I grin at my little brother and take his hand. “Come on, let’s play cards.”
“You know I hate cards.”
“Yeah, but I’m your big sister, so you’re gonna do it anyway.”
He rolls his eyes but allows me to drag him to the living room. We play two boisterous rounds of war, and by the time we call it quits, I almost feel like a kid again.
Life truly is all about the people we love.
I’ve spent years depriving myself of that essential connection. I learned a lesson when Craig was killed, but I’m starting to realize I may have learned the wrong lesson. I thought I needed to protect people by keeping them away from me. Maybe the lesson I should have learned was to cherish the ones we love at every opportunity.
Rejecting Craig might have saved him, but maybe love was all he truly needed. Love from me but also his mother. Grappling all alone with the dangers he was facing was a choice that very well may have had nothing to do with me. That decision could have been purely tied to his own pre-existing struggles.
The realization stuns me.
How had I dismissed the possibility that his issues might have stemmed from childhood with that wretched woman rather than my arrival into his life? Maybe his ingrained need to prove himself would have been his downfall regardless of threats tomy safety. I have to consider that his death might have truly had nothing to do with me.
My conscience isn’t wiped clean, but this new perspective changes things. The blinders I’ve been wearing have shaken loose, and suddenly, the world looks full of possibilities.
CHAPTER 45
DIANGELO
Present
My first stopis to drop Bonny at the groomer. She usually comes to us, but I don’t want any unnecessary visitors close to Terina. I’ve already seen how desperate these assholes are to take her from me. I’m not making assumptions anyone is safe at this point.
Walking on my injured leg is against doctor’s orders and hurts like a bitch now that the good drugs have worn off. I’d love to do as he said and plant myself on the sofa. That would be great if we weren’t under siege. Eliminating the threat to Terina is too important for me to sideline myself. Someone needs to interrogate the assassin, and that someone is going to be me.
When I arrive at the isolated warehouse we use for this sort of thing, a group of three guys are playing cards while a small speaker plays metal music into the dusty air. Not far from them, the woman sits bound to a chair in her bra and underwear.
We’re not rapists, so I know they haven’t crossed that line, but that doesn’t mean our captive hasn’t had a shit night.
“How’s it going, fellas?”
My answer is a chorus of complaints—one’s blaming another for cheating at cards, someone hates the music choice, and the last one thinks his buddies are whiny bitches.
I chuckle. “Sounds like it’s all good, then. She have anything to say yet?”
“Nah,” says the oldest of the three. “We didn’t give her much of a chance, though.”
I glance at the duct tape over her mouth and nod. “Good, time to let her sing.” I walk toward her, careful not to limp. I don’t want her getting any satisfaction from knowing she hit her mark with that knife of hers.
I peel up a corner of the silver tape, then rip off the rest. She pulls against the pain with a growl, then glares at me.
“You know, as a rule of thumb, I don’t hurt women.” I grimace and shrug. “But … rules are made to be broken.”
“Fuck you,” she spits. “Why should I tell you anything when you’re just going to kill me?”
“That’s the thing. I don’t actually feel a need to hurt or kill you. You’re not the problem.” I close the distance between us and stare down at her. “What I want is the name of who sent you.”
“I start ratting out clients, and I won’t work again.”
“You don’t start talking, and you won’t breathe again.” Each lethal word is laced with malice. I need her to know I’m not bluffing. I turn to my guys. “Bring me the pillowcase and hose.”
Her chest starts to expand and contract with rapid breaths. She’s right to be worried. This isn’t going to be fun for her. I don’t enjoy this sort of thing, either, but it’s necessary.
Eat or be eaten.
