Daddy.
Daddy.
Daddy.
My big sister knew all about Elijah. She was the one who’d taught me that stalking him was an invasion of his privacy.Technically,it was illegal, but I didn’t think he’d mind since he did illegal stuff all the time.
“Silas?”
“Somebody ordered a hit on Mr. Thomas. Not like the mob boss guy but just the regular CEO guy.”
Her eyes narrowed. “That’s super weird. Isn’t it?”
“I think so.”
The mob boss version of Benjamin Thomas was one hell of a psycho. I watched him chop off a man’s finger and shove it down his throatjust for fun.He’d once used people as target practice and had an affinity for blowing out people’s kneecaps.
He tolerated humans because he had too but the only person he actually liked was his husband.
“The CEO guy is boring as shit.” I tapped my knuckles on her counter. “He has conference calls and goes to galas every other weekend.”
“Have you found who wants to kill him?”
“Uhm, no. Not yet. I’m not worried, though.”
“I’m not either.” Thea grabbed a spoon, and shoved it in the pot, stirring the noodles as the water bubbled around them. “You always find who you’re looking for. Do you have any leads?”
“No, but...”here goes nothing“I do have a, uhm, partner.”
Thea stilled, and it’d felt like hours before she’d craned her neck and peered over her shoulder. Plum lips were pressed in a firm line, and I watched her take a breath before she said, “I’m sorry?”
“This is serious, Thea. Whoever this man is has a hidden vendetta and so far, he’s done a good job of burying his identity beneath codes and fake IP addresses. He has to be taken out the minute we find him.”
“So, this partner is another hacker?”
“Not exactly, no.” I scratched my arms again, and I dipped my chin to my chest, speaking to my lap. “It’s Daddy.”
She dropped her spoon.
I heard it crash against the tile floor and from the corner of my eye, I saw the noodles it took with it, soaring through the air.
Her fists were clenched when I dared to look at her, and she shut her colorful eyelids to take a really long breath. After a moment, she shook out her muscles and reached across the stovetop to flip off the burner.
“Are we still having spaghetti?”It was my favorite.“Thea?”
“Elijah?” She spun around, and her cheeks were tight and twisty like she’d just eaten something sour. “Your partner is Elijah Kingston?”
“He’s the best.” I grinned.My Daddy was awesome.“Once I find out who this guy is, Elijah is going to shoot him in the head.”
“And he has to meet you for that to happen?”
I frowned. “It was a little sudden, yeah, and I sort of freaked out before he came over but—”
“He was in your house?” Her voice cracked, and she started to laugh again. Sweeping the spoon off the floor, she paced around her tiny kitchen, mumbling to herself while she swung that kitchen gadget around like a wand. “Shit, okay. He was in your house.”
“I don’t understand your reaction. Are you… mad? Why?”
Emotions were weird, and I knew each one had its own face. Problem was, everybody’s face looked a little different, so it took me a while to figure out which face belonged to which emotion. Thea was my sister, so I knew her emotional faces pretty well.