with a glass of water, and sent him away.”
Severio’s watching me the way a spider watches a pinned butterfly. “The man drove away from your house?”
I nod. “Yes. Why do you ask?”
“He’s dead.”
My hand covers my mouth. Oh no.
“You’re moving,” Gordon reminds me. I totally forgot he was there, the buzzing of the tattoo gun becoming background noise for Severio, who takes up all my bandwidth.
Severio continues, “I’m sure you can deduce what happened to him and who ordered it or even did it. My uncle enjoys a good kill.”
“I get the impression the same could be said about you.” Huh. I never thought I had a death wish, but maybe I do since I keep answering him in a way he could find displeasing. Luckily for me, Severio cares little about my opinion of his character.
“Mmhm,” he agrees. “You’d be wise to remember that since your father didn’t have a position in the Order, and neither did you until tonight.”
I’m afraid to ask about my position in the Order. I’m sure it’s a punishment of some sort, and I’ve plateaued on the amount of bad news I can handle for the year. While I sip my wine, Severio continues.
“Your family would’ve been well off in the Order. Had you gone through proper channels.”
“It wasn’t my dad’s fault. Gio made it sound like he was authorized to recruit.”
Severio shakes his head. “Your father was an ambitious man.”
“He wouldn’t have left my mom and me penniless.”
“You’re right. That was all Gio, the man you offered yourself to.”
“I didn’t offer?—”
