Page 46 of Beautifully Savage Butterfly

“Maybe he’s not home?” It’s wishful thinking, I know that even as I mutter the words and follow Elio into the apartment.

Everything inside looks relatively neat and tidy. No obvious sign of a struggle. But the thick stench of blood gets stronger the deeper we go. Elio heads straight for a door just past the living room, and I’m right behind him. Just like the front door, it’s unlocked, and it swings open easily.

What’s left of Jimmy Lee is sprawled out on his bed. I think his comforter used to be white, but it’s soaked crimson now. I put a hand over my mouth and nose, but that doesn’t do much to stop the odor seeping in. It’s not rot—I’m guessing he hasn’t been dead long enough—but blood and gunpowder have a stomach-churning scent all their own.

“Well, fuck,” Elio mutters with a put-out sigh. “I guess he finally pissed off the wrong person.”

“Or someone didn’t want him to talk. Maybe Manny let it slip to someone that you were coming here to get some answers about Casimir.”

His eyebrows go up, and he nods. “Good point. Whoever it is could still be hanging around. We’d better deal with this, and then I think it might be time to go straight to the source.”

“Casimir?” I guess.

“Yup. I’m not going to waste time chasing my tail all over the city if someone’s playing these fucking games.” He shrugs out of his jacket and walks over to the closet to grab a hanger, casual as can be. He hangs it up, then rolls up his shirtsleeves. “You have the stomach to help me with this? Or do you want to go wait outside?”

Do I? I eye the corpse and lower my hand from my mouth, drawing in steady breaths to calm my stomach.

“I can do it.”

“You sure, Boss? I won’t think any less of you. This shit is far from glamorous.”

“I’ll be fine,” I answer again.

Elio’s phone starts to buzz in his pocket.

“Hey, Enz, what’s up?” he answers. I can’t hear the words coming from the other end, but the deep, even tone of his brother’s voice is exactly what I would expect from everything I’ve heard about Lorenzo Moretti. Elio chuckles at whatever Lorenzo says. “Good timing, actually. Just walked in on a proper crime scene at Jimmy Lee’s place. Looks like two to the head. We think he probably knew something, and someone made sure he wouldn’t talk.”

They trade a few more words before Elio hangs up and shoves his phone back into his pocket.

“You can thank my brother for saving you from having to save face and dismember a body. He’s sending some guys over to handle it for us. We’ve gotta get down to Wild for a family meeting about Casimir.”

My heart jumps into my throat. A meeting with the most powerful Morettis? I think I’d rather deal with the corpse.

ELIO

Orion didn’t say a word on our drive from Jimmy’s place to the club. He’s stiff next to me, his fingers crushing mine as I lead him through Wild.

“Don’t worry, Boss. They’re all bark.” I tighten my hand around his.

He chokes out a sound that I think is meant to be laughter, but is just a little too nervous to quite pull it off. “They literally all kill people.”

“Well, yeah, but almost never during a family meeting.” I wave off his concern with my free hand.

“Right,” he mutters. “Should I even be here?”

His question stops me short for a second. I spin on him and grab a fistful of his shirt, the same way he did to me earlier. I’m no stranger to using intimidation when necessary, throwing my weight around, getting up in guys’ faces. But I feel off-kilter grabbing Orion when I would much rather he be the one manhandling me.

“I don’t know about you, but I don’t go around getting deep with random people. I sure as hell don’t let just anyone boss me into a public spanking in broad daylight. But if all of this is casual for you and I’m making a fool of myself, tell me now.”

He ghosts his fingertips along my jaw, his throat bobbing as he swallows hard and then nods. I lean into the touch, and as soon as I do, he slips his hand behind my neck and jerks me forward, bringing us nose to nose.

“You saying I’m family whether I like it or not?” His lips twitch with amusement and I nod, bumping my forehead against his.

He huffs out a sigh, then catches my mouth in a rough, claiming kiss.

“Come on.” I let go of his shirt and tug on his hand when he breaks the kiss. “Give them a chance. You might even like them.”

Orion grunts and we make our way through the rest of the club to the Moretti table.

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