Taking the Reins

Eleni

I sit on the floor outside Dante’s office, listening to Tony bellow inside. Dante warned me this was going to happen. After his call with Thano Coppola, who turned out to be the head of a New Jersey outfit he’d been working with, he took my hands and told me he heard me, he understood, but he needed to tell Tony what happened first.

At the time, that made sense to me. Seb is his brother. I feel sick to my stomach, thinking about his smile in whatever nightmare of a place they’ve got him in, just because I wanted to take my finals. But I didn’t expect the “telling Tony” stage to involve me sitting outside while the two of them figured out what to do, loud enough that I could hear them shouting but not loud enough to make out any specific words. I drop my head back against the wall and try not to groan.

Gianna pokes her head into the hallway and looks from me to the door. “What’s going on?”

“They’re…Seb…I….” I shake my head, feeling helpless.

“Right.” Gianna sits next to me, sipp