Page 38 of High Stakes and Soulmates
“Yeah. I mean… at that point in time, I was kind of wandering a bit before settling here, so I didn’t really do much with the police, but he wanted to know if I could figure out anything he might have missed.”
My world is crashing around me, and I can’t seem to comprehend a single thing he’s saying. “Were you involved in theirdeaths?”
Ezio’s expression shifts. “What are you talking about? Wait… You thought… You know me as well as you do, and you thought I was off killing your family? Fucking hell, Cyrus. Is it wrong for me to feel a bit upset that you think I had a hand in the death of your family? I would never hurt you. I would never hurt anyone who loves you. I’m not a monster. I’m a fucking killer… but I never wanted to be. And even after over two hundred years, one of the people I care about the most still suspects that I could be a monster. Fuck… I’m sorry. It’s wrong of me to get upset. I apologize. I’m sorry about your family.”
He pushes open the car door before I can say anything else and disappears into the night.
Fucking hell.
But he’s right, isn’t he? There was some rumor he was involved, and I was so convinced that it meant he was involved in their deaths that I never even realized they could have meant that he was involved in theircase. I just hated vampires so fucking much it never dawned on me that one could be helpingme. They were monsters. They ripped my family apart. They destroyed my life. They nearly killed me. How could one of them begood?How could one want to help me?
But now that I know Ezio—now that I know that not all vampires are monsters, that there is good in them—do Ireallysee Ezio out there killing my family?
Fuck.
What the hell is wrong with me? Why can’t I just believe someone cares about me without some ulterior motive? Why do I have to question everything he does, even though he’s shown me again and again that he’s nothing like the man who slaughtered my family? Why do I have such horrible distrust in vampires? Yes, one destroyed my life, but does that make them all bad? They just make me feel so fucking vulnerable. They make me realize how little control I have over my own life. But why the fuck did it take until this moment to realize that? I’m a fucking detective. I don’t assume all humans are bad when one kills. I’ve literally watched Julian stand at the front of the room and preach this, and isn’t he living proof? Vampires tried killing him and still he chose to love one.
Ezio was upset and quiet because he was feeling badfor me. And I was over here convinced he was feeling guilt for what he’d done to me.
My stomach aches as I lean over and grab it. I just don’t know what to do. I don’t know what I’m doing.
Quickly, I try calling him but the phone goes right to voicemail. “Ezio, please, I’m sorry. I just… was confused. And someone told me you were involved and… it’s fucked up that I assumed they meant you were involved in their deaths and not the case, but I didn’t know you at that time. I want to talk. Please call me back.”
I send him a text that begs him to call me back. Then I decide I’ll go to Casimir’s where Ezio will have likely gone. I start the car and glance into the rearview mirror before freezing.
I saw something… didn’t I? I saw something in the darkness.
Chills creep up my back when I twist in my seat to look, but the darkness stretching out behind the car is impenetrable.
I’m not even convinced something was there to begin with. It’s probably my useless mind making up shit in my vulnerable state. Backing the car out of the parking spot, I head for Casimir’s as that weird feeling makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
I decide to call Joaquin; otherwise, I’m confident I’m going to get lost in my fears.
“Hold on, hold on. Can you hold on a second? We’ve almost beaten this boss. You know, SweetBabeBoobs6969 and me,” he says in a teasing voice.
“Yeah,” I respond.
“Fuck. Ha ha… beat it. We’re the best. I don’t care if she’s got man boobs and not woman boobs. We’re pretty damn good… Cyrus, you there?”
“Yeah.”
“Hey… did something happen? You should have told me something happened.”
“No. I’m just… in my head. Fucking up with flair. I asked Ezio about his involvement. And then we got interrupted and the look on his face… I was convinced he was involved, and here he was helping the fucking cop on the case.”
“No shit? What did he say? Does he know anything that never got released to the public? They were extremely vague with you. Very dismissive. Like they thought that they’d just sweep it all under the rug because of the vampire involvement. They just wanted to keep it from spreading that something likethat happened. It would raise questions… but we just wanted answers.”
“Uh… I didn’t quite get to ask him those questions. He was… a bit upset that I thought so little of him that I assumed he’d do something like that.”
Joaquin is quiet for a moment. “I mean, did you explain to him that’s what we heard? Isn’t that the way Donovan made it sound? Of course, he also admitted to knowing very little.”
“I know, but you don’t know Ezio like I do. You don’t know how clear it is that he’d never just go slaughter a whole family. And I really didn’t think he was the one who did it. It was more like… I had this idea that he was involved in some other way. Fuck if I know. It’s really fucking stupid to even think that, isn’t it?”
“I’m sorry. And I really haven’t been taking this as seriously as I should. What if we go talk to Donovan tomorrow?”
“Sure. I wanted to ask him about some other stuff as well pertaining to this case.”
“Alright. Sounds like a plan.”
