Page 12 of Vengeful Lies

I hang up and call the only other number I have saved. Rory answers on the eighth ring, and before they can even complain about the time, despite the fact that they’re a night owl, I blurt, “I need you to get as much information as you can on the Monti, Ivanov, and Taylor families. Dig further than the files you’ve already given me. Add in anyone else of interest I need to know about. You know I’ll pay your price.”

If we are going to play this cat-and-mouse game, I’ll make sure to be fucking prepared.

Eli Monti made a mistake letting me go.

CHAPTER 7

Eli

“Hey, that’s her, isn’t it?” Hawke says, nudging my arm. But I’d already caught sight of her from across the room the moment she stepped out from the kitchen. She’s now leaning against the bar, wearing a short black dress and high heels, her long legs crossed at the ankles. I can’t help but stare at those legs… so fucking tempting. She was equally tempting two nights ago in her black ballgown with the slit up the side.

Hawke and I stand at the entrance of the below-average restaurant while Ford parks the car. I haven’t waited to be seated in a restaurant since… ever.

She looks exactly how I remember her. I purposely memorized every inch of her face and sketched it countless times. I sent one of the sketches and her first name to a family friend, Will Walker, who is a renowned tracker in our inner circle. He’s eccentric, though, applauding my artistry and that perhaps I should’ve chosen a better path than following my father’s footsteps. I don’t know why he’s suggesting it, considering he gets his hands just as bloody.

It took him two days to find her, and I’ve now discovered everything I need to know about this little vixen who stumbled into my life by her own stupidity.

“So what are we planning to do here again?” Hawke asks, leaning in. No one asked my intentions when I let her go, and Ford was the only one I trusted enough to drop her off without conversing with her, as I instructed. Hawke has a big fucking mouth.

I ignore Hawke because I don’t answer to anyone, and besides, I haven’t yet decided what I’ll do with her.

A waitress approaches us, but it does nothing to draw my attention away from the lioness who is talking with the bartender. My teeth grind as I burn a hole in her back with my stare.How has she not noticed me yet?For someone who has heightened senses, I’m certain she must be ignoring me on purpose. I’m starting to wonder if it’s a good idea to strangle the life out of her after all.

When the waitress offers a suggestive smile and goes to speak, I interrupt her. “We will only be served by Jewel.” She’s taken aback and looks over her shoulder at her colleague. But she shrugs and leads us to a booth. She’s speaking, telling us something about daily specials, but my gaze is focused on the lethal creature staring at her manicured nails while she waits for the bartender to make drinks.

She wasn’t lying about her first name. Her full name is Jewel Diamond, which is funny, really.

“Anything else I can get you before I leave?” the waitress asks, still holding a suggestive smile. One that, unsurprisingly, Hawke reciprocates because he can’t keep his dick in his pants. I don’t judge; I just prefer to find the limited few women who can handle my tastes.

I don’t even glance at the waitress as I ask, “How would you describe Jewel?” I put a fifty on the table and slide it toward her.When I do look up, she’s smiling as she takes the bill and slips it into her bra.

“Well, she doesn’t work for her tips. She’s pretty cutthroat and probably not a great server, but she hasn’t been fired yet,” she tells me before she turns and walks away.

“She looks so innocent. Are you sure she’s actually trying to kill you? This all feels pretty mundane to me,” Hawke says just as Ford walks in and takes the seat beside him.

Hawke was more than a few drinks in the night of Michelle’s party, but even he remembers watching me pull a knife from my fucking leg, a wound I’ve managed to hide from everyone as I consciously step through the little love bite. I refuse to show vulnerability.

If Dutton hadn’t already been close and skeptical of her presence that night, she might’ve very well slipped away. So, yes, besides this little façade of waitressing, she is deadly.

But I not so subtly remind him, “She broke into my house, put a fucking rat in my drawer, and took photos of me fucking other women. I doubt she’s innocent.” I tap my finger on the table as I wait for her to notice us.

“So she has skills,” Ford says. I resist the urge to punch him. “So why don’t you just kill her?”

“I have my reasons.” It’s true a lot of people have tried to kill me over the years, and I often deal with them swiftly and efficiently. This situation was different; I needed a lead to find her client. If I kill her now, I’ve got nothing. And with tension building around the families as to who I might align with and take as a wife, it’s very possible someone is trying to kill me to break an alliance and damage my family’s reputation. It’s exactly why I won’t tell my parents that someone is after me. I will claw my way to the top, because in my mind, all of it is already mine.

Jewel turns finally, tray in hand, with four drinks balanced on it. The waitress we previously spoke to leans in and whisperssomething into her ear. Her gaze cuts in my direction, and I can see the raging storm flaring in those wild tigress eyes. I can’t help the twitch of my lips, delighted in the palpable hatred she oozes when looking in my direction.

Her nose tilts higher as she walks in the opposite direction to deliver the drinks, nowhere near as friendly as the other waitress. Perhaps she wasn’t so wrong about Jewel’s personality.

I revel in the sound of her heels coming to an abrupt stop at our table.

“Has anyone told you two you look like Tweedledee and Tweedledum?” she asks the twins.

“What the fuck?” Ford hisses, offended, but Hawke laughs as he slaps his hand on his chest.

“I’ve been called worse,” he admits.

Her mouth twitches at his response, and I fucking hate it. As if sensing the tension, Hawke clears his throat and quickly looks at the menu.

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