5
LEONE
She whispers to her cat, who’s cuddled in her lap while giving me the evil eye. “Everything’s okay. It was smart for you to hide. I’m so glad you weren’t hurt.” She kisses his head, his yellow eyes still fixed on mine. She turns to me, her mouth in a warm smile. “I told you he was hiding.”
I suppose she was right. All she had to do was pop up the steps of the decrepit trailer, and the cat came running from whatever hole it had shoved itself into. After all, Bentley is a rather large creature.
“Where did you find him?”
She smiles even bigger, as if talking about Bentley is the key to her heart. I file away that tidbit of information.
“We used to live in an apartment complex.” She wrinkles her nose. “It was far worse than the trailer park. Anyway, we had an old, mean neighbor. Bentley was his cat. I’d see him peeking out the door at me sometimes when Mr. Posey would crack it open to glare at my sister and me.”
The cat curls up in her lap and rests his chin on his paws but still doesn’t take his gaze from me. I look right back at him, refusing to blink until he does. No one gets over on me, not even a cat.
“Anyway, after a while, Mr. Posey stopped opening the door.” She grimaces. “And then there was a smell.” She scratches behind his ears. “The health department said Bentley should be put down because he’d … you know…” She stops scratching. “Well, he did what he had to do to survive.”
“So now he has the taste for human blood, is that right?”
“No.” She resumes petting him. “He’s a good boy.”
I get the feeling that Bentley is a “good boy” in much the same way I’m a “good man”—as in, not at all.
“You live here?” Zoey stares through the front windshield as we arrive at the gates to my home, the top of them decorated with two snarling lions.
“Yes.” The guards open the gates for us, and we cruise easily along the narrow drive.
“This whole place is yours?” She turns to stare at the trees and the small pond to our left as we curve up the hill toward the house.
“Yes.”
“You must be like a bazillionaire or something. I mean, Bentley and I could take just a little corner of this place and make a little home.”
“That won’t be necessary. You’re both welcome in my home.”
“For how long?” Her cheeks color a bright pink as we pull to a stop in front of the house. “I mean, not that I … Not that I think I should stay or anything. I don’t even know you. If I’m being honest, I should go back to the trailer and wait for my sis–”
“No.” I say it more forcefully than I intend because her eyes snap to mine. Doing my best to soften my tone, I continue, “It’s not safe. Someone had been there, and I assure you the ransacking was the least of what they could’ve done.”
Her eyes water. “It’s Xanny, isn’t it? She’s done something again. I know it. It’s why I can’t find her, why people are busting into our trailer. And why Marvin …” She swallows hard.
“We’ll talk about it all very soon. But first let’s get you settled.” I have to keep her safe until I figure out who the hell killed Marvin. She’s the key to finding her sister, and I suspect her sister is the only one who can clear up this entire fucking mess–including the missing money. Nick Davinci isn’t hurting for the cash and already told me to let it go when I’d messaged him what happened, but that doesn’t matter. I told him I’d do a job to repay a favor, and I intend to do it. I may not be a good man, but I’m a man of my word. And if I’m being honest with myself, Iwantto keep Zoey safe. She shouldn’t be mixed up in this bullshit in the first place. One look at her, and I knew she didn’t belong in that club, and she certainly doesn’t belong in the dark world I inhabit.
“Leone?” Her voice breaks me from my thoughts.
“Yes?”
“I just want you to promise me you’ll let Bentley stay. No, um, no matter what he does.”
“Why?” I raise a brow. “What will he do?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know. He’s just very … He’s kind of …” She looks up as if trying to find the right word.
“You mentioned the word ‘asshole,’ did you not?”
She shrugs again. “I mean, it depends on who you ask. He and Xanny never got along, but he’s always been an absolute angel for me.” She kisses his head, and he lets out a low purr and stretches his paws toward me, the claws out and decidedly sharp. “Haven’t you, Bentley?”
“Wherever you go, he goes. All right?”