Page 52 of Revenge Vows

I smile at him. “Do you like it?” I ask.

He forces a smile, and I nod at him briskly.

“What about you, officer?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “I’m not hungry,” he says, then he turns to the men. “You haven’t answered where your other brother is.”

“You know, I keep wondering where I saw you last, and I think it has finally hit me. I saw you down at the casino last week,” I say to the cop.

He looks at me with shifty eyes.

“You must be mistaken,” he says.

“Ahh,” I say, shaking my head. “I am certain that it’s you, sir. I would recognize that beard any day,” I say.

I turn to Antonio. “Babe, you remember him from the casino last week,” I say.

Antonio peers at the cop, who is doing everything to disappear into thin air. “He does look familiar,” Antonio says.

I throw back my head and laugh. “Of course, he is. Who would forget a man who put down ten grand on the spot and lost it? Or was it twenty? My memory fails me,” I say.

The police officer gets up immediately as if stung by a bee. “You are mistaken, ma’am,” he says.

I chuckle. “Come on, nothing to be shy about. I lost a couple of bucks that night, too—”

Another officer appears in the room and whispers something into the ear of the man I’m talking to before disappearing. The officer seated at the table clears his throat.

“It would appear that we have found nothing. Forgive us for the sudden search, and enjoy your day. We might visit again if prompted by a fresh report, but you have nothing to worry about otherwise,” he says, meeting my eyes.

“We have nothing to hide, do we?” I grin and ask the boys, and they shake their heads.

“And as for the last brother, he went to get groceries,” I add. The officer tips his hat before he leaves.

We hold our silence until the sound of sirens is far away from the building.

Antonio and Donatello fall back in their chairs as they start laughing.

Humming a tune, I scoop a huge portion of food onto my plate and eat, unbothered by all the drama. I can feel eyes on me, so I look up, and ‘Tello and Antonio look away immediately.

The door opens, and Bunny runs in, but he stops when he sees me at the table with them. “What’s going on?” he asks, walking up to us. “And why is she here?” he asks.

Donatello stands up very slowly and wipes his mouth. “Thanks for the meal,” he says to me. He walks past Antonio and slides his arm over his other brother’s shoulder.

“The couple needs some alone time,” he says to Bunny.

“What about the cops?” comes Bunny’s voice of protest as Donatello pulls him away.

Antonio gets up and clears his throat.

“Tha—thank you,” he says.

“Why do you sound like you’re having a heart attack?” I ask without looking up. “Are you shocked that a plaything could save your ass?”

“You didn’t have to do that. My brother and I would have figured it out somehow.”

“I’ll tell that to the cops when they come around again,” I retort.

I push my plate aside and get up with clenched fists.

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