Page 49 of Hart of Vengeance
He shot daggers at me. “What hospital is Savannah in?”
“Answer one question, and I’ll tell you. Do you believe I killed Hector?”
“It’s late. I have a meeting in the morning.”
I squeezed the hell out of my glass. “Why is it so hard to answer?”
He pushed his fingers through his hair. “What do you want from me? Do you want me to tell you I believe you didn’t murder anyone? Because that would be a lie. The evidence says otherwise.”
I slammed the glass down on the coffee table. “Then tell me what you were doing at Alvarez’s apartment the night he was murdered.”
His jaw nearly hit the carpet. “What the fuck? Are you for real?”
I couldn’t decipher whether he was shocked I knew he’d been there or if he was shocked that I would believe he was capable of murder.
I let him stew while I helped myself to another drink. The first round of bourbon hadn’t affected me yet. Maybe my adrenaline was too fucking high.
He lost the snarky attitude, and a minuscule amount of fear jumped free. “Who told you that?”
Tension, thick and strong, filled every nook and cranny in the enormous room.
With my glass full, I returned to stand near the fireplace. I needed the heat from the fire to thaw my rage. Or maybe I should just get stinking drunk and let the alcohol quench my fury. I wasn’t a mean drunk. That blue ribbon went to our old man.
“Did you know that gossip is worse in prison than it was in high school?” I asked.
Duke’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “So you’re telling me some con told you I was at Alvarez’s apartment on the night he was killed?”
I gulped down a mouthful of bourbon before answering. “Yep.”
Duke’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Or was it the Feds?”
“I told you I’m not working with the Feds.” I wasn’t. I’d never told Travers I would do anything, at least not until they gave me something in writing. But deep down, I was never planning to blow the whistle on Duke. Although if he continued to piss me off, I just might slap on a badge and take the reins.
He vaulted off the chair so fast, I barely tracked his movement until he was patting me down like I was getting arrested.
I swung my arms out to the sides, giving him full access to search me. “You won’t find a wire if that’s what you’re looking for.”
Edging back, he hardened his jaw.
“Satisfied?”
He clutched the back of his neck. “Did the Feds come to see you in prison or not?” His lethal tone had a crack in it.
“Tell me who told you that, and I’ll give you a straight answer.”
Duke heaved out a breath. “I’m not revealing my sources.”
I cocked my head and shrugged. “Until you can give me straight answers, I’m not giving you squat.”
“Then we’re done here.” He swung out his arm and gestured to the elevators. “Get the fuck out.”
“Gladly.” The only thing to come of our reunion was that one or both of us would end up in the emergency room, but I had to give it one more college try and attempt to break through his steel wall.
I knocked back the bourbon. “Did you murder Hector Alvarez?”
He lunged, pinning me against the sharp stone frame of the fireplace before gripping my throat. “Until you can act like my brother, I don’t want to see you again.”
The empty glass fell from my hand. The sound of shattering glass exploded in the vast penthouse.
