Page 43 of Carved in Ice (Made of Steel 3)

“Does he talk about me during your sessions?”

I shrugged. “If by talking about you, you actually mean talking about yourself, then yes.”

“What did he tell you about me?” He set his wine glass down.

I said the most memorable thing that Dr. Miller had said about V. The first thing that popped into my head. “That I thawed your heart.”

V laughed. “Well what he forgot to mention was that it probably wouldn’t have needed thawing in the first place if it wasn’t for you.”

“You mean…you forgot to mention that fact.”

“No, Sadie. I don’t fucking mean me. And he had no right to talk about me to you. That wasn’t our deal.”

“So you’re not…”

“No!” He put his hand up to his hood like he wanted to run his fingers through his hair, but stopped.

How I wished he had done it and accidentally pushed back his hood. I wanted to see him. I needed to see him. This was insane. We had known each other for six months. Enough was enough. And I didn’t believe him for a second. There was no way he would have told Dr. Miller he was V. There was no reason for him to trust a strange doctor over his friends. Which meant he was Dr. Miller. The charade was over. I took another swig from the wine bottle, as if I needed liquid courage to keep confronting him with the truth. “V, I know you’re him. Stop hiding. Please. We can have a real conversation without all this,” I waved my hand at his outfit.

He walked over to me and grabbed the bottle from my hand. “Did he tell you that I dream of you?” V asked. He set the bottle down behind me, caging me against the kitchen island with his arms.

It felt like my heart was going to explode. And guilt crept over me. I shouldn’t have felt excited by his proximity. I was in love with another man. Despite what V thought. “No, he didn’t mention that.”

“Then what else did he tell you about me?” he asked.

I needed him to step back. “That you’ve been cut deeply. Which is why it’s hard to open yourself up to others.”

“Oh. Well in that case, he’s clearly told you everything you need to know about me, right?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You should be able to easily guess my true identity now that you’ve talked about me with Dr. Miller. And you still don’t see it. So maybe that’s why you’re not ready to know.”

“I’m not the one that hurt you, V. Why are you shutting me out as punishment for something I didn’t do?”

“You’re the one…” His throat made a deep groaning noise and he pushed himself away from me. “Drink some water and then get some sleep.” He walked away, leaving me alone in the kitchen.

I’m the one? I rolled my eyes. Yeah right. You hate me. I grabbed the bottle of wine and took another sip. His stupid façade was done. And I was going to prove it.

I stumbled into Eli’s room and collapsed on his bed. Even with my bloodstream pumping more alcohol than blood, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sleep. I pulled my laptop onto my lap and typed in Dr. Miller’s name in a Google search. After adding a location and his medical distinction, I was able to find his practice. He was a real doctor. For some reason, I was a little surprised. But that didn’t exactly squash my theory. I jotted a few things down, like where he went to school so that I could quiz V. Maybe he’d slip up and admit something he didn’t mean to.

But Dr. Miller wasn’t my only suspect. There was the issue of Mr. Crawford. He hadn’t shown up at the extraction. And V had been there. Maybe Crawford couldn’t show because V literally couldn’t be in two places at once. V had denied being Mr. Crawford once. Although, his word meant nothing as far as I was concerned.

But V had disappeared during the extraction. I lost sight of him right before that creepy movie had started playing. I finished the bottle of wine and set it down on my nightstand. That was enough time for V to take off his disguise and put on a nice suit. I could picture Don standing in the center of the theater with the scarred skin on the side of his face. Scarred skin would be a good reason to wear a mask.

And really, what other reason? I didn’t care who V was as long as I knew he wasn’t Don. A chill ran down my spine. So why hide it otherwise?

I climbed out of bed and locked Eli’s door. Could V really be Don? Did that even make any sense?

V had appeared in this city as soon as I did. Like he followed me here. He watched me. He hates me yet loves me at the same time.

I started pacing back and forth. Crime escalated as soon as I came here. As soon as V appeared. Being Don, V, and the mayor seemed like a big load. But not an impossible load.

Dr. Miller had said that V was the dark side. Which meant Don was the light side? My laughter sounded strange in my throat. Or was him being the mayor the light? I pinched the bridge of my nose. It felt like I was hung-over already.

Mr. Crawford hadn’t shown up at the meeting. No one from the Helspet Mafia had. It was like they knew about our plans so they changed theirs. Like they had someone on the inside of our group. Obviously we had been compromised. We had a mole.

It felt like I couldn’t breathe. God, what if V was Don?

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