Page 138 of Killer Kiss

His support silent but strong, his face stony with anger on my behalf.

She laughed bitterly. “Go then. Go live in Saint View with your slut of a boyfriend. See how quick you get sick of slumming it. Or do you think you can live off his brother’s money too? That didn’t work out too well for his parents, did it?”

I blinked in confusion. I didn’t understand what that meant.

But Augie stepped forward, a low growl in his voice. “What?”

My mother, every ounce of her nasty black heart rising to the surface was more than happy to fill Augie in. “Such a good thing you’re handsome because you clearly aren’t smart. Your parents were the ones who put the hit out on you and Banjo. I suggested that killing Banjo would be enough for them to make a claim on the money and other assets his wife’s aunt left him when she went to jail. But your mom insisted that Banjo loved you and if he had a will, it was you he would have taken care of in it.”

Augie frowned. “You’re wrong. He would have taken care of his daughter.”

Mom rolled her eyes. “If she’d been a threat, she would have been on the hit list too. Your brother’s family is already taken care of through Lacey’s assets. We checked into it. The only person in Banjo’s will is you. If something happened to him, you’d be in the money. If something happened to both of you, however, especially because you don’t have a will or a wife or any dependents…”

“His parents might have had a case,” I concluded, sick to my stomach for Augie. I knew his family history was rocky at best and that he’d been estranged from their parents for most of his adult life. But this still had to hurt.

Augie shook his head. “They have no money to hire someone. Or even the contacts…”

Mom shrugged. “Your mom is my favorite waitress at my favorite café. And I looked stupid when Riddick came to me and said he wanted to start doing jobs with Ophelia. I didn’t want to say I had none. So I took the job, no cash up front. We would have claimed it back once they got their payout.”

Which meant she could still make money from Augie’s death.

Scythe seemed to have the same idea.

His fingers shot out and grasped my mother’s neck, tilting her head to one side so dangerously far it seemed it might snap at any second. “You already ruined Fawn’s life,” he said deathly quietly, the complete blackness of his dark side unleashed. “You will not ruin Ophelia’s. Or mine. You touch so much as a hair on Banjo, Augie, or any of my family, you’ll be sorry.”

Mom, despite the surely uncomfortable position she was in, tapped my brother on the hand.

He released his hold enough that she could talk.

She swallowed hard. “You’ve made your point clear, Son. You can keep your house. You’re the alpha.”

Scythe switched back to his playful smart-assy. “Should I get a nametag for my collar? Should I start howling at full moons? Awoooo!”

We all ignored him, well used to his brand of crazy. I stared at my mother. I needed to hear her say it. To hear her let me go.

She didn’t say anything. But eventually, she sighed and gave me the tiniest of nods.

It was the least she could do after a lifetime of torture.

A part of me suspected I’d never truly be free, but for now, it felt like a release. A burden of weight lifted from my shoulders, disappearing into the sunset.

Augie wrapped his arm around mine and drew me in, his lips to my ear. “Let’s go home.”

Home might have been cheap housing in the worst area of Saint View, but words had never sounded sweeter.

38

AUGIE

Banjo walked slowly across the park, his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. He had a beanie pulled low, which I suspected probably hid the bandages he would have needed after his run-in with Riddick.

He stopped in front of me, practically reeking of sadness.

“Show me,” I demanded.

He didn’t have to ask what I was talking about. He took his hands from his pockets. Both were fat with bandages.

I grimaced. “What did your surgeon say?”

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