Page 30 of Vicious Hearts

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Neve and Eilisheventually stop trying to pry the name of a woman who doesn’t exist from me when they leave to go meet up with Calliope.

Honestly, God have mercy on whoever tries to get in the path ofthatthree-pronged tornado.

Not long after that, Hades shows up, and he, Castle and I disappear into my office. Make no mistake, the Drakos and Kildare families might be a united front now, since Ares and Neve have gotten married. But our family businesses are still our own. The blending of the families acts as a truce and presents a united front: it’s not a business merger.

Hades, however, isn’t here on family business. He’s here on the business of ghosts.

If any other members of either of our families have any suspicions that Seamus’ potential network of followers is still out there, they’ve kept it to themselves. But Hades, Castle, and I…we read the room with each other months ago. And keeping an eye out for any hints of Seamus’ people has been something we’ve been meeting on with some regularity ever since.

“Got anything?”

Hades clears his throat as he drops his muscular frame onto the couch across from me. While Castle and I have been looking into connections on the street, Hades has been digging into Seamus’ history. It helps that he’s got a Homeland Security deputy on his speed dial who apparently owes him a fucking lifetime of favors.

“Seamus was a very popular man in prison.”

Castle rolls his eyes. “Is this the beginning of a shower sex joke?”

The younger Drakos brother smirks, shaking his head. “I don’t mean he was popular with the other dudes in prison. I mean he was popular with the women who came to fuck him.”

I arch a brow. “Excuse me?”

He slaps a manilla envelope down on the table between us.

“Conjugals. Motherfucker had a whole fan club of groupies who wanted to bang him, same as Dahmer or Bundy. And let me tell you,” he nods at the folder. “There was a fuckinglineupto ride that sociopath’s dick.”

My jaw tightens. “Why is this the first time I’m hearing about any of this?”

“Because it was sealed.” Hades arches a brow at me. “And if psycho-fuckers surprise you?” He glances at Castle, then back to me. “Then you’re going to want to stay seated when I tell you about the off-site psych evaluations he had on a bi-weekly basis.”

My eyes narrow lethally as an icy blade drags slowly up my spine.

“What?”

Seamus O’Conor is one of, if notthe, most prolific killers the FBI has ever captured. Fifteen years ago, when I made sure he went into the fucking hole and stayed there, he was tossed into ADX Florence—aka the Alcatraz of the Rockies. It’s the highest-profile, highest security super maximum prison in the country, and O’Conor was hands down the most dangerous inmate they’d ever had, the one they least wanted to escape. I mean, the man put forty prisoners and seven guards into their graves during his time there.

So what the ever-livingfuckwas he doing being taken out of that place for “off-site psych evaluations”?

“There’s no fucking way that’s true,” Castle growls. “Who the hell would be dumb enough to let that piece of shit out of his cage?”

Especially since Seamus’ colorful history involved, aside from mass murder and torture,breaking outof just about every other prison he’d ever been in.

Hades lifts a shoulder, dropping a second envelope onto the table.

“A criminal psychiatrist who was writing a book on serial killers, that’s who.”

My jaw grinds as I reach for the two envelopes. The first has a list—alengthylist—of women’s names and dates. Seamus’ in-prison booty calls, apparently.

“Dr. Gail Thompson,” Hades grunts. “That’s the criminal psychiatrist. She petitioned the DOJ and the FBI and got special, classified permission to study O’Conor, provided she used what she learned toalsowrite a Bureau guide on sociopathic behavior, as well as her fucking bestseller.” He shrugs. “I didn’t get much, but some of it’s in there. Seems like your basic Hannibal Lecter Clarice StarlingSilence of the Lambstype shit. Lots of poking into his relationship with his mom, that kind of thing.”

Hades frowns as I open the second folder.

“The kids, now that’s a weird one though. My guy didn’t really have any answers about that.”

Something ticks like a clock in my head. My eyes narrow as they raise to Hades.

“What fucking kids?”

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