“No, but is it something they might want to hold over our heads?”
“Perhaps. You killed anyone else in your short life?” I teased, earning myself a huff. “Is that why you became a nurse?”
“Maybe.” Her bottom lip quivered. “I’m no angel.”
She was to me.
A fallen one—righteous and unafraid to castigate those who hurt her family.
I didn’t think she could be more perfect if she tried.
“Have you punished anyone else?”
She swallowed. “I shouldn’t tell you.”
“Why not?” Laughter flowed from me. “You know what I am, Kitty. Currau undoubtedly shared more than he should have… There’s more blood on my hands than yours. Are you sure you want to know one of my sins? If you’re no angel—” Lies. “—then I’m definitely no saint.”
“P-Please. I’d feel… better.”
Divulging the details of a murder would make anyone nervous, so I assured her, “I poisoned the head of the Messina and Puglisi families when they mutinied against mine.”
I didn’t mention the fact I’d been kidnapped by them. That would only muddy the waters.
“Really? Which poison?”
Her curiosity screamed academic interest—fuck if that wasn’t a turn-on.
“Made it myself.”
“You routinely create your own poisons?”
“Pays in my line of work.”
“The drug you overdosed with… I suspected you’d made it.”
“That wasn’t a poison,” I reasoned. “Not a typical one. Though, Iguess medicines in different strengths and guises are a form of poison. Once their behavior is predictable and in a controlled environment, we use them to heal someone.”
I noticed that she’d burrowed herself tighter into my hold. “What does the drug do?”
“The one I took? Or the poison I used on my enemies?”
“The one you overdosed on.”
“It’s called Vangelin.” She had no way of knowing she was the only person with whom I’d shared that name. “It strengthens the atrial walls.”
“To counter heart failure?”
“As well as atrial fibrillation. It’s part of a wider program I’m studying to cure heart disease.”
“Lifestyle will?—”
“No. A cure,” I professed.
Her lips pursed. “If we make it out of this alive?—”
“We will.”
“—then I want to see your case notes.”
