Page 88 of Sing For Us

I should keep this information to myself.

Not because my team, or Lana, isn’t capable of invading that neighborhood; no, the reason is much more selfless. Marijin Kutak is crawling with Dario’s best men, as he doesn’t hire women–the misogynistic asshole.

I decide I must invade that space myself so nobody will die.

If I die, it’ll only be me. They can live without me, but I can’t live without them.

They aren’t disposable; I am.

To not seem like I’m scheming, I butt into the conversation.

“Lana, you mentioned an Italian restaurant.”

She turns to me. “Yes. Casa Nostra.”

One disbelieving exhale turns into a rough chuckle. My head drops, one hand covering my mouth as I can’t stop laughing.

My heartbeat pounds in my ears, my jaw flexes, and my hands curl into fists before relaxing again. For the first time in years, revenge isn’t a fantasy.

It’s sweet and real.

“Why are you smiling? Is it because of that lovely lady next to you?” Oliver winks at me. That prompts Hana to nudge him in his side and give him a menacing look.

“Leave them alone, you idiot.”

“Don’t worry. No one can replace you, sweet Hana.” Is my best friend flirting with my cousin? What the fuck is going on?

“You were saying, Noa?” Sara snaps at me and emphasizes my name. As if to distract me from the scene happening right in front of my eyes.

Chapter thirty-one

Noa

“Yeah, anyways.” I finally snap out of conspicuous gaze. “We should attack Casa Nostra.”

“What does that restaurant mean to Dario?” I can always count on Hana to ask insightful questions.

“My father used that restaurant for shady business practices. Only he and a handful of people knew about it—I didn’t.”

“And you found out about it how?” Sara asks me.

“It was a week before he disappeared. I was ready to kill him because he sent me on that mission to Emma.”

“Who’s Emma?” Lana asks, and I realize my mistake.

She doesn’t know about Emma.

I purse my lips together and forget to breathe. I've never felt such a strong internal conflict between doing the right thing and being honest. Lana notices that I’m hesitating about telling her and drops it by slowly nodding her head.

I exhale in relief.

“Anyway, stalking him turned out to bring me a wealth of information. Instead of barging in and killing everyone, I overheard them—Dario, Evan, and Lucas.”

“Lucas,” Adam growls, and his body reacts viscerally at the sound of that name. His jaw is shut tight and his eyes narrow to one point on the floor.

Lucas is the second left-hand man of Dario, and he has always been a thorn in Adam’s side. My oldest friend had two problems with him: how he talked about women and that he was a better sniper than he was. That little bitch thought of himself as an alpha male and that women could never be as strong as him. In truth, he was the epitome of a raging incel. He would have rather died than fight a woman.

And that made Adam mad.