The Pawn novel · Chapter 16 of 24

Chapter 16: Only Tea

Nerina's POV

The lab called the summer house at nine the next morning, and Pellegrino took it standing in the hall in his socks.

He listened and said "thank you" twice.

When he hung up, he did not say anything for a moment.

Then he turned and opened his arms, and I stayed where I was, with my back against the kitchen counter.

"Ninety-nine point nine," he said. "You are my daughter. It's written down now."

"I know."

"Does it help, to have it written?"

"No."

He nodded as if I had answered a different question.

"Sit with me, then. I'll make tea."

I sat.

Lucio had walked me back up the lane last night and told the driver I had gone out to look at the ice.

The driver had not believed it, and had told Pellegrino he did not believe it.

I could see that Pellegrino did not mention the lane.

He set the kettle on, took down two cups, and put the sugar bowl in front of me before I asked.

I put my left hand under the table and pressed my thumb to the inside of my wrist.

It was only to steady myself.

"Cosimo burned a trucking yard in Cicero last night," Pellegrino said. "And a laundry."

"A bank manager is looking for a new line of work. He is a thorough boy."

"He's not a boy."

"He is thirty-six. To me he is a boy I watched grow up from across a table."

He poured, gently.

"You think I am a monster, Nerina."

"I think you took me out of a church."

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