Page 18 of Spiteful Heart

I gave him a tight-lipped smile. “What gave you that idea, Harvey?”

Again, he chuckled, but the sound died almost as soon as it surfaced. “Believe it or not, you did. Look, I know I wasn’t one of your men. My father worked for Carl DeLuca even before I was born. I never got to choose sides—but I did that day when I let Lola walk out of that room holding a—” He swallowed, as if he gagged. “—piece of Miss DeLuca’s throat.”

“See, that just sounds like, to me, you chose to jump ship the moment you knew the ship was sinking. Am I supposed to applaud you for that?”

“That’s not what I—that’s not what I’m trying to say at all.” He shook his head slightly, sighing as he turned his head and stared off. “I don’t know what you know about Miss DeLuca, but she wasn’t a good person. She was worse than her father. I couldn’t imagine the city in her hands. Lola… when I first saw her, I thought she was a one-off. I thought my boss would use her and lose her, like she’d done to so many others. I never thought I’d see her walk out of that sitting room with blood on her fingers and a flap of skin in her hands. Seriously—a flap ofskin.”

I just barely stopped myself from rolling my eyes. “Yeah, I’ve heard the story a million times.” Lola was quite proud of herself, for tearing out Bianca’s throat.

“The others there looked at me for guidance, because I’d been with Miss DeLuca for the longest.Me. I don’t know why they all looked at me, but they did, and even though I was terrified of Lola and that mask when I saw her, I also knew things had to change.” Harvey paused, his gray eyes once again on me. “So I made my decision that day, and I haven’t looked back since.”

It was right then when I could see why Lola had taken a liking to Harvey. He might be awkward and act all flustered most of the time, but beyond that, he wasn’t afraid to say what he thought. An honest fellow… provided it wasn’t some mask he wore when he faced the world.

Me? I still didn’t know what to think of the guy. I’d hold my judgment until this killer was caught and we knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, who it was. If, by some chance, it wasn’t Harvey, then I’d reevaluate my feelings toward the man.

He must’ve taken my silence as doubt, for he added, “I—look, I know it’s going to take time. I know trust doesn’t come easily, especially for people like you. Even toward the end, I don’t think Miss DeLuca trusted me. That’s just how you people are, no offense. But I hope we get there.” Harvey shrugged, his normal awkwardness coming back as he said, “I really don’t see myself working nine to five every day—phew, talk about boring—so please, don’t get rid of me. I will follow whoever you want for the rest of my life, if that’s what it’ll take.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I told him.

“Ah, okay. Uh, good?” Harvey watched me, as if he waited for me to say something else, but when it was made clear I had nothing else to say to him, he took a step back. “I guess I’ll, uh, go, then? Unless you need me for anything else right now?”

I shook my head. “No, but remember—”

“I’m on guard duty starting tonight,” he said, saluting me. And then he realized his salutation could be taken as him being a little shit, because he quickly muttered, “That wasn’t meant to be disrespectful, sir. I—”

Waving him off, I instructed, “Just go, Harvey. Get out of here before I change my mind.” I watched him go to his car, and right when he opened the driver door, I called out to him: “I want you here at ten each morning with a report of the night before. If you see anything suspicious though, I want you to call me immediately. Me, not Lola.”

Harvey stared at me over the hood of his vehicle, giving me a single nod. Thankfully, he didn’t say another word as he got in. He drove off.

I stood there, watching him go. I didn’t move a muscle until I saw his car pull out onto the road and drive off. A plan was still formulating in my head; I’d need more eyes. Grinding my jaw, I turned and headed back inside the house.

Lola and Maddox were on the couch in the main living space, on top of each other, making out—nothing out of the ordinary there. Those two couldn’t keep their hands off each other, although I couldn’t blame him for that. When it came to Lola, each and every moment was the perfect moment to feel her skin against yours, to hear her moans right in your ear.

“Where are the Milano brothers?” I asked, drawing out the question long enough for Lola to pull her lips off my brother’s and look at me. Maddox, on the other hand, simply glared at me, pissed for interrupting.

Lola’s blue eyes looked around. She was literally on my brother’s lap, all curled up and comfortable. “I thought they were here, but I guess not.”

I turned my back to them, pulling out my phone and starting a group message with them both, telling them each to meet me upstairs, in my father’s office. My office now, I should say. When my father left, it had instantly become mine, and I liked to think, this serial killer business aside, I was doing an okay job keeping everything running. Keeping the dark underbelly of this city fed with blackmail and blood money.

I went straight for the grand staircase, heading up. I ran a hand through my hair, sighing. As many times I replayed the conversation with Harvey in my head, I couldn’t catch anything off about it.

But I didn’t trust him. I didn’t trust Harvey. I just couldn’t help it. Maybe it was only because Lola seemed to fawn over him so much that I didn’t like the guy, or maybe it was the darkness inside me, the thing I kept caged in order to be in control, that recognized the possibility that he could be hiding his own darkness.

If Harvey was the killer, Lola would be devastated, but she would have us to get her through it. We’d move on from this, one way or another.

I was the first to make it to my office, and I went straight for the high-backed leather chair sitting behind the mahogany desk. I reclined back in it once I sat down, staring at the ceiling as I waited for Viper and Big Mike to make their way here. I knew they hadn’t left yet; their car was still here, and if I had to guess, Maddox’s car was still at Lola’s place.

I wasn’t alone for long. Within another two minutes, both Viper and Mike walked in, and when I heard them enter, I said, “Close the door.” I lowered my gaze off the ceiling, watching as Mike went to do as I said.

“What’s going on?” Viper asked, moving to stand before the desk.

The room still smelled like my father, even after all this time. His musky cologne. It must’ve seeped into the wood of this desk. I didn’t like it. It might be time to do some redecorating…

As Mike stood beside Viper, I folded my hands over the desk, leaning forward a bit. “I put Harvey on Newton each night, but I don’t trust the guy. I want you two on him, and…” I bent to retrieve something from the bottom drawer of the desk. A small box, no bigger than an inch. “I want to know where he is at all hours of the day.”

Viper took the small box, taking off the lid. Inside, he plucked out the even smaller object. It was tiny, about half the size of his pinky nail. Small enough that it could be hidden anywhere and go undetected, unless someone was looking for it. “What is this?” he asked.

“It’s a tracker,” I said. “I ordered a few of them a while back. I want it in his car, and I want one of you to tail him at all times. Don’t tell Lola, either.” Lola would have a royal freak-out, not only because of the tracker, but also because of the not trusting Harvey bit. She’d accuse me of not believing her, and that was a rabbit hole I didn’t want to go down.

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