Page 111 of The Woman on the Jury

“My father used to beat the hell out of my mom,” she admitted, surprising me. “I used to fantasize about killing him. So… I got why you did it. Even more so now,” she added.

“My old man beat the shit out of my step-mom too, when he wasn’t beating the shit out of me.”

“What about your brother?” she asked.

“Not as much. Silvano is my step-brother, technically. And my old man definitely made him feel like he wasn’t arealCosta. So he didn’t give as much of a fuck about how he behaved. And when I could, I tried to take the heat for him. I was used to it at that point.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, walking over toward me, then wrapping her arms around me, her head resting on my chest. “When did he die?”

“In my late teens. Fucker choked on a steak at a restaurant. I probably could have saved him,” I admitted. “I chose not to.”

“I understand.”

“What about your old man?”

“He eventually went away for domestic abuse against his girlfriend he was dating after my mom took my brother and I to the city to live with my grandfather. I have no idea what became of him after that. I hope he choked on some steak too.”

“I could… make that happen,” I said.

To that, Halle pulled back just enough to look up at me.

“Did you just offer to off my father for me?” she asked, a bemused smile toying with her lips.

“Yeah.”

“That’s maybe the most romantic thing anyone has said to me,” she declared, smiling big. “But, how about we don’t get you possibly racking up another murder charge?” she suggested. “I’m kind of enjoying having you free.”

Suddenly, I realized I had a reason, other than my own preference, for wanting to stay free.

Before, my family,theFamily, and friends just hadn’t been enough.

With Halle around, I had someone I wanted to come home to, to wake up with, to spend all my free time with. Build a life and future with.

I wouldn’t pretend to know what that future looked like.

But I was, for the first time, excited to find out.

There was a loud, frantic knock at the door, making Halle jerk away from me, and had me rushing across the apartment to pull the door open.

“Boss,” Miko said, walking across the apartment. “Turn the fucking news on,” he said, making my back straighten as he found the remote, and had the TV appearing out of its cabinet.

The news, for us, was rarely a good thing.

Our entire organization operated under the radar.

Gettingonit was always bad for us as a whole.

I moved forward as Miko found the channel, then turned the volume up.

“The bodies of the three brothers have been located inside the basement of the fourth brother, Robert Myers,” the newscaster said.

“The fuck?” I hissed, walking closer.

“The suspect, Robert Myers, has been brought in on three separate murder charges,” the newscaster went on. “Police have not immediately commented on questions from Channel Three about whether this changes their previous claims that the fifth brother, Nicholas Myers, was murdered by notorious mafia capo Cosimo Costa. Who, as you will recall, was let free after a jury deadlocked on his trial…”

“What the fuck is going on?” I said, shaking my head.

“You didn’t do this?” Halle asked, moving next to me.

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