Page 51 of Spiteful Heart

“What the fuck are you saying?” Maddox demanded. “That we got another fucker out there, watching us from the shadows? No. No fucking way.” He lost his gusto when he continued to stare at his brother, the Luciano men locked in a staring contest.

Sylvester said what was on my mind, “I think it’s the only explanation. I also think, if we move on from this believing it’s over, it’ll be a mistake.” At that, he broke the staring contest to look at me.

I nodded. “I don’t think it’s over, either.” Yet again, I just didn’t know where to go from here. What to do, how to bring this guy out into the light of day and discover his true identity.

“What can we do?” Viper asked.

“The only thing we can,” Sylvester said. “Move on, but keep our guard up. He could be anybody.”

“And what if you’re all wrong and we already put a bullet into this guy’s head?” Maddox demanded. “What if the fucker is already dead? I don’t want to spend the rest of my life looking over my fucking shoulder because you think someone out there might be plotting our death. Or Lola’s. What-the-fuck-ever. We’re Lucianos. People either want to kiss our ass, fuck us, or kill us.” That dark stare was on me once more. “And you killed the Bloody Princess. People will always want to do the same with you now, too.”

“I hate to say it,” Viper started, “but Maddox is right. We can be on guard, but we can’t keep going on like we have. There will always be someone out there who wants you three dead. And us—” He gestured between himself and his brother. “—by association.”

Mike broke his silence for the first time by saying, “What’s the point of life if you’re not living?”

I closed my eyes. They were right, of course. All this time, these past few weeks… sure, Tony was now dead—for real, this time—and those girls were avenged, but we hadn’t exactly been living it up. We’d been on the hunt, trying to nab him. We couldn’t go on like this forever.

And, beyond that, I didn’t want to. I wanted things to go back to the way they were before. I wanted to live it up. Have fun. What was the point in taking over the DeLuca estate if I didn’t get to have fun with it?

Looking over our shoulders wasn’t something new to us. Hell, I’d always done it, ever since leaving Lionsgrove. And Maddox and Sylvester were Lucianos; they were born having to keep one eye open at all times. Viper and Big Mike had grown up in the mafia life, so it wasn’t anything new to them, either.

We could do this. We could bide our time and wait for this fucker, whoever he was, to make his show-stopping appearance. When that day came, we’d be ready, and until then, we’d live our lives.

Before anyone could say anything else, a soft knock rapped on the door, and a head poked in soon after. The gray eyes that appeared were set in a worried face.

Harvey.

“Can you guys give us the room?” I asked, tossing a glance Sylvester’s way. I’d meant what I said; I was going to ask Harvey if Sylvester apologized to him. Even if he didn’t mean it, I didn’t care. Thinking Harvey could be involved… come on.

Sylvester held my stare for a while, slow to acquiesce. He followed the others out of the room, leaving Harvey and me alone. I motioned for him to close the door, and he did so, begrudgingly.

“So,” I started, watching as Harvey was slow to meander to the ugly flower-printed chair beside my bed.

“So,” he repeated, softly. His gaze fell to my stomach, though he couldn’t see anything under the blanket. He leaned forward on the chair, his arms on his knees, his shoulders hunched. He didn’t look like the kind of guy who could take out multiple people, let alone unleash a headshot at damn near point-blank range without blinking. He was just Harvey… but I guess that was his charm. His awkward, inept, fumbling charm.

“I guess I should thank you for saving me,” I began, but he held up a hand.

“No, you don’t have to. I was only doing my job.”

“I thought your job was driving around? Being the silent chauffeur?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, that’s, uh, part of it. In a city like this, it’s always a good idea to know how to shoot.” He blinked, his voice quieting, “I’m only sorry I didn’t get there sooner. If I had, we wouldn’t be in this hospital.”

“It could’ve been worse,” I admitted. “Hell, it would’ve been.” I reached up with my IV-free hand, touching my chin, remembering how Tony had swiped my mask up and off my face, cutting me in the process. A small bandage sat over the wound, miniscule compared to the one on my abdomen. “So, thank you.”

I could tell he wanted to shrug it off, based on the way he waved his hand in the air, as if saying,forget about it. That, and the look on his face.

“Did Sylvester apologize to you?”

Harvey rubbed his forehead. “He, uh… sort of. I’m assuming you told him to.” He shifted his weight on the chair, acting like it was the most uncomfortable thing. “He thought I was the killer.” There was a pause, and then those gray eyes were on me once again, heavier than before. “Did you?”

That wasn’t an easy question to answer. I said, “I believed in you, but I was with Viper, that afternoon, watching you, waiting for you to come out of your apartment and go to the movies with Giulia—but you never showed. You said you did, but you never did. Why?”

He let out a sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. A few moments passed before he spoke, “It just didn’t seem like the right time to go out and have fun, so I canceled the date. I didn’t want to tell you, because you’ve been pushing me to do it. I didn’t want you to think I was… I don’t know, a loser or something.” He chuckled softly at that. “I know, me, a loser? Ridiculous.”

His sarcasm made me laugh, if only for a little bit. “Well, I think you should reschedule that date, Harvey.” I breathed in a deep breath through my nose, filling my lungs as my gaze dropped to the bed I was in. “If there’s anything I’ve learned recently, it’s that you can’t live your life in fear or anger. You just gotta live.” I shot him a smile. “How sappy. It’s gross, isn’t it?”

“No,” he said, his voice serious, “I don’t think it is. Sometimes being sappy is a good thing—like cold milk with cookies. You don’t have to be a badass all the time.”

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