Page 33 of Dirty Behavior

Shaking my head, I said, “Yeah, that's all true.”

Mostly true.

But the only other person who knew about this house was behind bars. She didn't have to worry about anyone else, at least that's what I needed her to think.

Secrets always had a way of slipping through the cracks, but I had to stay true to what I believed, and I believed this home was safe. It always was before and I needed it to be now.

Pulling her arms free, she walked over to the bed and fanned her arm out. “We had nothing, Dante, we needed stuff. Food, something to drink, fuck, something for me to do. I've been here basically alone the entire time.”

“I could have gotten you this, you didn't have to go out by yourself. What if something happened to you, Ivy?”

“I didn't go myself.” Crossing her arms over her chest, her leg kicked out to the side.

“What do you mean? Who went?”

How the fuck did she get it if she didn't go herself?

The groceries didn't just fall from thin air, and unless she walked the entire way by foot, they had to come from someone. It didn't make sense. The who, what, when, it just wasn't falling into place.

“We're not alone, Dante.”

Glancing around the room, I said, “Yes we are.”

Her hair whipped across her face as she shook her head no. “You're wrong.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” My hands balled by my sides, my head started to throb right in the center of my forehead. “What do you mean I'm wrong?”

Ivy's hand flew up to her mouth, biting at her nail. Taking a small step forward, she reached for my hand. “Dante, we're not alone,you'renot alone.”

“I don't understand what you're getting at?”

“Earlier—”

A soft step creaked in the hall. My body went into protector mode, shutting down any of the other sounds around me, focusing only on the barely audible intruder trying to sneak in.

Turning sharply on the balls of my feet, I shoved Ivy behind me, pulling out my gun in one fluent motion and snapping it up to my chest.

“Long time no see, brother.”

My jaw dropped, finger firming around the trigger. “What the fuck are you doing here, Sesto? When did you get out?”

“A few days ago.” Holding up his hands, palms facing out, he said, “Here me out, Dante, I didn't come here to cause any trouble.”

“Then fucking leave!” My voice heightened, lids lowering to hover half open. “You shouldn't be here, you shouldn't be anywhere near here.”

Stepping to the doorway, Sesto kept his hands up. “What are you going to do, shoot me? You know I have nowhere else to go. I need help and I think you might need mine too.”

“Fuck you, I don't need anything from you.” Spitting at his feet, I ran my wrist across my mouth and wiped away the left over droplets. “I'm not going to shoot you, I have bigger things to deal with.” Arching a brow, my nostrils flared. “You're on my list, but I don't have the time or patience for you right now.”

“We need to talk, here me out.” Taking another slow step closer, he kept his eyes on mine. “You don't know all the facts.”

“I don't fucking care.” Tucking the gun back in place, I clenched my fists. “This is the last warning I'm going to give you, Sesto. Get the fuck out.”

Ivy chimed in from over my shoulder, her voice delicate and full of compassion. “Dante, maybe you should listen to him, he is your brother.”

Snapping my head over my shoulder, I growled. “Listen to him? How about he'll hear me loud and clear when he's six feet under. But until then, he's still dead to me.”

Rolling my eyes back to Sesto, his features grew hard. He wanted to lash out at me, tell me to go fuck myself. I could see it, I knew how he thought. His hands were curled in, his feet had spread shoulder-width apart.

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