Page 11 of What Doesn't Kill Us

Carolina doesn’t even flinch; instead, she laughs. I know she’s an actress, and from what I understand, a talented one. But I’m surprised she doesn’t seem at all concerned for her own safety, especially if Dare has been telling her about us. He may not know what I’m all about, but he sure as fuck knows Lilith is a little crazy.

Lilith picks up a little teaspoon and examines it a bit too closely for comfort. Carolina’s eyes widen as she watches the spoon inspection, but then she asks in a severe tone, “Could you really kill someone with that thing?”

This makes Lilith frown, and she gives her a curious look as she responds, “Well, of course. But I don’t need a weapon either way.”

Carolina rests her elbows on the table and leans over, her chin resting in her hands as she says, almost dreamily, “That is fascinating.”

“Is she for fucking real?” Lilith looks at me, then glances back at Carolina like she’s an alien specimen or something equally horrific.

I raise my hands, helplessly. I’m not sure what the baseline for weird is, but this seems way above average weird, even for us. I snap my fingers right in front of Carolina’s face, and she sits up, her hands settling in her lap.

“What do you want?”

Carolina’s cheerful expression shifts, her brow furrowing and the corners of her lips turning down as she grits her teeth. She inhales through her nose slowly before opening her mouth to respond. “I’m here for several reasons. The first one being Dare–”

I interrupt. “Do not fucking talk to me about him.”

She glares at me, leaning her upper body forward a bit, so she’s looking me right in the eye as she says, “I will fucking talk to you about him. I’ll fucking talk to you about him, and you’re gonna fucking listen. What you choose to do with the information I give you is entirely up to you, but I came here to say something, and I’m gonna fucking say it.”

Lilith laughs, and my focus shifts to her as I raise my eyebrows at her. “Really?”

“I enjoy the fact she’s got a little spice.”

“Are you saying that I should listen to her?”

She nods and shrugs at the same time. “May as well. She came all this way, and I have to assume her coming here was not without risk. So, for that, hear her out.”

I glare at her, then turn back to Carolina and give her a nod to continue. She gives Lilith a tight smile and straightens in her chair, her hands now gripped together on top of the table, the tension in her features noticeable as I reply, “I’ll listen. That’s the only promise I’m going to make.”

She nods. “Thank you. I already know the information I’m going to give you won’t be enough. I know you’re looking for the minute details, but all I can say iswedon’t even have those. Darius has only shared as much information as I need to have in order to help him, and most of it is about you and his relationship with you. I know you’re pissed at him. I’m sure you have every reason and right to be pissed at him. But any form of dictatorial lording over that you feel he is doing is only because he’s really at odds on how to protect you from afar.”

I interject, “Maybe he should spend less time trying to protect me and more time trying to figure out what the fuck is going on, so we can permanently eliminate the problem.”

She laughs humorlessly. “That may be so, but frankly, he’s still trying to figure out where you fit into this puzzle because the fact they took him and lost him but still left you alone makes little sense. He didn’t explain to me why it made little sense. Some of what I’m saying is what I gathered from his ramblings when he thinks I’m not listening—“

Lilith interrupts her, “How exactly are you involved in all this?”

Carolina grimaces. “Well, I’m an actress born into a criminal family. Technically, Darius hired me to get himself more public exposure in the hopes it would draw out the real bad guys. Of course, so far, all it did was draw you out of America, and now Darius is paranoid that you’ve set yourself up for your own downfall. If he had his way, he’d ship you straight back to America and lock you in a tower for all of eternity.” Carolina laughs again, sighing as she continues, “I want to assure you nothing has ever happened between us. Short of the odd touch and chaste kiss for cameras, nothing untoward has ever happened. That man is so wrapped up in you, I don’t think he even sees other women at all. It’s quite comical, really.”

Heat rushes over me at her words, and I avert my gaze, staring at the wall over her shoulder. I grit my teeth in horror as I feel the oddly familiar sting of tears behind my eyes. I don’t know if I ever truly considered the lengths he would go to complete a job, but it’s a great relief to know this wasn’t one of them. Not that I would want the guy to fall on his own sword to avoid sticking his dick into someone else, but it is what it is.

Lilith rests her hand on my arm and gives me a little squeeze. “See, Toni. You still got the man completely pussy whipped.”

Carolina giggles as I glare at Lilith. “Oh my god, Lils. Stop.”

Lilith cackles, and Carolina joins her in being entertained by my discomfort. I look between them, then reach over and pick up a butter knife, pointing it at them. “Don’t think I won’t fucking stab you in public.”

They laugh even louder, and I shake my head in disgust, a small smile playing on my lips as I watch the two of them commiserating so easily. I don’t want to like this woman, but I respect she went out of her way, likely putting herself in danger, to come here and reassure me that my not-boyfriend hasn’t been fucking her. And I can’t say that Darius is wrong in thinking I may have put myself in direct danger by coming over here in search of him. This theory is one we briefly considered, but we decided it was a chance we’d have to take because we had nothing else to go on.

I wait for the two of them to get control of themselves before turning to Carolina and asking, “Do you have any idea who took Darius?”

She shakes her head, “No, he hasn’t said too much about it, though I heard him muttering something about an Agatha at some point.”

Lilith gasps, and when I look over at her, she’s sitting there wide-eyed. I glare at her and snap, “What is it, Lils?”

Lilith grimaces. “It’s nothing.”

I narrow my eyes at her blatant attempt at deflection and lean in close to her, saying through my gritted teeth, “Don’t fucking lie to me. Who the fuck is Agatha?”

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