Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 77205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
I knew that move.
And it only confirmed my suspicions further. Since the only other people who made sure their eyes were on the exits were cops and former military. And nothing about Silvano Costa screamed either of those things to me.
“What?” Silvano asked, making me realize I’d been staring at him.
“Nothing. This place is really nice,” I said, glancing around. “Are there really only twelve tables?” I asked.
“No. Not anymore. But when it opened, yeah. They try to crush people in these days. New York City rent prices, I guess,” he said, glancing at his menu. “Wine?” he asked.
“Sure,” I agreed.
“Any preference?”
“I’m really no judge. I buy the stuff I can get at Trader Joe’s,” I admitted, getting a head shake out of him as he ordered a fancy-sounding bottle as soon as the server stepped up to the table.
“So, how does this city compared to the ones you’re used to?”
“I mean, I’ve barely seen any of it,” I said. “But I think New York is the city most other cities aspire to be, right? Have you always been here?”
“My whole life,” he agreed, nodding. “Got a lot of family here.”
“Oh, that’s nice.”
“You got any family?”
“No. I mean, yes, I have one uncle. But we have never been close. He had a stroke a while back and ended up paralyzed, so he’s in a home. And there’s… there’s no one else,” I said, hearing the catch in my voice, feeling the sting in my eyes.
I’d been doing my grieving in private.
What other choice did I have?
After Silvano would wrap up my cast, I would escape into the shower, and let the tears come, spilling down my cheeks, keeping my lips pressed tight to fight back my cries.
If I came out a little red in the face or eyes, I could blame the hot water and shampoo in my eyes.
“Explains why you were all alone in the woods,” he said. “You’d have to have a pretty shitty fucking family to let you hide out there without protection,” he said, then fell silent for a moment while the server poured the wine.
“I’ll give you a moment to look over the menu,” he said, sensing we didn’t want to be interrupted yet.
“Thanks,” Silvano said, barely giving him a nod before pinning me.
“Is that why you wanted to take me to a restaurant?” I asked. “So you can question me without me throwing a fit?”
“You gonna throw a fit?” he asked, brow raised.
“No.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
A small snort escaped me, but I shook my head as my fingers slid up and down the stem of the wineglass.
“The fuck did you get your—“ he started.
“How do you think I got tracked down?” I asked, cutting him off, wanting to swerve the conversation away from too personal of questions without completely changing the subject.
“Your car,” he said, shrugging.
“My car?” I asked, brows pinching. “Like from traffic cameras?”
“I mean, maybe. But only if someone had a lot of time on their hands to do that shit. No. You got a newer car, right? Can sync to your phone and shit?”
“Ah, yeah.”
“Got a map built in?”
“Yes. But I didn’t use that,” I insisted.
“Doesn’t matter. That kind of car has GPS. And if you know what you’re looking for and what you’re doing, it’s easy enough to find a car.”
“Oh,” I said, deflating.
I never would have considered that.
But also, the next thought that crossed my mind was his car. The one he’d brought me back to the city in. It had been old. Old enough that the radio was just push buttons, not a touch screen or anything like that.
“There’s no way for anyone to track you here,” Silvano said. “The last trace of you anywhere was the fake doctor visit in South Jersey. Even if someone suspected you came this way, it’s fucking impossible to track someone down in the city if you don’t know associates or have some sort of digital footprint.”
“Right,” I agreed, trying to relax.
I guess being in his apartment had given me a sense of total security that I didn’t feel outside of it.
Maybe that was misplaced. It was just your average apartment building. No fancy security to try to get past. But when I was there, he usually was too. And something about him said that I could trust him with my safety.
Out in the open, though, I felt more exposed, wondered if someone could sneak up and snatch me, or shoot me from afar.
“You gonna look at the menu?” Silvano asked, making me open it and start glancing at the options, glad to have a different focus.
As soon as we placed our orders, I decided to take control of the conversation, not wanting to talk about me and what led me into the woods.
“Do you have any siblings?” I asked, finally tasting my wine. And, yeah, clearly the guy knew his wine. Even if nothing about him screamed wine connoisseur to me.