Page 6 of Kept

“He’s still here?” I ask, yanking a drawer open and reaching for a shirt. Now I’m clean, I am actually a little hungry.

As if on cue, there’s a high-pitched wail from underneath us. I turn to Enzo with a frown.

“Not cool. I don’t want his screeching ass ruining my appetite.”

He shrugs. “It’ll stop soon. He’s lost too much blood.”

Sure enough, the sound cuts off with a garbled cry. Enzo gets to his feet. “If there’s a single scratch on her, I will rip your fingernails off, Ryder.”

I crook my sadly nail-less little finger at him in a little wave, wiggling my eyebrows. “Don’t threaten me with a good time, Enzo baby. At least make it original if you wanna be a scary asshole.”

He glowers at the reminder, stomping his way out of my room.

“You’re still a petrifying little chicken,” I call after him, and his cursing hits my ears like music.

3 – Maverick

“You’relate.”

Ryder rolls his eyes as he swaggers across the room, collapsing dramatically into the seat at the end of the long wooden dining table. “I told you, I wasn’t hungry.”

I raise my eyebrows at him as he tugs a plate of roast lamb towards him, dragging half onto his plate. Thankfully the staff never take him at his word. The man is a black hole when it comes to food. I don’t even know where he puts it.

“Blame Enzo,” Ryder says. Or at least I think he does. His voice is a little muffled by the sheer amount of food he’s shoveling into his mouth.

“For you being hungry?” I slide some meat onto my own plate, glancing at the door. There’s no sign of him.

“For being late.” Ryder sighs. “He was very dramatic over the whole bike issue. Did a bat impression on the end of my bed.”

“I don’t even know what to say to that.”

He waves a lazy hand. “It’s fine. I threw a dick towel at his face and that made him move.”

The fondant potato I’ve just taken a bite of gets lodged in my throat, and I choke, grabbing my wine and taking a large swig. Swallowing the lump down painfully, I slump back in my chair. “Ryder.”

“Maverick,” he mimics. “Chill out. I’m here, aren’t I? Enzo will be along shortly, once he finishes his little murder mission downstairs.”

I frown into my plate. Enzo’s littlemissions, as Ryder likes to call them, are becoming a more and more frequent occurrence. And as much as I understand his reasons… I worry.

Killing leaves a stain on your soul, whatever the motive behind it.

I should know.

And Enzo’s soul was never the purest to begin with.

Parking that discussion until he’s actually in the room, I focus on the day’s events. “I called Benoit. I’ll return the diamonds tomorrow night, at Parkers.”

Ryder perks up immediately. “I might come with you.”

I slant my head. “I’m not sure he’ll appreciate our methods, so if you come, don’t tell him exactly how you acquired it.”

He shudders. “He should be thanking me. I have no idea what he saw in that woman.”

“Clearly, enough to gift her a ten-million-dollar necklace.”

He points his fork at me. “But not enough to let her keep it when his wife found out about his little tête-à-tête.”

I acknowledge the truth in his words with a wave. “Still. A tidy profit for us, and we can focus on the Moore case now.”

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