“Your cousin,” Carina finished for him. “We’re cousins. First cousins, apparently. So I get to stay. Family privilege.”
“And your friend?” Lola finally acknowledged the rest of them. “Brianna?”
Brianna nodded. “That’s right.”
“Okay.” Lola looked back to Nova. “We should discuss this privately.”
“No, whatever you have to say, you can share it with the whole table,” Carlo growled.
“We’re staying,” Carina added. “We had to wait four hours for you. Four hours that my brother is out there somewhere. Four hours is a long fucking time. Motherfuckers die a lot quicker than that.”
“We are very out of time,” Nova agreed, but he glanced at Carina. “But—”
“Why is everyone looking at me?” Carina snapped at the entire table. “I’m not his girlfriend. I don’t care what he did.” She pointed at Lola. “I’m not your girlfriend either. So start talking.”
“When did Tino disappear?” Lola asked.
“He never came home last night,” Nova whispered. “I thought he was at dance practice, but Brianna told me he hasn’t been to dance since—”
“Since your fight.” Lola nodded. “I understand.”
“Do you know who he could’ve been with?” Nova asked hopefully.
Lola looked across the table at Carlo, before she shrugged. “Tino and I don’t share our schedules with each other.”
“But—” Nova pressed.
“I know some of his clients,” Lola went on. “I can’t tell you who they are, though.”
“Why the fuck not?” Carlo snapped.
“You’re asking me to share the names of people who shop the underground sex market,” Lola said with a hard glare at Carlo. “Very bad things happen to products who do that.”
“Products,” Carlo repeated in horror.
“Products,” Lola confirmed. “Slaves.” She shrugged and looked at Carlo and said with a crack in her voice, “A troia who doesn’t get paid.”
“You’re not a product,” Nova cut in, because Carlo was looking at her completely speechless, stunned silent and horrified. Nova reached over and grasped Lola’s wrist softly, forcing her attention to him. He looked her in the eye and said, “You matter, Lola. I’m not just saying that.I mean it.”
She smiled, her light eyes glassy under the fluorescent light. “Grazie.”
“To me you matter,” Nova went on as tears rolled down his cheeks without warning. “Please help me find my brother, and I swear to God I will do anything in my power to help you.”
“You can’t help me.” She gave Nova a sad smile. “I was born a product, but I know your brother wasn’t. I always hoped that meant there was an end for him.”
“How do you know him?” Brianna asked, unable to taper the hitch of pain in her voice.
“We work together sometimes,” Lola said cryptically, giving Brianna a hesitant look. “He talks about you a lot, you know?”
Brianna pulled back, feeling the tears roll down her cheeks too.
Her emotions were shattered in a thousand different directions, but hearing that from this woman, something about it struck her as unbelievably honest.
“How do you work together?” Nova went on. “I don’t know what you know about me, but sometimes just talking and giving me information, any information, can help me piece things together. Just tell me everything you know about Tino, and maybe I can figure it out.”
“I’ve heard about you. I know you have a gift.” Lola looked to Carlo one more time before she sighed with defeat. “I met Tino the first time a few years ago. They wanted us paired together for certain parties. Elite parties. They’re sort of an open house where buyers can shop for highline slaves. He wasn’t born into it, but he was valuable like I am, and they felt we complemented each other.”
“Why are you valuable?” Nova asked, and then tilted his head and looked at her. “Besides the obvious.”
