Scratch that, I know he wouldn't care.
"Take a seat," he says, pointing at the chair sitting in front of his desk.
Enzo closes the door before moving to stand behind Giovanni, just up to the side. He folds his arms in front of him, his legs spread slightly. His gaze is aimed at the door and something about his posture tells me this is a common stance for him.
I pull my gaze away from him, nervously moving over to the chair and sitting down. I intertwine my fingers together to keep them fidgeting but I have a hard time not bouncing my knee as Giovanni stares at me.
"Have you made any progress?" he asks.
I think about my conversation with Amarie. Maybe it makes me an idiot, but I believe her when she says she’s not the dealer. I meet Giovanni’s eyes. "No."
He lets out a sigh before sitting up straighter in his seat and I have the thought that this the most emotion I've seen him show other than at the party when he was relaxed.
"Winter," he says my name like it hurts him. "I don't know if I've made myself clear enough, but if I wanted this to go slowly, I wouldn't have even bothered bringing you in."
Which is why you shouldn't have brought me in! I'm not a fucking spy!
I was a fucking gas station clerk before coming here, so I've never been able to figure out what he expected when he pulled me into this deal. It certainly couldn't have been for me to walk right in the club and go 'here is your man' after looking over the staff.
"I'm trying."
"Not hard enough." His words are sharp. He scoots forward in his seat, leaning in my direction as his eyes hold mine. "The longer you take, the more money I lose. And as long as the culprit thinks I'm not onto them, the more they'll start to try to move into more territories of mine."
I don't have a response to give him. Anything that I say, he'll have some cutting reply to. And frankly what is there to say?
"How do you think Richard is doing?" he asks suddenly, leaning back in his seat.
My gaze snaps up and discomfort moves through my body. I've tried not to think about my brother because when I do there's an overwhelming amount of guilt and hurt that war within me. And there's also a slight fear that he's already gone out and overdosed after I made a deal to save him. I know he's no longer allowed to get anything from The Costa Family, but there's many more dealers in town who he can run to.
And if he dies, I won't even know until I leave this hell hole.
"I... I don't know."
"Well I do." Giovanni doesn't offer any more, but the morsel is hanging right in front of me and we both know it.
I squeeze my eyes closed, an itching sensation taking over the back of my neck as my eyes burn. I finally open my eyes, meeting Giovanni's gaze. "How is he?" I ask.
His lips tilt up and as a cruel smile overtakes his face, he looks just like Maximo. Except where Maximo's eyes light up when he's being malicious, there's nothing there in Giovanni's eyes.
And that's even scarier.
"He's been running to any dealer he can find," he says. "He was shooting up before you even laid your head down the first night here. I guess big brother didn't try to get clean like he said he would."
It's not a surprise. But it still hurts. I gave up my life for his and yet he's still wasting it.
"He's still alive for now," Giovanni continues. "But it's only a matter of time before he gets a hold of something laced with a substance that can kill him."
Dread washes over me.
My throat tightens up and a pang shoots through my chest as Giovanni continues to smile. The threat is achingly clear.
He shrugs his shoulders, rubbing a hand along his jaw. "Or he could overdose in a back alleyway. He'll probably be there for days before anyone who's sober wanders upon him, and then they'll mark him as a john doe. Most junkies only carry enough cash on them for their next high and nothing else, including identification."
The room starts to spin and the pain in my chest worsens. I try to inhale a breath but it takes me multiple tries.
Giovanni stands up, leaning over his desk until he's almost nose to nose with me. "Do you understand what I'm saying to you, Winter?"
Words refuse to pass my lips so I give him a sharp nod instead.
"Good. Now find my rat."