Page 3 of Blood & Kisses

Ignoring my plea, he snatches the picture and holds it in front of my face, “How much do you want the other men in this photograph dead?”

I swallow back the emotions lolling about in the back of my throat. “A lot,” I reply honestly.

“Alright,” he says upbeat, “Now we’re talking. Gather your stuff, and we’re taking you to Romano Terrace.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” I anger. “And what’s Romano Terrace?”

“A house,” he replies as Cormac pulls open a drawer and pulls out my underwear, “that you’ll be staying in until we’ve completed the job.”

“Excuse me?” I seethe as Cormac dumps my underwear in the bed next to me. “Staying in? You don’t dictate to me.”

“Do you have a bag, or should I just put them in here?” Cormac asks, picking up the plastic trash bag that contained the masks and wigs.

“Why are you taking me to Romano Terrace, though? Explain to me what’s going on,” I demand, snatching my underwear and placing them back in the drawer just as he pulls out two sweaters and shoves them into the garbage bag.

“That’s where Gabe lives,” Blake mumbles, and I stall mid-rant.

“Gabe? His father,” I point my thumb to Cormac.

“Yes,” Cormac answers.

Addressing Blake, “His father, who’s a detective?”

“Yes,” Blake replies. “The safest place for a murderer is under the roof of a cop.”

2

“Does he know what I did?” I ask the boys as we drive into the Romano Terrace suburb where every house is painted cream, the rooves terracotta, and the lawns immaculate, and they have a view of the lake. This is a suburb where the upper-middle-class residents are never home because they’re too busy working to pay their mortgage.

“Of course, he knows,” Cormac replies. “It was him that suggested it.”

My mouth gapes in horror. “He knows? How much does he know?”

“I messaged him updates as I followed you this morning because I knew you were on the kill,” Blake says smoothly.

I growl under my breath as the stress of the bind I’ve got myself in is causing havoc on my nerves, and I have the urge to drink, even this early in the morning. But I’ll abstain because I need a clear head for the next stage of this strange day.

Cormac turns into a drive of a two-story house, and I can see a sliver of the blue lake behind, and my heart soars for the water. Silver-haired Gabe opens the door as we walk toward the front door, and my heart lurches at the sight of him.

“I’ve put the coffee on,” he states calmly as I avoid his eye because I fear he’ll be disappointed in me.

He takes my bag stuffed with clothes and underwear and leans forward to kiss my cheek. I tense at his touch and inhale his delicious, woody scent. The boys follow in behind me as if they’ve been a hundred times before as I drink in the private world of Gabe Bernardi, the man I’ve crushed on over two years and envisioned what his house would look like, and I find myself completely uninspired. Perhaps he's missing a good woman in his life.

“How do you like your coffee, Rae?” he asks, placing my bag on the floor by the stairs while I follow the boys into the kitchen.

“Black with cream,” I reply, and he frowns in amusement.

“Latte it is, then,” he says, rubbing his hands together, then switches on the fancy coffee machine. “Blake?”

“I’ll take a latte, too,” Blake replies, pulling out a chair at the round dining table for me to sit.

Cormac opens the refrigerator and takes out eggs, sausage, and bacon. “Anyone feel like breakfast?”

“No, thanks,” I reply as Blake states he’s already eaten.

When my latte is made and placed before me., Gabe takes the opposite chair while Cormac cooks his breakfast, and Blake leans against the wall behind me.

“Have you got the photograph?” he asks Blake and takes out his phone from his pocket to show him the pic of my rape that he snapped on his phone. Gabe inspects it closely as shame floods my cheeks, and all I want to do is escape this madness. “Have you got the original?”

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