Wartime

Eleni

I flip a page in my textbook, but the words blur in front of my eyes. Dante’s out raiding his only lead on the Russians right now, trying to get any kind of thread that’ll lead us to their boss. I helped clean up at Piacere as long as I could, but eventually, after the week with Mama and the emotional stress, I had to call it a night. I was hoping I’d get in a little studying so I could actually be ready when classes started in a few weeks, instead of waiting until things got crazier and crossing my fingers, but reading is proving harder than I hoped.

Ben, the son of Thano’s capo who saved me during exams, leans into the doorframe. “How’s it going?”

“Like shit.” I lean back in my chair. “Thanks for taking me home anyway. At least this way I’m not doing a shit job with broken glass.”

He chuckles. “It’s my job, somehow. Heard you’re leaving school, though. Going all in on the life?”

“Going to the Tandon Institute, actually.” I close my textbook and hold it up so he can see the ver