Page 24 of Spiteful Heart

Sylvester stared squarely at me. He didn’t exchange a look with Maddox, which told me Mads had nothing to do with it. It was all him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about—”

“Really? You wanna play this game with me, bucko?” I pushed off the wall, placing my hands on my hips as I approached him. He looked just as fine as ever, wearing a dark gray suit, but just because he was fine and his dick was finer than that didn’t mean he could do whatever he wanted. No. Some things were sure to piss me off, like this one.

“Bucko?” Maddox echoed, glancing between us. “What is going on?” He ran a hand through his black hair. “No one’s telling me nothing. It’s getting real fucking old.”

Now it was my turn to look at Maddox, wondering what the hell he was talking about. Obviously, he was clueless about the whole Viper and Mike following Harvey thing, but there had to be something else.

Playing the peacekeeper, Sylvester suggested, “Let’s have a seat somewhere, and then… then we’ll all talk.” He threw a look at his brother, and even I couldn’t discern what that particular look meant.

Oh, yeah. Something else was definitely going on, but what?

We went to the nearest sitting room—it was a room I never went in anymore, because it was the very room everything had changed in. Where I’d met with Bianca DeLuca… where I’d killed the bitch.

The furniture was all new, of course, as was the large area rug in the center of the room, but even so, it still held such strong memories. If I closed my eyes and breathed in, I could still smell the metallic twang of her blood in the air, could still picture vividly the way she’d looked missing a chunk of her throat.

Good times, good times.

I sat down on a small sofa, crossing my legs and leaning back. The two guys sat on the opposing couch, though Maddox did not sit near his brother. He sat with his entire body turned to face him, and Sylvester merely scowled. Just watching the two brothers made me wonder what the hell was going on.

But first thing’s first. I asked, “You gonna admit what you’re doing, killer, or am I gonna have to drag it out of you?” Just because I loved him didn’t mean I wouldn’t beat his ass. I totally would.

Sylvester sighed, and he pinched the bridge of his nose in an exasperated gesture. “I put Harvey on Newton.” After I nodded, he went on, “And I put Big Mike and Viper on him.”

Even Maddox had to shake his head at his brother at that one. He wasn’t one for politics, but he was smart enough to know that would piss me the fuck off. And it did. It really, really did. Sylvester… he wouldn’t trust my instincts about this serial killer, and that bothered me.

“I know you don’t think Harvey has anything to do with what’s going on,” Sylvester told me, “but I’m not so sure, Lola. He worked for the Bloody Princess, for fuck’s sake. There’s no way he’s that—”

“Awkward?” I offered.

“Yeah,” he said. “Awkward. Weird. Take your pick. There’s just no way. It has to be an act.”

“And if it’s not? What if you’re putting all your cards on it being Harvey, and it’s not?” In fact, I’d be willing to bet my life it wasn’t Harvey. It was impossible. There was just no fucking way. “You should know just as well as I do that being around so much death and crime makes you numb to it.”

Sylvester sighed. “I just don’t trust him, okay? And you shouldn’t, either. Mark my words, there’s something he’s hiding. Even if he’s not our killer, he’s hiding something else. And, let’s not forget, I don’t haveeveryoneon him. We’re also keeping watch over Newton, just like you wanted. I have every man at my disposal on the lookout for this asshole—”

“And it’s not enough!” I stood up, giving them my back as I walked to the window that overlooked the front yard of the house. At my sides, my hands clenched into fists, the anger inside me once more rearing its ugly head. “It’s not enough, Sylvester.”

He surprised me by saying, “I know.”

I turned away from the window, once again meeting his blue-eyed stare. Both Luciano men were such prideful creatures, having grown up in the life of criminal luxury as they had. They’d never been held accountable… until me, so hearing him admit that was something of a shock.

“I know it’s not enough.” Sylvester paused as he glanced at Maddox, who still looked pretty damn grumpy to me. “And that’s why we’re going to see our father. We’re leaving before dawn Friday.”

Ah, so that’s why Maddox was in a pissy mood. He didn’t want to see his father, not after he gave up so unceremoniously and left him and Sylvester to figure it all out themselves. The last thing he probably wanted was to see his father again.

“You can’t just call him?” I asked. “We have to actually go visit him?” Like, cell phones were a pretty huge thing now. Why did we have to pretend they didn’t exist for this specific reason? To get ahold of someone in the event of an emergency? If a serial killer offing girls wasn’t an emergency, I didn’t know what was.

Again, Sylvester looked at Maddox. He was slow in saying, “You’re not coming, Lola. It’s just Maddox and me. You’re going to stay here.” I opened my mouth to argue with him, but he carried on, “And I’ve tried calling him over and over again—he’s not answering. I don’t know if he changed his number, or if he left his phone to die somewhere, or what.”

“Why the hell wouldn’t I come with you?” I demanded, moving to the back of the sofa I’d sat in and gripping the back cushion so hard my knuckles turned white. If he thought I’d let them go and sit here and twiddle my thumbs, he was stupid. Sexy as fuck, but stupid all the same.

“You’re not coming, and neither is Viper or Big Mike,” Sylvester said, slowly getting to his feet. “I need you guys here, watching the city. Who knows? Our killer might see us leave and decide to strike again—and if that happens, you need to be ready.”

My anger at not being included in this little road trip was temporarily assuaged by the truth of his statement. The killer might make a move while they were gone, because he might see it as an opportunity. He might leave another body or kidnap another girl… or maybe he’d try to come after me.

Sylvester walked around the sofa, grabbing my hands off the couch when he reached me. He squeezed them, forcing me to look into his sapphire gaze as he whispered, “Just, please, promise me you’ll be careful while we’re gone. I don’t want you going off the deep end without us.”

Me? Go off the deep end? As if.

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