Page 8 of Beautiful Liar

Liam had sent me here to watch over the youngest Brennan who was a total waste of space.

I was going to kill Liam.

I got up after the woman gave off a moan that sounded as rehearsed as a TV ad and headed to where Alessandro Mancini sat scrolling through his phone. He lifted his dark eyes to mine and smirked. “Got tired of the show?”

It took everything in me not to roll my eyes.

He laughed.

The Mancini family led by Aster Mancini ran the west coast distribution ring. They had their greedy fingers in everything from sales to distribution of drugs, weapons, and whispers pointed at possible human trafficking. The human trafficking bit was unconfirmed. I didn’t think Tristan would’ve gotten into bed with the family had it been confirmed that they sold kids. The union between the families anchored our position of power. And Tristan killing everyone who doubted the Brennan control over the city helped too.

I sat down and caught sight of Luca Mancini, Alessandro’s dog, watching me. Aster Mancini had five children. Alessandro was the eldest, followed by three girls, then Luca Mancini. Unlike Alessandro, Luca was a crazy motherfucker who’d been rumored to have spent time in a psychiatric hospital for reasons unknown to anyone. But he’d left too many dead bodies in his wake. I’d met the fucker a couple of times on jobs. He was a ghost, liked to paint his face when he was on a hunt, and didn’t play nice in the sandbox. Everyone knew to stay away from him. If Aster Mancini sent Luca to deal with a job, everyone was fucked.

In contrast, Alessandro had a softer disposition. He was tall with an elegant flair. His dark eyes soft, his smile warm. If it wasn’t that Wren was his bastard son and hated Alessandro for killing his mother, I would’ve made more of an effort to like the guy. Being Maddox’s husband would complicate the kill once we found evidence. When the time came, I could only hope that Maddox wouldn’t give a fuck. There was a code evenamongst killers. We didn’t kill pregnant mothers or children. And if Wren’s suspicions turned out true, it meant Alessandro had done both.

“How long have you known the Brennans?” I asked, figuring I’d at least get to know the man.

“All my life. Our families were always in business together.”

“And your marriage to Maddox? Was that business too?”

He sipped his drink. They’d been married for three weeks and eye-fucked every chance they got. When they disappeared into their bedroom, we just ignored their sudden reemergence. Shit like that couldn’t be faked. “No, Maddox and I were always destined to be together.” There was no doubt in his voice, but I didn’t believe in the destiny bullshit. It was clear that Alessandro was a possessive fuck. Every time he saw Jacob eyeing Maddox’s ass, which happened a lot, his expression would turn violent. It was quick and fleeting, and he hid it well, but I’d caught him several times and I swore he wanted to stab Jacob in the eye on more than one occasion. It made me wonder how far he’d be willing to go to keep Maddox in check. But fuck it. That was Maddox’s problem, not mine. After the honeymoon phase, the crazy would come out and then we’d see how long Maddox survived it.

“How do you make it work in this line of work?” I asked, because crazy or not, I was curious.

“Well, we’re still new, but we respect each other’s privacy. That’s important. I don’t ask questions that are not relevant to me and neither does he.”

“You must trust him.”

“With my life.” Damn, the guy was dick whipped. “Trust is the foundation for a strong relationship.”

Tomás and I started on a rocky foundation. I had made his life at Arcadia a living hell and he blamed me for whathappened to his father. We’d only been together for a few months, most of it apart. There was no way he could love me. His declaration of love for me after I saved him from Cillian had been a reaction to saving his life. It hadn’t been real.

“How about you?” he asked. “Any girls or boys? I do not judge.”

“No. Nobody important.” A total fucking lie that hurt too damn much.

Just then my phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket without looking at the screen and quickly answered. At the same moment, the girl’s moan had reached a crescendo that snuffed out all noise and made all the hairs on my body stand on end. I wanted to murder Liam, so sure it was him on the phone telling me he wasn’t relieving me of babysitting duty. “You better be on your way,” I growled into the phone.

“Where are you?”

I recognized the voice instantly, and it wasn’t Liam.

Alessandro cocked a brow at me. Despite the noise, he’d heard. I cupped the phone. “Excuse me,” I said, ignoring Alessandro’s knowing smirk, and rushed to the restroom. After shoving the bartender out, I locked the door. “What’s up?” As the words left my mouth, I knew they were the wrong thing to say. I shut my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose waiting for the onslaught I deserved. It’d been weeks since I left his text unanswered.

“What’s up? What’s up?” he started. The anger building in his voice made it rise. “How about you ditching my calls and ignoring my texts? I knew you were hiding us, Kieran, but I never took you for a fucking coward.”

Wow. He grew a fucking pair while I was gone. I clenched my fists to keep from slamming them against a wall. “Be careful what you say, Tomás. You won’t be able to take it back.” The stretch of silence that followed made my chest clench.

“Are you even coming back?”

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. “You said you’d wait until I was ready.”

“And when will that be, Kieran? After your attempt at fucking your way out of being gay fails?” His voice cracked.

“I haven’t fucked anyone,” I growled out.

“That’s not what I heard when you answered.”

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