Page 70 of Cruel Devil

I use the grip on her neck to move her aside, and she turns and crosses her arms, staring over at Vito. “Why did you go back?”

“She wanted to check the place out,” Vito says. “And I’ll have a hazelnut flat white, thanks for offering.”

Nyx puts a hand over her mouth, and I suppress a growl. Not sure when the hell I became the cartel barista, but here we are.

“I like Andy,” Nyx says, poking me as if to make sure I’m paying attention. “She’s got moxie.”

“Fascinating,” I say. “Now let Vito speak, Angel.”

My cousin clears his throat. “Andy had a look at your dad and said he should be in the hospital, but I told her it doesn’t work like that?—“

I drop the pitcher of steamed milk I’d been about to pour over the espresso in Nyx’s latte glass.

“She did what?” There’s no suppressing the anger in my voice now.

“I sent you a message,” Vito says, defensive as fuck. “Don’t you check your phone, like ever?”

I turn, but Nyx catches my arm, squeezes. “The coffee, Papi.”

When I look at her, she’s giving me big eyes, trying to communicate telepathically that I should be concentrating on making her latte, not bashing Vito’s head in with a saucer.

“Anyone who looks in my father’s general direction can tell he’s not recovering. Did she mention anything specific, or was she just stating the blatant fucking obvious?”

“She’s a trained EMT,” Vito says sulkily.

“Did you find anything at his house?” Nyx’s voice is an octave higher than usual, like she’s trying to drag our conversation from the depths of hell. I throw her a warning look as I pass her coffee over.

“It’s hot.”

She gives me an impish grin, mouthing, “Thank you, Papi.”

“It’s more what we didn’t find.” Vito blows out his cigarette so hard I can hear it with my back turned. “His medical records were gone.”

“All of them?” Nyx slurps at her coffee, and then sucks air through her lips like she burned her mouth. “That’s totally sus.”

I finish Vito’s flat white, blending in enough hazelnut syrup to give him a toothache, and take it over to him. He gives me a grateful nod for the coffee and then peers up at me like he’s expecting a backhand. Maybe it’s my expression. I probably look a little grim.

“You should have told me.”

Vito glances away. “I tried. You were kinda…busy.” His gaze cuts to Nyx, who’s slurping noisily on her coffee.

It’s my turn to look away. My jaw clenches, fingertips digging into my arms.

He’s right.

I haven’t even looked at my phone since we hauled Nyx out of The Foundry last night.

“Andy said she’s going to run some tests. See if she can figure out what’s going on. It’ll take a few days, but at least?—“

Vito cuts off at Bella’s sharp bark, and Nyx almost spills her entire cup of coffee on the floor.

There’s a loud rap on the door. Vito starts to stand, but I hold up a hand to keep him in his seat. Nyx gives me an innocent smile when I glance over at her, and I let out a rueful snort.

I have to let Vito know about my wife’s deal with O’Brien, but I’ve been putting it off, hoping I’ll come up with some ingenious plan to get us out of this mess. Until then, I have to keep an eye on Nyx to make sure she doesn’t slip away to murder a Domingo.

“Sorry for intruding, boss,” Matias says as soon as I open the door. “You weren’t answering your phone.”

I ignore Vito’s righteous huff. “What is it?”

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