“What, you don’t like this?” Lara gestured at herself. “I look hot. Healy boys love it.”
I pushed her shoulder. Not hard, but enough to make her stumble in those stupidly high heels. “You need practical shoes,” I said.
“Dick,” Lara said, and both sisters glared death at me.
I looked out at the other skinny, exhausted, scared-looking girls and wondered if I was making a massive mistake. Giving them weapons and sending them off to die fighting real mafia guys wasn’t going to accomplish anything, and would only get them hurt. These girls couldn’t fight even if they wanted to.
Anna stepped up next to me. “They’re ready,” she said firmly, face set. “I swear. I talked to them, and they’re serious.”
“I don’t know,” I said.
Sasha came next. “I’ll beat the fucking shit out of you if you try to back down now,” she said, glaring at me.
“Big man’s getting cold feet, huh?” Vera asked, grinning wickedly. “Of course, big strong mafia man, scared of some girls in short skirts and high heels.”
“Typical man,” Lara said.
I ignored the sisters. “Willing to fight is one thing, able to fight is another. Half these girls look strung out.”
“What do you expect?” Anna asked. “Half these girls are strung out. And they’ll stay strung out if they don’t fight.”
“Cam.” I looked back at Irene, who stood a few feet away, hands clasped behind her back. She stared at me with a fire in her eyes. “We’re doing this. Don’t back out now.”
I sucked in a breath and let it out. “All right,” I said and looked down at Anna. “You have to teach them. I’ll get you equipment, and you figure out how to teach these girls how to shoot without tipping the Healy family off.”
“I don’t know how the hell we’ll do that,” she said.
“Bring them to the mansion,” Sasha said, waving a hand in the air. “They’ll love it! Sit by the pool, take a little dip, shoot some guns. It’s great.”
“It’s not a bad idea,” Anna said, shrugging. “Nowhere to shoot in the city, not while hiding from the Healys.”
“And how are they going to get out there, assuming the Don allows this?” I asked.
“They get time off to go into town,” Anna said. “Not a lot, but they do. They’ll grab an Uber, act like they’re going into Center City to do some shopping, then grab a cab and take it back out to the mansion. The Healy family doesn’t follow them. The girls know what happens if they don’t come back.”
“Shit,” I said, and looked up at the sky. “I’m going to have to ask Don Valentino if I can train a bunch of hookers how to shoot in his back yard.”
Sasha patted me on the back. “Cheer up. At least they’re hot.”
I shook my head. “For some reason, that doesn’t help.” I turned away and walked back to Irene. “Make the plans,” I said.
“Will do, captain,” Anna said. “Should we start tomorrow?”
I nodded and waved. Sasha caught up with me as I rejoined Irene, and the three of us walked slowly back through the crowds toward my car. “This is never going to work,” I said.
Sasha glared at me. “You set this in motion,” she said. “And now you want to stop it?”
“I don’t want to stop it,” I said, “but you saw those girls back there. Half of them won’t be able to hold a damn gun, let alone kill a man. And now I’m supposed to sneak them out to the Don’s mansion for training.” I shook my head and looked at Irene. “I’m sorry, but we’ve got to find another way.”
Sasha grabbed my arm and held it hard. A group of runners had to split up to get around us. We stood near a tunnel that cut through a hill, and people walked all around, strolling with loved ones, blissfully unaware of the war that was simmering in the city.
“Listen to me,” she said, staring up into my eyes like she wasn’t some little tiny thing. “I’m saying this once. We’re not backing down. You got those girls out here, which means you got their hopes up. You have no clue what that means for them.”
“I know what it’s like to lose hope,” I said, staring back at her.
“No, you don’t,” Irene said, and we both looked at her.
She stared down at the ground for a long moment, fidgeting with her shirt, before meeting my eyes. She looked exhausted and terrified, but her jaw was set, and she took a step closer to me.
“I lost hope out there,” she said. “When I was living day to day, hoping for my next meal, I lost hope. And I’ll tell you right now, I still haven’t gotten it back yet, and I think I’d kill to believe in something, even a little bit.”