Chapter 49
JACE MARINO
We lingered outside. Watching Aiko's building until nightfall. Father hadn't called after returning from his meeting.
I thought he'd explode if we didn't come home today. He'd made it clear. All of us were to be there.
But he's quiet. Unnaturally quiet.
After placing two of our most trusted men on watch, we left.
The night was too quiet on the drive back. The city outside the car windows looked washed out under streetlights, all silver and tired. Marco kept one hand on the wheel and one on the radio, flicking through static. Mateo was half-asleep in the backseat, arms crossed.
None of us said much. What Aiko had told us sat heavy in the car. Her father selling her sister. The betrayal. The way she'd been hiding with that man who looked too soft for this world. It was too much and too close to home.
