Page 77 of Dishonored

His grip on her face tightened a bit, and she winced. A bit of glass from the shattering windows had left scrapes on her right cheek, and a small cut on the back of her left hand. Nothing that was terrible, but it didn’t feel good when he was pushing on it.

“Be easy,” she returned.

Raffe loosened up. “Sorry. I was worried about you, bambola.”

She had all she could do not to cringe when he called her a doll.

“They didn’t say who died,” he continued, “and I didn’t know …”

He sounded genuinely hurt—scared, even. It was such a bright contrast to the way he treated her. Apparently, it was only okay to hurt her as long as it was him who did it. And of course, he could justify it.

Ah.

So, he could be easy.

He could be sweet.

Aria no longer cared.

“I’m fine,” she said.

That had been the point, after all.

She would like to get back into her dress—even if it was bloodstained—and get home to take a shower. As much as she had wanted Giovanna dead, she didn’t feel like using spatters of the woman’s blood on her face and arms as a facial mask, or anything of the sort. Having blood on her hands was only good in the proverbial sense.

“Barely,” Raffe grumbled, shooting a dark look over his shoulder.

In the corner, Nico stayed quiet and unmoving. He watched the exchange with a cold eye, but never stepped in or spoke up.

As was his job.

Raffe didn’t want to hear the man speak—he only wanted him to follow orders when he was given them. Nothing more, and nothing less.

“And where were you?” Raffe asked Nico.

“Inside.”

Lies.

He’d been behind the trigger.

“As you told me to be,” Nico returned.

“I didn’t see your car when I pulled up.”

“Because I parked it around back.”

Raffe’s gaze narrowed, and Aria knew she needed to figure out a way to divert his attention back to her, and fast. “Had she been hurt, it would have been your head.”

“She is fine, Raffe. She is smart and quick. She knows what to do in a bad situation which was exactly what she did.”

Yes, that.

She gave Nico a subtle nod, but he didn’t return it. He couldn’t with Raffe’s gaze currently nailing him to the wall, and looking for any sign of a lie.

“I guess there’s a reason why the Accardo family didn’t call for that meeting,” Aria said.

That did it.