“Her skull has a great big hole inside. And you’ll be happy to know—or maybe, it’s just me who’s pleased about this—but I was informed her soul wasn’tharvested.”
I wasn’t surprised she’d died a Triple. “I’m only happy she’s gone so that she can’t harm you andMuriel.”
Jarod blinked before shaking his head. “Always worrying about everyoneelse.”
“Jarod, she mentioned she was avenging herfather.”
His gaze set on one of the wooden posts of his bed, tracking its elaborately carved shape to its pointedspire.
“You don’t need to tell me who she was . . . I just wanted to share what she’dsaid.”
Sighing, he returned his attention to me, the purple circles rimming his eyes resembling bruises. “She was the daughter of the man who ran the little racketeering operation we uncovered. When I shut it down, he lost a lot of money. He also lost my protection and gotdemoted.”
“So, he sent his daughter to get back atyou?”
“Apparently, he wasn’t aware of herplans.”
Hmm . . .I wasn’t sure I believed that. “She said she’d just started working at the store. Was it acoincidence?”
“No. Someone informed her you’d be shopping on Avenue Montaigne.” He gritted his jaw. “She probably picked a shop at random and crossed her fingers you’d pay it avisit.”
“Who informedher?”
“Tristan found a listening device in the diningroom.”
Had we discussed it over dinner? I couldn’tremember.
The vein throbbed harder in his temple. “Probably planted during one of those fucking parties I have to throw each month to secure blackmail material on myclients.”
It was silly, but the reason for his parties comfortedme.
“When I catch the little shit—because I will catch him . . . or her—I’ll cut off their fucking head and plant it in on the metal gate of thepark.”
My stomach roiled, and bile swarmed my rawthroat.
My rising nausea must’ve sapped the color from my cheeks, because he said, “Sorry, Feather. You didn’t need to knowthis.”
I cupped his rigid jaw. “I’m just glad she targeted me and notyou.”
His eyes turned as black as the rumpled dress shirt he wore, and his nostrils flared out, which told me he wasn’t glad in theleast.
“Will her father seekrevenge?”
“His soul might . . . if it was pried out of his deadbody.”
“You killedhim?”
“Did you expect me to let himlive?”
“He’s not the one who hurt me,Jarod.”
“I’d been meaning to do it eventually. It just advanced the date of hisfuneral.”
A terrible thought coalesced in my mind. “Your rank,Jarod.”
He shrugged. “Probably back to being aTriple.”
My lashes fluttered over my eyes a few times in horror. “We need—I need—I don’twant—”
