Yeah, no good ever comes of us being near each other.
“It wouldn’t work out, Uncle Joe. I’m sorry.” I rub the side of the beer bottle with my thumb. “To protect her, she’d have to live with me and listen to me. Two things Arya Peralta won’t do.”
“Oh yes, she will,” he says confidently. “She’ll behave herself.”
My head cocks, and my eyes narrow. “I don’t think so.”
Uncle Joe is used to girls like Avery who pick their battles and don’t fight having protection when they need it. A few nights back, Shane had me come to his house to stand watch while he and Declan took care of some bloody business. While I was there, Avery was friendly and appreciative, which is the exact opposite of what Arya’s reaction would be to having my oversight.
Uncle Joe eyes me closely. “If she agrees to the terms, you’ll watch her?”
Arya taking orders from anyone, especially me, is inconceivable. But what the hell can I say? He stepped in to save my mother’s life. Now he’s asking me to help a man who saved his.
There’s only one answer to this question.
“Sure, Uncle Joe. If someone can convince her to live with me and take my orders, I’ll keep her safe.”
5
ARYA
My mind reels, and as Cami tries to talk with me, I can’t form words.
There is a dead fucking body.
“Brock Stowe was despicable. He preyed upon vulnerable women.” Cami’s lip curls in distaste as she pulls out her phone. Her fingers fly over the screen, firing off text messages. “He had a lot of GU ties and came to campus every chance he got, when he should have had better things to do. Declan and I had started to wonder whetherhemight be Casanova.”
Cami’s as calm as if we’d wandered up to a dead raccoon. When she calls Foxgrove PD to report the body, she’s completely coherent.
I move to the fringe, grateful she’s taking the lead. Each time the smell of the rotting corpse hits me, my stomach churns.
I wonder what makes her and Declan think his uncle might be Casanova. Wouldn’t it be great if he was? This would be the end.
I don’t ask her questions. Camrynn’s a reporter. She summoned the police and her billionaire boyfriend. That’s more than enough people to work the problem. I’ll get the highlights from the news, while safely in my warm apartment, preferably with a pine-scented candle burning.
When Foxgrove PD arrives, I move farther away from the scene. My statement to them is brief, basically echoing what Camrynn tells them.
As soon as Declan Heyworth confirms he’ll be Cami’s ride, I haul butt back to the Mercedes. This is my least favorite spot on Earth, and I’m never coming back again. From now on, Casanova is not my problem.
When I reach my apartment, I swear my clothes smell like I laid down with the corpse. I strip and toss my clothes in the washing machine and my boots in the dryer with a fabric sheet. After starting the washer and dryer, I brush my teeth and take the hottest shower I can stand.
Once I’m wrapped in a thick robe, I turn on the news. I’m already going to have nightmares, so I want to hear whether the police have any Casanova leads.
Listening to local coverage, I make myself a cup of herbal tea. An announcer breaks into the broadcast to report another body has been found floating in the Tyne river.
For a moment, I think the Foxgrove news made a mistake about the location of the body we found. But then they say the corpse in the river is a woman whose age has not yet been determined.
Gooseflesh rises. That’s adifferentbody. The third one in the past two weeks.
A knock on my front door causes me to jump.
Jeeze, now what?
My brows crowd together as I stare warily at the door from halfway across the room. It’s daylight. Casanova doesn’t strike when the sun’s out. Bray comes by drunk sometimes, trying to reconcile, but again, that’s always at night.
It’s probably Tavi.
That eases the tension. My friend Octavia is notorious for not bothering to text a warning before she pops up. I tease her about her spontaneity, but it’s one of the things I love about her.
