Page 24 of Malevolent Secrets

I bite my lip. I shouldn’t tell her. I should keep all of this to myself. I might be putting her in danger. But the secret feels like acid burning inside of me.

I exhale and start from the beginning, telling her about Massimo, the cut brake lines, and my encounter with Lorenzo. I leave out the intimate details, but I can see Renee’s eyes widen with each revelation.

“Wow. Shit. Wow.”

“I know.” My voice is soft, and I’m thinking that maybe I shouldn’t have told her.

“And you slept with him?”

I nod.

“Yes. I was happy that he didn’t know my name or anything else about me but…he just texted me, asking me out again.”

Her eyes widen.

“Really? And what did you say?”

“I told him I’d meet him at the club tomorrow.”

“You’re serious about this aren’t you?”

“Yes. Jeremy died and I can’t stand that whoever did it might get away with it. I don’t care how dangerous it is. I’m going to get close to Lorenzo and get as much information as I can. I just want to know if he played any role in Jeremy’s death and if he did, what it was.”

“And if you find out that Lorenzo was somehow involved? What then?”

“I don’t know yet. This is really an as-I-go-along kind of plan. But I know that I’m going to make the person responsible pay, one way or the other. I’m already working with some detectives who I gave the evidence to.”

“This is serious. I want to tell you that you’re playing with fire, but I’m guessing you already know that,” she says, her voice a mix of worry and disbelief.

“I know, but I need to find out the truth. I can’t just let Jeremy’s death go unanswered.”

“But Lorenzo Duretti? I’ve heard some nasty things about him. There’s this one rumor that when he finds a traitor, he cuts out their tongue and sews it to their forehead. Then he lets the tongue rot there and the infection slowly spreads through until the man dies.”

I grimace and my appetite runs away.

“I also heard that one time, he tied a jar full of rats to his enemy’s face, and the rats ate him.”

“Okay, if you’re trying to scare me…it’s working.”

She doesn’t quite smile, but it is something close.

“All I’m saying is that he’s dangerous. You need to be careful.”

“I will be,” I assure her, though I’m not entirely convinced that I can be after hearing what she had to say. “I just…I need to know who killed Jeremy and why.”

“Would Jeremy want you to do this?” The question startles me.

“I don’t know. Probably not. But I know that if the situation were reversed and I’d been the one who died, he would’ve moved heaven and earth to find the truth and get justice for me.”

Renee nods, her expression softening. “I understand. Just promise me you won’t do anything reckless. You’re not alone in this, okay?”

“Okay. Thank you, Renee.”

We spend the rest of the evening talking about lighter topics, trying to reclaim a semblance of normalcy. But as I head home, my thoughts are already turning back to Lorenzo and the dangerous path I’m on.

If I’m being honest with myself, this is about more than satisfying my urge for justice.

I have never in all my life experienced pleasure like Lorenzo gave me. The longer I’m away from him, the more I want him. Just talking about him makes my core ache with need.

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