Page 59 of Bleed the Shadows
Poe nodded. “Ethan Todd. We think he changed his name sometime after he graduated from Aventine.”
“No shit,” Drago said.
“Yeah,” I said. “He went to Blackwell High, but he used a different last name then too.”
“Guy’s obviously a chameleon, but he’s not connected,” Neo said. “Not by birth. None of those names are familiar.”
“That’s why we’re trying to figure out what he was doing at Aventine,” Maeve chimed in. “He was raised by a foster mom here in town. He didn’t seem to have any connection to, um…”
She blushed and I knew she was trying not to offend the Kings.
“He didn’t seem to have any connection to the mafia,” I said. “And not to the Bratva or the cartels or anyone else that we know of either.”
“Well, if he went to Aventine, he’d be in the records somewhere,” Neo said.
“Any chance we could get a look at them?” Poe asked.
Neo tapped his fingers on the table. “Let me see what I can do.”
37
MAEVE
I smoothedthe silvery dress over my body and looked at my reflection in the full-length mirror in the bedroom. My face felt hot and nerves jumped in my stomach.
Not exactly ideal for a first date.
Was this a date? With Bram?
I didn’t know. Maybe it was just his way of apologizing, since he seemed incapable of actually saying the wordsI’m sorry.
Either way it would be the first time I was alone with him since that night in the kitchen during my first stay at the loft, the night he’d refused to kiss me after pretending not to know me at Cassie’s.
Choosing the silver dress hadn’t been easy. There had been three in total: the silver strapless from Dolce, a sheer green shirt dress with a matching bodysuit from Dior, and a red Deco-inspired body-hugging midi dress from Farragamo. Plus two pairs of shoes and two tiny clutches.
All of it was nicer than anything I’d ever owned, and I’d spent more than a minute wondering exactly how the Butchers made so much money when it seemed like all they did was lurk around town like resident monsters.
All the dresses were beautiful but I’d chosen the silver dress because it seemed the most businesslike — if you could call the satin that hugged my body like liquid mercury businesslike — and even though we were going out to dinner, Bram and I had unfinished business.
It had been the right choice. The silver dress set off my black hair, which I’d piled high on my head by following a video online. I’d even pulled out a few loose pieces, as suggested by the video to keep the style from looking too “severe,” even though severe was kind of what of Bram deserved.
The dress was gorgeous, but also no-frills, and I’d paired it with a pair of sky-high black heels (Hermès this time, what the actual fuck?) and a black velvet clutch, both of which had been among the dress boxes.
I’d kept my makeup simple — light eyeshadow and thick mascara, the slightest sweep of color on my cheeks — except for a bright red lip.
I hoped the whole effect was try-and-kiss-me-now-bitch.
I snapped a picture in the mirror and sent it to Bailey with a question mark. I was nervous about including her in my bizarre situationship with the Butchers, nervous about her judgement, but after our conversation in the food court, I wasn’t willing to risk our friendship by keeping her at a distance.
She replied less than a minute later:Omg, you look incredible, M! Who’s the lucky guy(s)?
I breathed a sigh of relief. It had been scary to contemplate telling Bailey I’d slept with all three Butchers — assuming I included the aborted fucking with Bram in the kitchen — but she’d made it easier by mentioning the possibility that I might be in love with all three of them.
What a time to be alive.
I marked her text with a laughing emoji.Bram. He owes me an apology.
I didn’t say more. Bram had been an asshole — at Cassie’s and in the kitchen that night — but I couldn’t help feeling a flush of shame when I thought about how he’d ignored me, how he wouldn’t kiss me. It made me feel like there was something wrong with me, like I wasn’t good enough for him even though I knew that wasn’t true.
