Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Being taken care of had to be a foreign concept to her.
I squashed down the little desire to do that for her, to be the partner she deserved.
It wasn’t my place.
It never had been.
It never would be.
“So, you said you had something—” I started, but cut off when I looked over.
Zen had removed his taco blanket and was sitting in a pair of tight-ass pants and nothing else.
“Zen, the fuck are you wearing? Are those leggings?”
“Men’s compression fitness leggings,” he said.
“You don’t work out.”
“I went through a phase where I was going to start. Got the clothes, the gear, the gym membership. Then…”
He waved a hand, as if saying ‘you know the deal.’
And I did.
Zeno was great at being interested in a project. He wasn’t great at actually following through with the task.
It was kind of a miracle that he stayed interested in computers and hacking like he had. Because he’d started and quit no fewer than five sports, twenty hobbies, and four different career paths before the Family decided his interest in computers would be useful and started hiring him for those sorts of jobs.
If only he could get obsessed with dishes or laundry.
“So, what I’m hearing is you haven’t done laundry.”
“Bingo,” Zeno said, making a gun with his fingers—black nails and all—and gestured shooting.
“So, what did you find for me?”
“Right. The… Matt thing.”
“His brutal murder? That thing? Yeah.”
“Wasn’t being insensitive. Easier to compartmentalize shit. Might want to try it yourself before I show you this.”
“You found the CCTV footage?”
“Yeah. I wouldn’t get your hopes up too much. Unless you see something I didn’t see—and I watched it about fifty times—there’s not much to go on.”
“Roll it,” I demanded.
I steeled my stomach as Zeno’s finger slipped to the space bar, clicking once.
The screen unfroze.
I recognized the street. I’d been there less than an hour after the news broke. Matt’s blood had still been staining the sidewalk. Cops were still standing about uselessly. Like no one was in any hurry to get to the bottom of the situation.
I knew from experience they likely wouldn’t ever figure it out.
Which meant it was on me to do it.
No, Matt wasn’t “Family.” But that didn’t matter. Someone had to find out who did this to him and make them pay.
I watched as a couple moved into the frame, walking arm-in-arm, heads leaned into each other.
Then there was Matt.
He had his phone pressed to his ear, his mouth moving quickly, his arms doing even more talking. Everything about him was agitated. No, not just agitated. He was pissed about something.
Then out of nowhere, his body jerked.
Once.
Twice.
Six times.
I didn’t need the sound to know what did that to a person.
Gunshots.
I knew from the way his body crumbled that he was dead before he hit the pavement. Even so, the way his head whacked off the sidewalk had my stomach lurching.
“Roll it back,” I said, realizing I’d been watching Matt, not looking for clues to the shooter.
But Zen was right; no matter how many times the footage played, there was nothing to see.
The very edge of a bumper. No plate. No person. No nothing.
“Anything on the ta—”
“Taillight,” Zeno finished for me. “I have it running. It’s only the corner of it. I don’t have a lot of hope. But you never know.”
“Okay. Let me know when you get something that looks like a match. And if you hear any chatter about the hit. Oh, and if you get into any of Matt’s accounts on anything. I think the cops must have gotten his phone. But if you can get into anything that might give me a clue.”
“He didn’t tell you what he was involved in?”
“You know Matt. He was always saying it was the next million-dollar scheme. Even if he did tell me, I didn’t commit it to memory.”
“Maybe his widow… no?” he asked when I shook my head.
“They were separated the last few days. That’s why Matt was at my place.”
“This wasn’t that far from your place. Are we sure there isn’t some link to the Family?” Zen asked, rocking back in his chair.
“It’s an angle I’m working. I need to have a talk with Lorenzo. See if there are any active threats. But I feel like if there were, they would have trickled down to me by now. Who knows, though.”
“I’ll see if there’s any chatter about the Family. But it should have gotten flagged for me if it was out there anywhere.”
“Thanks, Zen. Let me know if you find anything.”
“Will do,” he agreed. I made my way to the door, but my brother’s voice called to me again. “Hey, Nico.”
“Yeah?” I asked, turning back.
“You okay? I know you jump right into fix-it mode. But how are you holding up?”
I sucked in a deep breath and let it slowly out.
“I’m alright. I’ll feel better when the fucks who did this pay for it.”