“Fuck,” she whispers, shaking her head. “You’re not joking.”
“This is why I took on the bodyguard job. Because I wanted to tell you the truth. I wasn’t driving. I didn’t kill Megan. But I think someone did, and I need your help.”
The words hang in the air. She stares at me, lip bleeding, eyes red and bleary, a small nick on her throat from where the knife was pressed against her skin. She stares and says nothing, but her body’s rigid, and I know she believes me. I can see it on her face. She believes me because the story she thought was true for so long never made any damn sense. It never worked, never fit together, but she held on to her rage, and it fueled her and blinded her, but now the light’s shining on the darkness, and she can’t deny it anymore.
“Back home to Delco,” she whispers. “That’s all you want from me?”
“No, princess. I want a lot more from you, but that’s a start.”
She lets out a soft whimper and I lean forward. She doesn’t move as I snake my hand into her hair and remains perfectly still as I nibble at her bottom lip. I lick off the blood, cleaning her with my tongue, before I kiss her hard and deep. She returns that kiss with another gasp, another moan, and we hold it there, lips to lips, her bloody mouth against mine for what feels like a lifetime. This kiss, the one I’ve been dreaming of for so long, it tastes like iron, like revenge, and it sparks A hunger in me I never thought could exist.
We break apart, and she leans her forehead against mine, breathing hard.
“I’ll go with you,” she says and leans closer. She bites my lower lip hard. “If you swear you’ll tell me everything you know and you’ll never, ever lie to me again.”
“I swear, Daley. I’ll tell you everything, and I’ll never lie to you.”
“Good.” She pushes me back, glaring now. The old Daley returning. Fire in her eyes. “And don’t you ever kiss me like that again.”
I smile and shake my head.
“You said not to lie to you, Daley, so I’m not going to say I won’t ever kiss you again.”
Chapter 11
Daley
“To my daughter’s return!” Dad holds up a glass of whisky and everyone in the room returns the cheer. To blood! Cousins and uncles and aunts drink and laugh, and I’m left in the corner with Nolan looking around like a shell-shocked bombing survivor.
“Cheer up,” Nolan says. “It could be worse. You could be home for a wake.”
I groan. “Thanks for reminding me.”
“Ah, come on. You’re home now. Aren’t you glad to be back in dear old dad’s household? Lots of fond memories around here.”
And lots of really, really bad ones, too.
“I’m not really excited, no.”
“Well, I missed you.” He grins at me and I smile back. I can’t help myself. Nolan always manages to cheer me up, even when the last thing I want is to be cheered. He’s the backbone of our nuclear family, and I don’t know what life would’ve been without his indefatigable charm.
The room’s packed with family. Not as many as showed up for the wake, but still more than I can name. The room’s hot, and the air feels like it’s sitting over me like ocean water. All the uncles, all the cousins, several second and third cousins, several in-laws I don’t recognize, and more.
Fortunately, my father’s house can fit them all. He lives on two acres of land at the end of a cul-de-sac, away from any other human life, tucked against a large wooded area not too far from the Tyler Arboretum. As far as Delaware County goes, this is one of the better parts. Typical of the mob to set up their headquarters far away from the people they actually terrorize.
But I’ll hand it to Dad, this place is beautiful. I remember roaming these woods as a little girl. Back when Shane was still alive, he’d take me and my brothers out toward the stream that runs down the edge of our property and let us try to catch fish. He was so much older than me, and I looked up to him, caught between being an adult and a child, in that liminal space. He seemed so much older, but he was only twenty-one when he died, eleven years older than me. One time, I caught this scaly, tooth-grinding catfish, this really gross gelatinous thing, and Shane took it off the hook for me, laughing the whole time. You’re lucky, Dale! You caught a Delco catfish. It’s probably radioactive, but hey, still cool! I felt like the center of the world for a little while. Shane had that effect on people.
Now the house feels somehow empty without him, and he’s been gone for a while. Shane’s one big reason I wanted to move out and never come back, but here I am regardless. He haunts this place, every inch of it suffused with his memory, and I’m not sure any of us will ever move past him. I was only ten when he passed. Ten years old, what feels like a lifetime ago. We pretend, but I used to catch Dad standing outside of Shane’s room, looking in at the bed, the dresser, all of it totally different from when Shane was still alive and living there, but Dad would stare inside like he was remembering his oldest son. It would break my heart, seeing Dad that way. Break my heart, and piss me off.