Page 58 of Souls and Sorrows

I give her a tight smile, feigning nonchalance even though every muscle in my body is screaming at me to take her in my arms. To push her against the mirrored wall and eat her until my tongue and fingers are numb and makeherwatch while I do it.

She’d probably try to kill me if I did that right now.

Fuck me, for some reason, that makes the illusion even hotter.

Clearing my throat, I drop her and turn away, heading for the door. My hands grasp the push bar, and as I open it up, I hear her soft voice drift in from behind me.

The softest, “Thank you.”

And then I walk out.

* * *

“Cassius Primrose.To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“To whom actually.” Holding my tie to my stomach as I take my seat in the metal chair across from Rafael Ricci, I meet his flat gaze, taking in the dark red jumpsuit and his bloodshot eyes. Prison clearly does not agree with him. “I’m surprised you know who I am though, to be honest.”

“Powerful men make it a point to know other powerful men. Especially when their fathers are shady, spineless motherfuckers.”

I almost smirk. “Like does recognize like, doesn’t it?”

“Shame you don’t seem to be as easy to get rid of.” His forehead creases with a scowl, all formal pretenses dropping.

I almost ask what he means by that, but then it dawns on me—the oleander at the wedding.

For fuck’s sake. Of course he was behind that. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it in the first place.

If Ariana wanted me dead, she would’ve probably done it behind closed doors, where she’d have time to clean up a body. Not in a public place with potential witnesses.

Confusion worms its way through my mind. But she was affected by the poison, like he hadn’t even let her in on his plan beforehand.

Had he tried to kill her too?

Rafael clears his throat, vying for my attention. “In any case, what are you doing here? My daughter not keeping you satisfied enough, so you have to come bother her old man?”

“Ariana is actually why I’m here.” Unlatching the lock on my briefcase, I pull out a couple of forms, stacking them and sliding them across the table.

“A search warrant?”

“It’s not been signed by a judge, so as it stands right now, the filing officer needs to have it amended before he can execute the right to search.”

Rafael gives me an odd look. “Okay, so… what’s the problem? Why are you showing me this?”

Inhaling slowly, I pinch my nose just beneath the bridge of my glasses.

Idespisewhen people play dumb.

Irritation swarms my chest like a flock of vultures, and I lean forward, pointing to the signature of the officer who signed off on the document. “Is this not someone on your payroll?”

“How should I know which pigs are corrupt?” He runs a hand through his hair, shifting in his seat. “Besides, they’re not mine anymore anyway. Not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’m in prison, son.”

Pulling the documents back, I shuffle them on the table, rage boiling my blood. I got the serving papers at my office, so I haven’t even told Ariana about them, choosing instead to clean up the mess before it blows out of proportion, since our marriage was supposed to be a cover for this exact thing.

An investigation into whatever the hell she was doing before our union is not something I feel like dealing with right now. Especially when it would inevitably drag me and my underhanded dealings into question, threatening everything I’ve been building.

Normally, I would make the warrant go away on my own. It’s easy enough to bribe officials, and I’m certain no judge in the area would go against my motion to have the request thrown out.

But the nature of the document, the probable cause listed, bothers me.

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