Page 86 of Sing For Us

I’m also grateful that my mama persuaded me to pursue a college education. That experience changed my life because, first of all, I met Josh and Oliver there. It was also the time of my life—I let go, and the world was at my feet. I wasn’t an assassin; I was a normal young adult. The second thing I acquired during college was a sense of self. I became my own person, and when I returned, that scared the shit out of my father.

People listened to me and came to me for advice, and I think he hated that. He couldn’t physically fight me anymore, so he took it out on my mother. Or, he tried to. When I was in Sarajevo, I stayed at home as much as I could. My mama never left Dario, and I’ll never know the true reason.

Even though I haven’t seen him in years, the remnants of his malice remain.

Time to tell my team what he did and what he got off on.

Chapter thirty

Noa

“What Lana said is unfortunately true. He destroyed everything my mama touched.”

I thought there would be silence, but my team erupts. They all loved my mama and would run through fire for her.

Adam’s reaction is the strongest of them all; he makes Sara stand up so he can start pacing the room. He grabs his sniper rifle and cocks it.

“Tell me where he is, and I’ll shoot him right now.” He’s angry, and I respect that. Even though we grew up surrounded by sadistic bastards and women haters, excluding my mama, we valued what women brought to the table.

They didn’t bring stuff to the table; they were the table.

The most powerful force in the universe.

Adam, Josh, Oliver, and I always believed that if the world were a matriarchy, we would be better off.

Sara calms Adam down by whispering something to him, and he sits back down with her on his lap. He motions for me to continue talking.

“As you all know, my mama loved her flower garden more than anything. It was her prized possession. When I was eighteen years old, Dario pushed me down the stairs. I writhed in pain, and Mama wanted to take me to the hospital.” The memory of that day is etched into my brain, and I close my eyes for just one second.

“Let me guess, he didn’t want your mother to do that?” Oliver asks me.

“He didn’t. He said I had to learn a lesson for talking back to him. Mama brought me anyway. Once we got back from the hospital, we were greeted by horror.”

“No,” Hana whispers as tears sting her eyes. I can only nod.

“He burned down her flower garden, and a faint smell of florals filled the air. My mama crumpled down to the ground and cried her eyes out. He came right up to her and said that she had given him an idea. From that point on, all the bombs we used had a floral scent to them.”

“That fucking bastard.” Josh is right about that.

“I know, right?” I agree with him. “She pleaded with him not to do that because she didn’t want something so ugly associated with a beautiful symbol. He did it anyway.”

“Your mama deserved better.” Lana surprises me by talking to me in that caring tone. After I recollect some awful memories, I don’t have the strength to say anything back, so I give her a weak smile.

“How in the fuck are we ever going to take down a person like that?” Hana raises a good question, and I genuinely don’t know.

“I can help with that.”

Everybody turns to Lana, narrows their eyes, and furrows their brows.

She sits up straight and wets her lips before she speaks. “While talking to my team yesterday about a course of action, one guard let something slip.”

“What?” I ask as I turn my body towards her. Her gaze is hateful, but not geared towards me. It’s a burning seed from deep inside of her—ready to be unleashed.

“I never told my team about the floral scent. I was suspicious about that guard because he behaved oddly, so I baited him. He mentioned the floral scent, and I just knew. Under questioning, he cracked and admitted that one of Dario’s men approached him. That person told him they would kill his family if he didn’t report back to them.”

“That’s how they knew where you and Hana were. And…”

“…where Emin was. Dario is responsible for shooting Emin.”