Page 36 of Kings & Carnage

Now I felt exposed. There was nothing to do but tell the truth at a time when the truth was feeling more and more dangerous.

I was lifting my hand to ring the bell a second time when the door opened.

At first I thought maybe it was Mrs. Giordana's housekeeper. The woman standing in the doorway was disheveled, her graying hair loose around her shoulders in a tangle of waves. Her face was devoid of makeup, her lips pale and thin under brown eyes shadowed with grief.

It was only when she straightened the baggy beige cardigan that hung on her thin frame, lifting her chin imperiously, that I realized it was Mrs. Giordana.

She'd aged ten years in the two months since I'd seen her last, but the light of recognition in her eyes made it clear she had no difficulty remembering me.

She started to close the door in my face with a simple word. “No."

I stopped her with the only thing I could think of: the truth.

"I lied to you the last time I was here," I said hurriedly.

She stopped, eying me sharply, her resignation turned into something like bitterness. "Unless you're here to tell me something I don't already know, you can leave.”

"I…" I searched for the right combination of words that would make her trust me, or at the very least, let me in. "I want to tell you why I lied.”

"Why should I care?" she asked.

"Because I don't think you're a bad person," I said. “And…"

She lifted her eyebrows. “And?"

"And I'm not entirely sure your husband was a bad person either." I had to force the lie from my mouth. Whatever Dean Giordana’s motive, no one good planned to kill someone and bury them in an unmarked grave in the woods.

There was a long moment when I wondered if she would slam the door in my face anyway. Then, she opened it wider and stepped back into the elaborate but tasteful foyer.

"Don't expect me to leave you alone this time," she said. "Your little delivery was smart — but not that smart."

Chapter15

Neo

Imade my way back through the mall, intending to head straight for the car and get back to the house as soon as possible. In my head I knew Willa was safe with Rock and Drago, but I wouldn’t rest easy until I could see her with my own eyes.

I stared blankly at the storefronts as I passed — right up until I came to a store with suggestively posed mannequins dressed in a variety of lingerie.

I stepped into the store. Willa deserved to have nice things, even while we were in hiding, and it would feel good to buy her something.

Like she was really mine.

One stop turned into several, because if I couldn't have Willa wearing cheap truck stop underwear, then I couldn’t have her wearing cheap truck stop clothes either, even though she did look cute as fuck in the tiny T-shirt (thank you, Drago) and heart-shaped sunglasses with nothing else but her Tuesday panties.

Then — fuck me — I felt bad about Rock and his chafing balls so I stopped to pick up some things for him, and because I didn't want to be a total dick (why didn't I want to be a total dick again?), I bought a few things for Drago too.

I was on my way out of the mall, my wallet significantly lighter than when I'd entered it, when I spotted an array of blinding diamonds shimmering from a jeweler's window.

I stopped without thinking, drawn to the glittering display of earrings, necklaces, and bracelets before my gaze landed on the rings.

I walked into the store feeling like an alien who’d just landed on a new planet. My mother had been gone since I was a kid and buying jewelry for a girl I was dating would have sent all the wrong messages.

Basically, I'd never been in a jewelry store in my life. Now I was here and feeling weirdly nervous.

What the actual fuck?

An older man in a suit approached me, his thick silver hair nearly white under the bright fluorescent lights.

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