Page 64 of Pretty Poison

“So I don’t need to watch out for anyone new, then?” I sigh, rubbing my hands down my face in defeat. “I was already searching for that cunt. Seven years and no sign of him here until recently.”

“He’s in New York?” Apollo reaches to swat my chest and my eyes fall down, landing on his hand. He pulls it away. “I’m sorry, I guess some habits don’t die in here. Why is he here?”

“We don’t know. He could have business here, but it’s more plausible that he’s here for personal reasons. The last known sighting of him was before he fled seven years ago. He wreaked havoc to the point that he gained more enemies than he could ever imagine. I’m not the only person who wants his head on a pike, believe me.”

“Then you have to keep Liana on a short leash, Dario. If he’s capable of disappearing without a trace and knows people who can too, what’s to say he won’t make her follow him into the shadows?”

“Consider it done,” I reply. “He wouldn’t make it onto the compound, but if he tries, he’ll end up in the same place as you, enduring more hurt than you ever did.”

Turning to Ace, I watch as his face contorts as if dissecting my words, and I remember what I wanted to ask him. “She calls you Ace, but also Savio; why? Is it like a hyphenated name or something?”

He laughs, shrugging his shoulders. “I’ve known Liana for as long as I can remember. She was five and struggled to say my name because my accent was still quite strong. She couldn’tunderstand what I was saying; I gave her something easier to work with.”

“So where does ‘Ace’ come from?”

“Savio Accardi. She also couldn’t pronounce my last name at first—”

Apollo laughs. “‘Aceardee’, she used to say. It was the cutest little thing.”

A light laugh escapes me. “How could she have gotten it so wrong?”

“I have no idea, but ‘Ace’ kinda stuck for us. It was like our little thing, the three of us.”

“Ares too, when he came into our lives,” Apollo chimes in as if it’s a vital piece of information.

“And he was your… boyfriend, right?” I ask, squinting my eyes as if that’ll save me from any backlash if I’ve misspoken.

“Yeah. I kinda fucked things up between him and me.”

“I mean, I don’t think you getting locked up in here has helped.”

He shakes his head with a soft laugh. “It didn’t, no. The only reason you found me was because I frequented his house like three times a day, lingering around for hours on end. I couldn’t go in and see him because it made it all too real for me and it was still so raw. I couldn’t face the fact that he moved on so quickly.”

“I could… I could look into him for you if you’d like? You know, make sure he’s doing well?”

He shakes his head, but the look in his eye is enough to tell me he needs this. “I won’t be the person to disrupt the cushy life he’s made for himself. He’s moved on and I should be fucking happy, not wishing for the demise of his new boyfriend.”

“But you are, Apollo, and it’s okay to grieve what once was. It makes you human, and in here, you need to be in touch with your humanity if you ever want to make it out alive with your sanity in check. Give me his name, would you? Don’t be as stubborn as your sister.”

“Where do you think she got it from?” he queries with a pleased smile. “His name is Ares Aiello. He lives in Manhattan, or he did four years ago.”

“Got it.”

“If he’s married or has more than one child, I really don’t want to know. You can keep that piece of information to yourself.”

“And you, Savio? Is there anyone you want to check up on?” As soon as the words leave my lips, his head shakes.

“No. I wasn’t in a relationship and didn’t make a big enough impact on anyone’s life that they’d care about me.”

“Family? Friends? An old acquaintance? There has to be someone.”

“There’s no one. Like I said, not enough of an impact on anyone’s life.” He swallows. “Why do you care?”

“In some sense, you’re family now. Apollo, you’re Liana’s brother, and Savio, you’re, well… You’re a big part of her life. I don’t want to keep you here any longer than necessary, but until I get the evidence correlating with your innocence, I can’t let you leave. If, for some reason, you decided to retaliate against me and harm my family, it would be my fault.”

“You’re not how I pictured you to be, Dario Vitale,” Apollo says, his voice soft and his eyes squinting as if dissecting me. “You’re… different from who Aldo said you were. Not as big of an asshole as he painted you to be.”

“Take it from me, to get somewhere in this world, you will doalmostanything to diminish your competition and accomplish your dreams.”

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