Page 103 of The Woman in the Hollow
She slipped back into it, giving almost the exact same blow-by-blow that the kid did, plus a few more details that Ant had either left out or hadn’t noticed when he’d been trying to find a way to save a woman with a knife to her neck.
By the time she was done, I expected more of the disgust or fear to creep into her voice, but if anything, she was even calmer about it.
And at that point, the whole Family was showing up. We had shit to discuss. Then work to do.
“I can stay locked in here,” Hazel offered.
“It could be hours.”
“I have nowhere else to be. I can start looking at catalogs for Christmas decor,” she added, eyes going bright.
I reached for my wallet, found my credit card, and passed it to her.
“Go wild.”
“You’re going to regret saying that,” she warned, practically bouncing behind the desk to wake up the computer.
I really, really didn’t think it was possible to regret anything with Hazel.
So I placed my gun on the counter, then locked her into the shop with visions of sugar plums and mistletoe running through her mind.
And got back to the Family business.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Hazel
If there was one thing about me, it was that I could get lost in an online shopping hole almost endlessly. And when it was with someone else’s credit card? There was no limit.
I had carts full of stuff in eight different storefronts when my eyes finally got too dry from strain to keep looking at the computer.
I swiveled in my chair, blinking some moisture back into my eyes as I glanced out the glass windows of the shop.
Men were milling around everywhere.
Over near the opening of the maze, Ant was stripped down to his boxer briefs and was rubbing down his body with baby wipes, dropping them all into a lined bucket someone had placed beside him.
It was the first time I’d seen him without his makeup on.
He was a good-looking guy, with a jaw that could sharpen glass, a wide mouth, and high cheekbones.
The girls may have been drooling over his character, but they wouldn’t be disappointed in his face either.
There were flashes of lights in the woods, and I imagined that somewhere out there, a man who’d betrayed the Grassi Familywas finding his eternal resting place. Right on the property of the man he’d been trying to steal from.
It felt oddly fitting.
There was a soft knock at the door, making my hand shoot out toward the gun before I even turned.
But it was just Dante.
I made my way over, unlocking the door, and letting him inside.
“Am I poor?” he asked, shooting me a sweet, but tired, smile.
“I didn’t buy anything yet. But the carts are bursting. I wanted to show you everything before I actually hit the buy button. Oh, except I did totally order ornaments. Custom ones. For the store. They have a cute little Christmas tree farm on them, the name of this place, and this year’s date. I figured they would be a fun, limited-edition thing to offer.”
“I like the way your mind works. Would you mind if we go over the carts some other time, though? Honestly, I’m fucking starving.”
