Winnie had never been walked anywhere like she was evidence.
Sivio: Keep moving. Don't make a scene.
Winnie: I'm not the one with a death grip on my elbow.
Carlo: She should lose the phone. And a couple fingers. Dumb bitch.
Carlo's mouth was faster than his brain, which was saying something.
Sivio: Say that again, Carlo, and I'll let Sandro break your jaw.
Winnie: Fuck. Thanks. I think.
Sivio: Don't thank me. You're still a problem.
Winnie: That's fair. I'm a big problem in work boots.
Winnie stopped at the exit because Sandro had Tater under one arm.
Winnie: Careful. He bites.
Sandro: He already did. Little bastard.
Sivio: Get in, Winnie.
Winnie: Is this the part where I disappear?
Sivio: If I wanted you gone, you'd already be gone. Get in.
The back seat smelled like leather and his cologne.
Sivio: Your livestream. How many people saw my face?
Winnie: Twelve hundred, maybe more. I didn't check before your goon grabbed me.
Winnie: I killed it when your man was feeling me up.
Sandro: I was checking for weapons.
Winnie: Did you find any, or just get a free feel?
Sivio: Enough.
His voice went flat, and the car got quiet in a way that made her skin prickle.
Sivio: The Vasari family watches everything. Tullio had men on that stream.
Sivio: They saw your face. Clear enough to find.
Winnie: Find me for what? I didn't see anything. Just a guy bleeding and a jerk in a suit.
Sivio: You saw me. That's enough.
Sivio: You can't go home.
Winnie: Excuse me? I have a dog, a shitty apartment, and a boss who will fire me.
Sivio: Better fired than dead.
Winnie: That's dramatic. I'll go to the cops.
Sivio: Cops don't touch Vasari. They don't touch me.
Winnie: So I'm supposed to trust the guy who had a man bleeding on his floor?
Sivio: No. Believe this. I don't want a loose witness.
His knee pressed against hers, and neither of them moved away.
Winnie: That's not comforting.
Sivio: You held that phone like a weapon. That was smart.
Winnie: I was scared shitless.
Sivio: Smart people usually are.
Winnie: So what now? You lock me in a basement until I forget your face?
Sivio: I don't keep people in basements.
Winnie: That is not a no.
Sivio: The plan is you stay close to me.
Winnie: That sounds like a threat and a pickup line.
Sivio: It's both.
Sivio: You're not going home tonight. If you run, I'll find you before they do.
Winnie: That's the worst pep talk I've ever had.
The car pulled away from the curb, and her old life got smaller in the window.