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I should take my woman and leave, but I stayed. “Let’s kill the fucker who did this to you.”

He directed his look on me. “I asked for your friendship. Not your assistance.”

“You asked me to be your brother again, and that’s what brothers do. So, who did this?”

He considered my request with those ruthless eyes, his face so stoic it was like a sculpture. “Karl Buttoni.”

“As in, the Buttoni brothers?”

“Yes.”

“How’d you kick the hornet’s nest?”

“Long story.”

“Can’t be so long it’s not worth telling.”

He gave a shrug. “I harvested his brother’s organs by mistake.”

“By mistake? How does something like that happen by mistake?”

“Like I said, it’s a long story. There’s a third player in this game.”

My eyes narrowed as I anticipated the complexity.

“An enemy of Karl’s used me as a pawn. Had me do the dirty work to eliminate one brother—and possibly the second brother, if he doesn’t kill me first.”

“That still doesn’t answer my question about how this happened.”

“Someone switched out the bodies.”

“If someone switched out the bodies, that means the recipient probably died.”

He gave a nod. “His family thinks the body rejected the organ for other reasons.”

“This really is a shitshow.”

Grave gave a look of annoyance. “To put it mildly.”

“And you have no idea who the other player is?”

“No.” He drank from his wine. “And I think they’re more dangerous than Karl Buttoni, especially because I have no idea who the fuck it is.”

“Have you told Karl this?”

He gave a smirk. “You think he’d believe me? Besides, it makes me look bad. I’d rather him think I intentionally killed his brother than think my men aren’t loyal to me.”

I nodded in understanding. “But you and Karl could have a common enemy.”

“It’s not going to change the fact that I killed his brother. I have to kill Karl first, then seek revenge on the guy who set this whole thing up.”

“If we get a list of Karl’s enemies, we should be able to narrow it down.”

He drank from his wine again. “I suspect that’s a long list…”

“But between the two of us, we know pretty much everyone. We could deduce the perpetrator by process of elimination.”

He sank back in his chair, his fingers still wrapped around the glass on the table. “Cauldron, you could get yourself into deep shit by getting involved in this. You’ve got your own life, your own business, your own shit.”

“But I’ll always be a Toussaint.”

His eyes froze. The rest of his body did as well.

“If someone fucks with you, they fuck with me too.”

FIFTEEN

CAMILLE

I watched the two brothers from my window.

They talked. They drank wine. They didn’t throw the table over and pull out their guns. I guess that meant it was going well.

It was a long conversation, at least an hour before they both rose from their chairs.

I ducked back inside the room and waited for Cauldron to walk in, to take me away from this place that had only been a temporary home. One of Grave’s men came and removed my ankle monitor. Footsteps became audible down the hallway, two sets. On the edge of the bed in a dress with my hair dry, I waited for the door to open.

Cauldron walked inside first, his eyes settling on me like it was just the two of us. His brother was right behind him, but Cauldron claimed me like he was my sole owner. “Let’s go, baby.”

That was it? It was over? I had nothing to bring with me, so I rose from the bed and approached him. He must have seen the hesitancy in my eyes because he said, “We came to an understanding.”

“What kind of understanding?” I asked.

“We’ll talk about it later.” He gestured to the door so I would walk out first.

Grave stood there, staring at me with that hard face. “A word.”

Cauldron stared at him hard for a second before he stepped into the hallway.

So, it wasn’t over. I looked up at Grave and waited for him to speak his mind.

“There’s no coming back from this. I’m not your safety.”

“That’s fine, Grave.”

“We both know what’s going to happen, but you choose him anyway?”

“I don’t believe that. We don’t know what’s going to happen, and I’m happy to take the chance to find out.”

His eyes shifted back and forth between mine. “Then I wish you good luck.”

“Thanks.” I turned my back on Grave and walked into the hallway. Cauldron stood there and stared out one of the large windows that overlooked the property, the light hitting his face and making him even more handsome. The shadow under his jawline was longer, his dark eyes a little brighter. I moved into him and touched him for the first time, lighting on his forearm. “I’m ready.”

He looked down at where I touched him and studied the grasp before he grabbed my hand. “Let’s go.”


Tags: Penelope Sky Lesser Dark