“Fuck the prosecco. You’ve just told me the guy I’ve been screwing is in the fucking mafia.”
“He might not be in the mafia. But he’s definitely connected.”
I sit there, gawping as memories of my time with Toby flash through my head. How they both just walked into Hades without any issues that night. His custom BMW. His bruises. Even his abusive and controlling father.
“Shit.”
Bri leaves me to my thoughts as she grabs a towel from the kitchen and starts mopping up the mess I made before refilling her glass and dropping back onto the other side of the sofa.
“Does it even matter?”
My lips part to respond, but I quickly realise that I don’t actually have an answer.
“He’s been lying to me,” I say, a frown forming on my brow. “I’ve spent all this time with him, told him all this stuff about my life, and I don’t even know him.”
“I’m not sure that’s true, Jojo. You know him. Just don’t know everything about his family. And, I might not know anything about that life, but I think I understand not advertising it to everyone you meet.”
“On the first night, yeah. Maybe even the second. But… things have been intense between us. Real. Raw. And he never told me. Maybe I’m wrong, but that kinda stings.”
“He’s a good person, Jojo. I’m sure he’s got his reasons. Maybe he thought you might look at him differently if you knew.”
Would I? Does knowing this change anything about the time we’ve spent together?
“Do you think it’s like it is in the movies?” I ask after a few minutes lost in my own head.
“No,” Bri scoffs. “That’s all hyped up. I hardly believe they’re running around the city with guns tucked into their waistbands.”
“They’re probably money laundering and that kinda shit though, right?”
She shrugs. “From what I’ve seen, the Family has a lot of legitimate business all over the city, and beyond. Their reach is quite impressive. They’re powerful men, Jojo.”
“How do you know all of this?”
“Google, duh.”
“Did you know who Nico was that first night?”
“No. I just thought they were wealthy guys out for a good time. I mean, I assumed they had some connections based on the fact that we walked into Hades without anyone batting an eyelid. But I didn’t have a clue a Greek mafia even existed, let alone that they were living on our doorstep.”
“MCs, mafia families… are you sure this is real life?” I ask.
“Don’t forget the Wolves,” she points out.
I frown at her. “You really have been doing your research, huh?”
“Not really. I just find it all a little fascinating. The school I’m working in encroaches on the Wolves’ territory. I’ve overheard a lot of the kids, boys mostly, talking about them.”
“Hardly surprising. You’ve seen the news recently, right? Someone is stabbed in that estate at least once a week, and they’ve got dealers and hookers lingering on every street corner. It just shows you how deeply in love Sara is with Jesse that she willingly moved in.”
“Well, he was hardly going to move out to her neck of the woods, was he?”
“What makes you say that?”
“Jodie, have you been living with your head stuck up your arse for the past few years? Jesse is a Wolf. You’ve seen his ink, for Christ’s sake.”
I still, not quite able to compute all this information that clearly I should have known before now. “B-but he’s—”
“A Wolf,” she finishes for me. “Jojo,” she sighs. “You see the good in everyone, and I admire that in you, I really do. But sometimes, a lot of times actually, people aren’t what you think they are.”