Page 53 of Devious Madness

“I’ve never had an allowance before, and I’m not starting one at twenty-four.”

“By allowance, I mean you’ll have your own bank account to do whatever you want with. It will never be empty.” He places a piece of the lasagna on his own plate.

“I don’t need your money. I can take care of myself.”

“You don’t need to.”

“I want to.” My jaw tenses. Can this man get any more Neanderthal?

“Why?”

“Why, what?”

“Why would you want to work two jobs that pay next to nothing so you can keep your money in a coffee can in thefreezer and eat the scraps you find at work? Why would you want to do that?”

“Of course that’s not what I want. It was only like that because I needed jobs that paid in cash and didn’t ask too many questions. But now that I’m home, maybe I can get my old job back.”

“No.” He takes a large bite of the lasagna, wiping away a bit of sauce that clings to his lips.

“No? You can’t just say no.”

He lifts a shoulder. “I can, and I did.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to listen.”

Dark clouds roll into his stare. A storm is coming, and if I was smart, I’d go inside and nail everything down. But, with him I don’t seem to learn.

“Marco knows about your job at the dentist’s office. You think he doesn’t have someone checking there to see if you show up one day?”

He’s right. Marco had already sent one of his goons to the office right after he declared I was in debt to him. Thankfully, no one noticed him except me. It was a message, one that I got loud and clear. Marco would be watching.

The week after, Megan and I agreed I should leave town.

“How does a war end?” I ask, swinging the conversation.

“When someone backs down. Alexander won’t.” He takes his plate to the sink, then leans back against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest.

It’s this glare, this heated, hungry stare that makes my insides melt. How can he expect me to eat this deliciouslasagna with him making me starved for something else entirely.

“People are going to die because of me.”

“No.” His hard tone startles me. “If Marco had kept this between you and him, he’d still have a chance to live. Not much, but a chance. But he didn’t. He did this, not you.”

“Right. And it’s not my fault you had to kill the guy in the woods.” I roll my eyes. “Everywhere I go it seems I get someone killed. You should be careful, Rurik. You could be next.”

His lips pinch together, and his eyes narrow, like he’s bringing me into focus.

“What happened with Nico?”

“How do you mean?”

“Tell me again what happened with Marco and Nico.”

There’s something different in his tone when he asks this time. Like he wants to dig around my story and find the weak spots.

I shake my head a little. “I already did. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. What I want is a shower. I assume one of the rooms in this museum has one?”

He eyes me quietly for a moment. His phone dances on the counter, cutting off his focus.

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