Page 55 of Lethal Vows

“If you say so.” He winks and digs into his own pasta. I grab the fork he stuck into mine and take a bite. It’s really good. “She’s an amazing cook,” Crue says.

“She is,” I agree. It makes me miss home, just a little. I haven’t been back since I was a teenager because my life has been too busy. But I plan to go back. Hopefully, one day soon. “Why are you really here?” I ask.

“Because you are.” His answer is simple and seems genuine. I focus on the television, but I don’t even know what’s happening anymore because he’s implanted in my brain. And he’s stuck—he won’t leave, literally and figuratively.

I eat the bowl of pasta, and when I’m done, he takes it from me, places it on the coffee table, kicks off his shoes, pulls my legs over his, and then covers us with the blanket. He laughs at something on the television, and I stare at the fine lines around his mouth. He really is a perfectly made human. If I had met him as a normal person—you know, without him killing my boss and all—and he asked me out on a date, I would have thought he was talking to someone else. That’s how goddammed handsome he is. But not handsome in a clean, pretty-boy way. I can see the rough hands. I have felt them when he touches me. He has these lips that you just want to kiss and never stop. I honestly think I could never tire of kissing this man.

All of that does not equate to me wanting to marry him, though. Nor does it make me want to fall in love with him. Maybe in another life, we could be together. But we want different things. We have entirely different lives.

I scoot down lower, and he kneads my feet while he watches the television. The feeling is overwhelmingly good, and my tired body gives in.

And before I know it, I fall asleep.

CHAPTER29

Crue

When I carried her to the bedroom, she didn’t even open her eyes. I laid her down and pulled that maxi dress off without hesitation. When I did that, she moved but only slightly. Then I pulled the blanket up to cover her stunning body and went to the bathroom. When I came back, she was passed out again.

I kissed her forehead and told her I’d be back.

And right now, it’s six a.m., and I’m still not back.

Instead, I stand over a man who looks like he used too much gel in his over-slicked hair as he smiles up at me with gold teeth.

Are gold teeth still a thing?Surely not, it looks so damn crass and unrefined these days.

“Her mother hired an investigator today,” he says. Slimy Jim is his name, and he may be a slimy bastard, but he is good at finding information. He shovels more food into his mouth and mumbles, “She moves fast.”

“Who was the investigator?” I ask.

He laughs, then gives me a shit-eating grin, food stuck in his gold teeth. “Me.”

I roll my eyes. Of course, it was him.

“And?”

“Well, she wants me to dig up dirt on you.”

“Is this at her request? Or her daughter’s?”

“She wouldn’t say.” He shrugs.

Interesting but not surprising. Rya’s mother dabbled in this world for a while, and information was of value. Or maybe she genuinely cares about her daughter. But somehow, I doubt that—I know what this woman is like. Maybe it’s that she doesn’t understand the magnitude of who I really am.

“Then give her some dirt. I want to see what she does with it.”

His spoon pauses, and he looks up at me. “Are you for real?”

I clench my hands. Usually, when someone comes poking into my personal business, I kill them. Nothing good comes from someone snooping where they shouldn’t be snooping, and the easy fix is to kill them, just as I’d been doing the past week with the Torrisi in mind.

“Yes, but nothing she can use. Make shit up for all I care. Keep me informed, though. I want to knowexactlywhat you tell her.”

“You plan to let her breathe?”

“Fucking hell, Jim, stop asking questions and just fucking do it.” I walk out of his restaurant and slam the door as I leave. Dominic is waiting for me when I slide into the car in a foul mood.

“What’s that about?” he asks, dropping his cigarette to the ground before stomping on it.

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