Page 47 of Vicious Heir

“I guess not.”

I put a few pairs of shorts away. “I’m going to rinse off. You should know there are going to be some new rules around here for now.”

“New rules? I didn’t know we had any old ones.”

“You need to stay at the house as much as possible. What happened at the wedding wasn’t random.”

She looks at me. I can tell that makes her very nervous. “It was aimed at you, wasn’t it? And it involved me somehow too?”

I frown sharply. “How do you know that?”

“Grandmother apologized to me. It was honestly bizarre.”

I take that in. Demir’s story is starting to seem more and more plausible, but I decide not to scare her. “You’re safe here. Don’t worry about the wedding anymore.”

“Kind of hard not to, given the whole explosion and fire thing.”

“Stay at the house. If you need to leave, make sure you tell Luca first. He’ll be your primary guard.”

“I have babysitters now?”

“You have men making sure you remain alive.”

She doesn’t sulk. I like that about her. Instead, she only turns back to placing shoes in an orderly row. “I’ll see what I can do,” she says.

I open my mouth to argue, but think better of it.

Instead, I go to clean the stink of death off me the best I can.

Though I doubt I’ll ever get it all the way off.

Chapter 16

Lucy

Ifully intend to stick around the house and follow all the rules. My conversation with Adriano keeps running through my head. The smell of blood on him. The tired, haggard look in his eyes. The way he stared at me with a strange, impossible-to-ignore hunger.

That man is dangerous. And for some reason, I’m drawn to him, like a moth trying to burn itself on a flame.

Except Kennedy invites me to a trendy bar near Adriano’s place, and I feel my heart flutter in my chest. Despite what she said, I keep assuming she’s going to disappear from my life like everyone else has over the years.

I tell her I’ll be there and hurry to get dressed. It’s around five in the evening on a Thursday, and I figure this won’t be that big of a deal. What assassin is hanging around chic gastropubs during happy hour? People only get murdered after sundown.

I leave a note for Luca, though, thinking it’ll cover my bases, before sneaking out the back. I hurry through the side gate andmake my way four blocks to a cute little place called Moonlight, tucked between a comic book shop and a used bookstore.

There aren’t too many people drinking this early. Most of them are in business casual outfits like they’re straight from the office. I find Kennedy sitting at the bar with a big teal drink in front of her and one already waiting for me.

I’m weirdly nervous. But as soon as she turns and smiles, it’s like my world brightens. She hops down from her stool and gives me a big hug. “God, it’s weird not seeing you every day,” she admits.

“How’s the house going without me?”

“Oh, the usual. Helena’s been twice as awful since you left.” Kennedy makes a face. “I’m not sure how long I’m going to last, if I’m honest.”

Another swirl of nervous energy. But it doesn’t matter if she quits. I don’t live there anymore, and she’s not my employee.

We’re just friends. This is normal, regular friend stuff.

“You could always come work at Adriano’s place,” I say, sort of joking, but also desperate to have our old relationship back.

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