Page 65 of Secrets & Desires
Amber wasn’t talking about Livia…she was talking aboutAriel.
Amber knew Ariel’skiller.
ChapterTwenty-Five
“Are you sure?”Livia was looking at him with shocked eyes. Nox had related his entire theory to her as they sat eating breakfast the next day, and now Livia sat back, her distress obvious. “You think she hired someone to scare her sister and he went too far andkilledher?”
“That’s exactly what I think,” Nox said, grim-faced. “I always knew Amber was jealous of Ariel but I never thought she would havedonethis.”
Liv shook her head. “Maybe it was a prank gonewrong.”
“Pranks gone wrong don’t end with a woman being stabbed to death, Livia. Whoever killed Ariel meant it. He gutted her…he enjoyeddoingit.”
“So, Amber got in with the wrong crowd. Maybe she wanted someone to scare her sister, but she picked a psycho who killed Ariel instead and has been blackmailing Amber eversince.”
“Wow, you really ran with that theory.” Nox wasimpressed.
Liv half-smiled. “It just came to me. It’s not hard to figure out Amber’smotive.”
“Itisn’t?”
“You, numbnuts. Amber’s in lovewithyou.”
“No.”
Livia rolled her eyes. “Dude, wake up.Of course,she is. She always has been, but once the plan with Ariel went awry and Ariel died, she knew she could never be with you, that it would make her look guilty and sooner or later she would give herself away. Problem is, what do you do now? Do you go to thepolice?”
Nox sighed. “I think I’d better talk to her again first. If the killer is the same guy and she knows it, then maybe we get it out of her in return for not bringing herintoit.”
“But how will we tell the police how we figureditout?”
Nox’s green eyes were dangerous. “We don’t. I’ll deal with whoeveritis.”
Livia swallowedhard. “Nox.”
“No one threatens the woman I love.No one.And for Moriko, for Pia, for Ariel…I’ll dealwithit.”
Livia was both scared and turned on by the menace in his tone. She leaned over and crushed her lips to his. “I love you,” she whispered, “pleasetakecare.”
“I promise.” His kiss was sweet and tender and went on for a lot longer than expected before they were interrupted by his cell-phone buzzing. Looking regretful, he broke away from her and glanced down at thescreen.
“It’s Detective Jones.” He answered the call and Livia listened as he spoke, his facecloudingover.
What now?She thought wearily, and got up to go take a shower. Nox caught her hand and she saw his distress. “Okay, thanks, Detective. I’ll be right down.” He hung up thephone.
“What isit,baby?”
“Amber’s going to have to wait. They’re digging up my familytoday.”
Nox insistedon watching as his family members were exhumed from their family mausoleum. Livia stayed with him, holding his hand as his expression changed from determination to sorrow as the coffins were raised. He turned away as the medical examiner opened his brother’scasket.
Nox gagged and threw up while Livia, not knowing what else to do, rubbed his back and tried to console him. “I’m sosorrybaby.”
Nox wiped his mouth. “It’s okay. I know we’re doing the rightthing.”
His family’s caskets were loaded into the ME’s van and taken away. Left alone, Nox and Livia gazed down at the empty graves. “Promise me,” Nox said, “that when we die, we won’t be buried like this. Let’s both get cremated and fly in the wind foreternity.”
“Agreed, baby. Mausoleums creepmeout.”
