Page 158 of Lovely Venom

Ares sighs, his gaze drifting to me.

“I heard about the fire at Chantel’s house,” he says. “And because I like to stay apprised of who’s doing what in my city, I looked into it. Coincidentally, one of my men hadn’t reported for duty that night. He’d been a little squirrely lately, and I was already tracking his moves. When we pulled the data, it confirmed his location was within a few blocks of Chantel’s house for several hours.”

“What’s his name?” Cristian’s voice takes on a murderous edge.

“Elias.”

My body goes rigid as that information hangs in the air, shocking me to my core.

For a full minute, all I can do is sit there in silence as I try to process this news.

I want to believe it doesn’t add up.

One of the first notes the stalker left me said I didn’t know him yet, but I would. That’s why I assumed it was someone I had never met.

But he also seemed to know things about my past, and Elias was one of the few people who knew my background.

“He was at the club with Andreas all the time,” I rasp. “But he never gave me any indication. The man barely even spoke to me.”

“Yes, well, I wouldn’t say he was playing with a full deck,” Ares replies. “We tapped into his phone and found a rather disturbing stockpile of his delusions.”

“Like what?” I swallow.

“There were daily notes about your routine, what you ate, where you went, who you were with, and who he perceived as a threat. He’d also been planning to take Marco out, but he aborted that idea when Cristian came into the picture.”

“Oh my god.”

My stomach drops.

The implication that Cristian almost died because of his presence in my life makes me feel sick.

When I glance over at him, his eyes are the darkest I’ve ever seen them.

“Was he the one who rigged the boat?” Angelo asks.

Ares nods. “He was documenting his plans in real time. As soon as I knew what he was up to, I called.”

“We stopped, and he must have seen that on the tracker,” Cristian says. “That’s when he detonated it.”

It only reminds me that if it had been even a few seconds later, he might not be sitting here.

“This is insane,” I choke out. “I don’t understand why Elias would do this.”

“Come here.” Cristian pulls me onto his lap, unbothered that we have an audience. “I’ll take care of this, gattina. You don’t have to worry.”

I don’t doubt that he will, but it doesn’t make me feel any better. He almost lost his life because of some lunatic’s delusions. And it’s a betrayal that cuts deep, because I trusted Elias. After they brought me here and kept my secret safe, I was certain he was someone I never had to worry about. But now I know he’s an unhinged man on a warpath who wants to hurt Cristian and do God knows what with me.

There’s also the fact that he could reveal my identity at any time to anyone.

But as I sit with that information, there’s one thing that doesn’t really make sense about any of this. I’ve been here for six years, and I’m pretty sure Elias hasn’t been stalking me the entire time.

“He only started hanging around Black Velvet with Andreas about a year ago.” I glance at Ares in question.

A brief flash of guilt flickers in his eyes, confirming my suspicions.

“I changed his position a year ago,” Ares answers vaguely. “He must have found a new haunt on that schedule.”

“What position was he assigned to?” Cristian asks, not missing a beat.