43. Leona
LEONA
Leona: Queens, we officially have a new member
Fallon: Is this who I think it is
Willow: Chiara? Is that her?
Chiara: It’s me!
Zoya: Finally. Leona has been talking about you for weeks
Fallon: I hope you are prepared for what you’re getting into, Chiara
Chiara: I’m more than ready to be surrounded by powerful women instead of idiot men
Fallon: Oh, fuck yeah
Fallon: I knew I was going to like her
Zoya: As a Bratva princess with what I’m assuming is a similar upbringing, let me just say that you will enjoy this group
Willow: Lovely to have you with us, Chiara. The Queens are how things get done around here.
Fallon: We have two main discussion topics. How to run the world, and also our incredible sex lives
Chiara: Uh. Really?
Fallon: Well, me and Leona. Willow continues to reject my brother (his name is Colin, you’ll catch on quick). Zoya is still a virgin
Zoya: I may be a virgin, but I know so much now thanks to Fallon’s inappropriate texts and un-asked-for advice
Leona: I don’t talk about my sex life near as much as Fallon does
Ihad filled Chiara in on each of the girls, but seeing them all text back and forth brought a huge smile to my face. The Queens were complete.
Chiara: Do I have to disclose the status of my virginity to be part of the group?
Willow: No
Willow: Definitely not
Willow: And if you do, Fallon will just run with it, so it’s better for all of us if you don’t lol
Fallon: Yes, those are the rules
Willow: No, they’re not
Fallon: I say yes
Chiara: We’ll leave it a mystery for now
Chiara: Maybe if you’re good, I’ll tell you
Fallon: Yeah, I knew I liked her
Leona: Relax
Leona: Try not to scare her away, please
Chiara laughed, dropping the phone on the bed while we both climbed in.
We’d brushed our teeth, made the boys promise to leave us alone, and barricaded ourselves in here for a sleepover.
Fallon and the girls kept bombarding the chat, and the two of us ate popcorn while we groaned at an explicit photo Fallon sent.
“I told you,” I said, shoving a handful into my mouth.
“Yeah, we’re deleting that immediately,” she chuckled. “They’re fun. Thank you.”
“It’s what I wished we could have had when we were girls.”
“Can you imagine?” Chiara giggled. “If our fathers found out we were besties with the Head of the Irish Mob?”
I snorted. My father would have had an aneurysm. “No, but I’m glad we don’t have to find out.”
She grinned, snuggling up under the covers.
I lay down next to her, facing her. We’d eaten some food.
I’d talked to the guys while she took a shower and got cleaned up.
Then I’d had my turn, and now we were winding down.
It was already really late, but that wouldn’t stop us.
We used to stay up all night at sleepovers when we were young.
“Chiara, I need you to do me a favor,” I started.
She gave me a look, tucking her hand under her head. “Well, now I’m suspicious. What kind of favor?”
The best way to get this conversation out of the way was just to ask. “Is it possible for you to get in touch with Lucia?”
Chiara’s eyes widened. “Why? I mean, I guess so, but what for?”
I rolled onto my back. “Well, we need to see if she’d be willing to help us. Or, at least, stop helping her grandfather. It’s hard to keep track of him when she’s clearing the tracks. Do you think she would do that?”
Chiara pursed her lips and stared at her phone, still sitting on top of the covers. “I don’t talk to her very often, and I don’t know her that well.”
“What’s it like when you talk to her?”
“I text her sometimes. We’ve only talked on the phone a few times.
She doesn’t really like her family, so we bonded a little about that, but she wouldn’t tell me much else.
I think she’s usually pretty bored, and that’s why she didn’t mind helping me.
She seems bothered by her grandfather and the fact that he’s here.
She ends up having a weird attitude after him. ”
“If she doesn’t like what her grandfather is doing, then maybe she’ll stop helping him, and we can get the upper hand.”
“That would help you a lot?”
I nodded. “No matter what we do, he seems at least two or three steps ahead. Even when we’re winning on the streets, it’s not making a dent or scaring him off.”
“Okay,” she said, reaching for the phone. “I’ll try.”
I swallowed when she pressed in the numbers and held the phone to her ear. After about thirty seconds, she pulled it down and stared at the screen. “No answer.”
“Try again?”
She nodded. The phone rang and rang, but there was no answer. Chiara shrugged. “I’ll keep trying. If I’m able to get in touch with her and ask, I’ll let you know.”
If Lucia kept covering Greco’s tracks, or if our virus failed to persuade her to help us, we’d have to figure something else out. But there was hope in the news that Lucia might not like her family. We might be able to use that.
I wouldn’t let this go on forever.