Page 84 of Devil's Thirst

Violet jumps up and down in the living room. “Fuck ’im. Fuck ’im,” she calls gleefully.

Oran chooses that precise moment to saunter out from the bedroom. He looks at his daughter, then at us. “I miss something?”

Lina waltzed over to my suitcase. “Yes, lots. This is Freya. She and Mellie are going to stay with us for a bit.”

Oran looks at my dog, his wife, me, then back to his daughter. “Sounds good. What’s for breakfast?”

CHAPTER 39

SANTE

She’s not here.I look around her apartment in a stupefied haze.

Fucking whiskey. I should have known better.

I do my best to block out my pulsing headache and think. GPS on her phone and the bracelet are registering in this building. The dog’s stuff is gone. I look in the bathroom. Her toothbrush is gone.

She’s got to be upstairs with her sister.

She fucking better be, or I will never forgive myself.

I take the elevator up to Oran and Lina’s place. Oran opens the door after I knock. He looks me up and down, taking in the full effect of my disrepair.

“Don’t know what the fuck you did, but you better be ready to grovel.” He steps back to let me in.

“I know,” I mutter under my breath.

“Is that him?” Comes Lina’s voice bounding round the corner. “You’ve got some nerve, you piece ofshit. How fuckingdareyou even show your face here?” The woman comes at me, prepared to claw my eyes out. Her husband has to grab her arms to restrain her.

I’m a little dumbfounded. I know I shouldn’t have snapped at Amelie, but Lina’s acting like I beat her little sister to a pulp.

“What the hell is going on here?” Oran demands.

“Fuck ’im,” sings a toddler as she runs through the living room leading Freya by her leash.

That’s when I spot Amelie stepping around the corner from where her sister first appeared.

“Why are you up here?” I ask her, frustrated that whatever is happening is going down in front of a crowd. “Something happen?”

“Oh, I’ll tell you what happened,” Lina starts in again. “This asshole decided he’s too good for my sister, like his shit don’t stink as much as everyone else’s. Well, I have news for you, bud. It’syouwho’s not worthy ofher. She’s a thousand times the person you’lleverbe.”

Fuck, she knows how to kick a guy when he’s down.

I feel her words like a steel-toed boot to the balls, making it hard to breathe. “You don’t have to fuckin’ convince me how incredible she is. I feel the same,” I ground out, losing patience. “What I don’t understand is why you two think I’ve decided I’m too good for her. I’m anything but.”

“Then why’d you walk out?” Lina asks, but my attention is focused on Amelie, who slinks closer.

“What about what you said about families keeping secrets and leading to bad decisions?” she asks softly. “If that wasn’t about us, what was it?”

I haven’t had a chance to wrap my head around what I learned about Umberto, let alone think about whether I want to tell anyone. But there’s been some kind of huge misunderstanding. Judging by the looks on all their faces, I have to own up to what I did, whether I want to or not.

“I found out last night that my father’s right-hand man—the one I killed when Conner killed my father—he was … he wasactually my half brother.” Each word peels back a layer of my skin until I am raw and exposed. “Noemi learned the truth while I was away. You can understand why I was upset, but it had nothing to do with you, Mellie. I was upset with myself. If my father hadn’t been keeping that secret—if I’d known Umberto was my brother—I never would have killed him.”

All three wear matching looks of horror laced with pity as they stare at me.

“Jesus, man. I’m so sorry.” Oran’s the first to speak. He releases his wife, who exchanges a look with Amelie.

“Yeah, I’m very sorry, too,” Lina says softly. “We misunderstood…”

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