Page 72 of Cruel Devil

“There’s not much to tell. Nyx only gave me the highlights.”

“Jesus.” He laughs, but there’s no humor in the sound.

His room is a few doors down the hall. He opens the door and walks through, taking off his shoes and tossing them toward his closet. His room is larger than mine, with a flat screen in the living area and a fully stocked mini bar. There’s even a balcony looking out over the villa’s estate, and he heads straight for it, lighting a cigarette on the way.

I remember a very brief conversation we had many years back when we were picking our rooms. He asked which one I wanted and I told him I didn’t give a fuck, as long as it had an en-suite bathroom and wasn’t anywhere near Sergio or my father.

It’s been the kind of morning where I fight the urge to pour myself a stiff drink, but I join Vito outside and click my fingers at him for a cigarette instead. He obliges, lighting it for me before passing it over.

We lean our arms on the balcony’s railing. The sun is still climbing, and the cool breeze sifting through the air brings the scent of hibiscus and honeysuckle with it.

“She made a deal with O’Brien,” I say. “He’ll give her back her sisters if she kills Sergio.”

Vito lets out a low chuckle. “Fuck me.” He hangs his head between his hands for a beat before straightening. “That’s why you locked her in.”

I tilt my head. “She thinks she’d be doing the world a favor.”

“Not even gonna argue. But can you imagine the backlash from Colombia? If she thinks her sisters are in danger now…” He snorts.

“What the fuck do I do, Vito?” I clean ash from my cigarette with an angry flick of my thumb.

Vito is quiet as he takes a drag. “I’m sure she got proof of life, or she wouldn’t have made the deal. O’Brien’s holed up somewhere with those girls.

“He gave her ten days to deliver.”

“Then we just have to look harder.”

I let out a dry chuckle, take another drag. Smoke peppers my words. “You know how in movies, whenever there’s a car chase, one of them can always go a little faster? As if they wouldn’t have the pedal pressed to the fucking floor from the word go?”

Vito’s only reply is a world-weary sigh.

“O’Brien’s a fucking ghost,” I mutter. “Now I have to keep my wife under lock and key and hope we find him before he sells her sisters.” I dip my head, massaging my thumbs over the aching pressure point between my brows.

“Sells?” Vito asks quietly, turning to look at me.

“That’s what he told her.” I let out a disgusted grunt as we lock eyes. “Probably the only reason those girls are still alive.”

We both turn back to the view. There’s a guy on a John Deere lawn mower making his way over the expanse of lawn between the villa and the distant dock where a little dinghy bobs up and down on the water.

Vito snaps his fingers, flicking away his cigarette. “If we can’t catch him, maybe we can head him off. There’s one place he’s bound to be in a few days.”

I stare at him as his words hit home, my chest growing tight. “The auction?”

Vito shrugs. “Think you can keep Nyx from offing my dad long enough for us to find out when and where it’s happening?”

“Sure.” I give him a bleak smile. “Just find me a pair of handcuffs.”

Vito smiles, and I wish he hadn’t. “Leopard print, or pink fur?”

Chapter 24

Nyx

“Nyx! Help!”

I’m back in the concrete tunnel, the one Patrick took me through to reach O’Brien. The fluorescent lights are dim, flickering. I’m disorientated, no idea which direction I’m facing. Toward The Foundry, or toward O’Brien’s warehouse where Donny’s dead body is waiting for me.

And Sullivan.

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