Page 44 of Spider Demon's Kiss

“That would depend.”

“On what?”

“Did I give it to him or did he take it. If he took it and I wasn’t ready to let go,” Kuroi gestured across his neck.

Lorenzo replied, “But in your case, it would be more like,” and clutched his heart pretending to have a heart attack.

Kuroi looked at Lorenzo with fire in his eyes. I braced myself. Looks couldn’t kill but Kuroi could.

“I think what my brother is saying is that your reputation precedes you.”

“Oh, thank you!” Kuroi responded taking it as a complement. He turned to Lorenzo. “And I’m sure if anyone gave a fuck about who you were, your reputation would precede you, too.”

Lorenzo squirmed taking the insult on the chin.

“Anyway,” I interrupted. “You aren’t our father. So, I don’t know how relevant your opinion is.”

Kuroi leaned forward engaged.

“Tell me this, if your father were to send someone after you, who would it be?”

I looked at Lorenzo again.

“If he sent someone, the most-likely person would be Matteo.”

“The psycho who killed one of my father’s men and then tied him to the back of a car to drag through Yakuza territory?”

“Yes. Our brother, Matteo.”

“Oh, he would totally kill you.”

Lorenzo laughed. I wasn’t sure why.

“You don’t know that,” I said dismissively.

“I’m saying he’s capable of killing you. I didn’t say he’s tried.”

Lorenzo’s eyes jumped between the two of us. “So, we’re just gonna ignore that all of his lovers died from a heart attack, and you could’ve had one before the crash?”

“A heart attack caused your crash?” Kuroi asked surprised.

“I did not have a heart attack! Or a panic attack. Or anything else!”

“Then why did you run into a tree?” Kuroi asked with concern shaping his tone.

“I felt a pinch in my neck moments before I blacked out. The working theory is that someone shot me.”

“Let me guess,” Kuroi replied, “The only person you know who could make that shot is your brother, Matteo?”

I looked at Lorenzo for a way out of this. I didn’t get one.

“Yeah.”

“I can find out for you?” Kuroi said casually.

“What?”

“Get me in the same room with him. I can find out if he was the one who tried to kill you.”

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