Page 42 of The Killer Who Kept Me

“You have. You’ve been giving me valuable information this last year, babe.”

“Saros won’t be easy to take down, Rams. He’s got power, people, money. That son of a bitch is soaking up everyone’sworth like a sponge. Believe me, I’ve thought about slipping him something in his drink a time or two.”

We listened as the two of them laughed about that. Brandi appeared nauseated as she watched the screen.

“I have to go to the stupid fucking family dinner thing Saros likes us all to attend. If Em’s there, I’ll find him. Maybe I can persuade him to leave with me, bring him to you.”

“You’d do that for me, baby?”

“I’d do anything for you. I love you, Ramsey.”

“Mmm, yeah, you do. Open your legs and show me that pus?—”

“Okay, that’s enough,” I said, and Mike ended it.

Brandi didn’t say anything. I let her have a moment—I was sure that was embarrassing for her, but I didn’t give a flying fuck about it. She’d forfeited her right to privacy or respect the second she’d decided to go against me, hurt Em, and dismantle everything I’d built.

“You going to keep going on about how you were trying to climb the ladder? Because by the looks of that, the only thing you were climbing was Ramsey.”

I stood and held out my hand. Benny placed a knife in my palm, and I advanced on Brandi.

“You made your choices, made your bed, blah blah blah…now I’m going to return you to Ramsey,baby girl, don’t fret. But there’s a catch.” I slid the point of the knife along the side of her neck. “It’s going to be in pieces.”

“Wait, please. I have information. I can be useful.”

“What makes you believe I would trust anything you said?”

“You can look it up, once you know.”

I didn’t step away, I kept the blade pressed to her skin. “Go ahead.”

“I can tell you about Em, his name’s November.”

“I knew that.”

“But…” She swallowed, her body quivering with fear. “His parents, I can tell you who they are.”

That did make me step away and glare into her eyes.

“Tell me.”

It didn’t matter what she said. While she might believe she’d be walking out of here, she was wrong. I’d get what I needed and follow through on my promise to return her to Ramsey to put her back together again.

CHAPTER TWENTY

“Life offers us tickets to places which we have not knowingly asked for.”

~ Maya Angelou

Em

I woke feeling surprisingly rested consideringthe encounter with Brandi and all the human interaction I’d had the day before. My ankle looked good and when I stood, it felt a lot better. I went to the bathroom, washed, brushed, did all the morning stuff, and put on clean clothes.

I was shocked the first time I saw all the new clothes Saros had bought for me. With some comfortable but nice clothes on, I decided to head downstairs to the dining room this morning. I really wanted to make sure Saros was okay.

Admittedly, I’d worried in bed for about an hour until sleep claimed me. He was talking to Brandi, and I had no idea what that meant or what he’d do.

By the time I made it to the dining room, I was eager to sit. My ankle was okay, but it still ached.

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