I'd tried. Maybe that was enough.
Now it was up to Darius.
I picked up my guitar, trying to lose myself in the music. But every few minutes, my eyes darted to my phone.
No messages. No missed calls.
An hour crawled by.
Then Darius walked through my door, covered in blood.
It speckled his hands, sprayed across his white shirt in a chaotic pattern, and dotted his sharp jawline.
CHAPTER 33
DARIUS
Anna stared at me, eyes wide, hand covering her mouth. The color drained from her face.
I frowned. Why was she suddenly terrified of me? She'd told my men she wanted to talk. Then I followed her line of sight down to my hands.
Fuck. The blood.
I raised my palms, keeping my movements slow. The last thing I needed was for her to panic the first time she reached out to me.
"It's okay," I said, softening my voice. "It's not my blood."
Her eyes snapped back to mine. "You realize that only makes it a little bit better, right?"
I opened my mouth. Closed it. Shrugged. At least she thought it was better that I wasn't bleeding out.
"Fair point," I admitted.
She rolled her eyes and ducked behind the counter, emerging with a pack of baby wipes that she tossed at my chest.
"Whose blood is it?"
"Why do you have baby wipes behind the counter?"
"Because they're gentle on vinyl when a dry cloth won't work." Her voice had an edge now. "Whose blood is covering your hands?"
I studied her for a long moment. She wasn't stupid. She knew.
"Darius. Whose blood is it?"
"Who do you think?"
She covered her mouth with the back of her hand, like she might be sick, and shook her head. I knew the question was coming. I wouldn't volunteer the information, but I wouldn't lie to her either. I'd let her keep plausible deniability unless she asked for the truth.
"Did you kill him?"
"I didn't go there planning to kill him," I answered. "I only intended to make sure he never raised his hand to another woman again."
Her skin went pale. Her hands trembled before she pressed them flat against the counter, leaning on it for support.
"What do you mean you weren't planning on killing him?"
"I went there to teach him a lesson. He made choices that were out of my control."
