CLOSED STARTER: @samburman
LOCATION: barbarella bar
The events that took place at the Mark Hotel had been enough to shake her, but not nearly as much as the revealed truth that came from it. Of course she’d always known that Nikolai was involved in bad business, presumably gang related – she wasn’t daft. The hushed conversations with his colleagues and friends, leaving the house at odd hours of the night, coming home with bruises and bloodstained clothes. She recognized it all from the scenes she’d observed in childhood. People in organizations like that just carried themselves differently; it wasn’t difficult to spot.
Familiarity with shady dealings aside, Ludo felt a general sense of unease had come over her since that night. The Syndicate, as it was apparently known, was no small-time gang – it didn’t even compare to the small mafia families of Bologna. The danger of it all excited her, it always had, but the harsh truth she’d failed to consider was that she didn’t get a free safety pass simply because she was with Nik.
Ludo was ruminating on the situation again as she sat alone at the bar, staring blankly into her drink rather than chatting as she normally would. The face she saw when she finally looked up startled her – it was like he had just appeared right out of her thoughts. “Sam,” she greeted with a note of surprise, signature charming smile slipping into place even though her heart began to hammer. “It’s been ages. How’ve you been?”