Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 83994 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83994 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
He watches me, not bothering to cover up. After a long moment, he silently turns away and walks off. I watch him go, a pit opening in my stomach.
Once he’s gone, I retreat into my own room again, closing the door behind me.
Why did I turn him down? What does it matter if we share a bed?
But for some reason, that feels more intimate than letting him fuck me and eat me from behind.
Back under the sheets, in my cold and empty bed, I try closing my eyes.
And immediately regret not going with him.
Chapter 16
Declan
My boots crunch over gravel. I follow Seamus down a short embankment toward a storm drain runoff. Our flashlight beams skirt over scrubby brush, tossed aside potato chip bags, and smashed bottles. Choking weeds grow between old concrete.
Down at the bottom, more men stand in a loose circle, talking quietly. Their cigarettes glow pink in the midnight darkness.
“He’s down there,” Seamus says, picking his way over puddles and garbage.
“Who found him?”
“We got lucky, actually. It was a homeless guy who buys from the family. We heard him talking about a body out here, and when I sent someone to check it out—” He shakes his head, looking grim.
We join Seamus’s men. They nod at me respectfully. I shine my flashlight on the wrecked body lying in the weeds a few feet away, the neck turned sideways, the chest ripped apart like a wild animal was trying to root for its heart.
Patrick Doyle’s mouth is open in a silent scream.
Nobody speaks. I stare at the dead man. He was in my office only a couple of days earlier. I think back to the photos of my name scrawled on his business’s walls.
He’s dead because of me.
I let that sink in. Patrick Doyle was a family man. He took care of his children, loved his wife, and ran his business with some honor. He was associated with our crime organization, but only because of the protection we offered. Patrick was a good person.
Now he’s gone.
I move around the body slowly. He didn’t deserve to be butchered like this. I frown, pausing to nudge at his right wrist with the toe of my boot. “Where’s the hand?”
“Not sure,” Seamus admits. “We looked around, but there’s nothing.”
I move my flashlight across the surrounding area and check in the weeds. “Bring more guys here in the morning. I want every inch thoroughly checked.”
“That a good idea? Cops will see all the boot prints in the mud.”
“I don’t give a shit. They’re not going to solve this anyway.”
Seamus glances at his guys before moving closer to me and lowering his voice. “You’re really serious about this Butcher of Milan shit.”
“It’s him. No doubt in my mind.”
Seamus takes my elbow and drags me from his guys. They’re talking quietly and still smoking, but I can tell they’re half paying attention to us too. Just pretending like they’re not.
“You know what’ll happen in the family if this rumor gets out?” he asks very quietly. “We don’t need that kind of shit right now.”
“Should we pretend like it isn’t happening then?”
“No, I didn’t say that. We should do everything we can to find the bastard and cut his throat for what he did to Doyle. But you don’t want the guys talking.”
“Are your men all a bunch of terrified gossips?”
Seamus shakes his head, glaring at me. “Don’t be fucking stupid.”
“Vincenzo Senesi isn’t a joke. He’s not some shitty rumor we need to squash. One of our associates is dead, and I’m betting more are going to follow.”
“All because of your woman.”
I grab Seamus by the jacket, bunching it up in my fist. He only stares at me defiantly as I snarl in his face. “Don’t you dare bring Casey into this.”
“Why so protective?”
“Because it isn’t her fault.”
“Mom told me about her friend. She told me about the note.”
“All the more reason you should keep your fucking mouth shut.”
Seamus shakes his head. “We can’t bury this.”
“We aren’t.” I release him and step back. I’ve never lost my cool like that on my brothers before. We fought when we were kids, but that was different. For a second, I wanted to break Seamus’s face in half just for mentioning Casey.
But he’s right to bring her up. She’s a part of this.
“I’ll start asking around as quietly as I can. No panic, no problems. Only trusted, solid guys. But it’ll leak eventually, and when it does, you’re going to have trouble.”
“We’ll deal with that as it comes up.” I brush past Seamus and return to the body. Doyle’s eyes are open and staring blindly. I kneel down and lean closer to close them, but stop myself.
There’s something under his head. It looks like a letter written in the mud…
I roll him over. The body slumps to the side. Underneath is a message carved deep into the soil.