Page 98 of Seduce & Destroy

Almost certainly. I wanted to say. They were lucky they had Aldo in their keeps right now. “I can be a liaison for them. They’ll listen to me. We have a rapport. You don’t.”

“Kilina doesn’t.” No, Logan was probably still crying about being bested by a girl. “They don’t know us.”

“They do. They know Kilina was a Karstein. They know she is responsible for Flavia’s death.”

“How ever could that be possible?”

“Aldo Novelli came to us before the funeral, warning my father and I to beware of an assassin within our midst. At the funeral, Aldo was in attendance, and Kilina was playing the dutiful guard.” I held up two fingers and connected them in the air.

“Hmmm, you might be an asset after all.”

“I’ve been trained in security and defence strategy and served as head of security for the estate.”

“My daughter told me you ran the training too?”

She talks about me? “Some of it. Yeah.”

“Interesting.”

“Are you…are you looking to hire someone?”

“Malachi told me you intend to earn your keep. I want to give you that chance.”

“Thank you!” I said too loudly. “But…Why are you helping me?” My voice wavered.

“Kilina’s instincts are rarely wrong, I doubted her, and I want to make it right.” Her hair fell in her face. A glossy darkness like her daughter’s, but pin straight. “But let me make one thing clear, I do this for her foremost. Not you.”

“Understood.” I nodded, and despite the tension and grief that would surely hit later, I dared to show a fraction of a smile.

?

I had the fire already lit when she arrived. It was a warm night for the season, but the flames offered a comforting warmth, like a blanket. I heard her before I saw her.

“I wasn’t sure you’d show.” I said without looking up.

Dead leaves crunched under her feet as she shifted her weight from leg to leg. And a crackle of something else. “I brought a consolation gift.”

In her hand was a bag of marshmallows.

“Where did you find these?” Excitement exuding from my voice. It had been days since I tasted something sweet.

“There’s a secret stash in Forrester’s office.”

I laughed. Neenan was right. “Who would’ve thought?”

“Life is full of surprises.” She sat beside me, the orange of the flames reflecting in the amber of her dark eyes. It drew me in. “I’m sorry, Laney.”

Reaching behind me, I pulled a blanket from the bag I’d brought out here. A chill ran from head to toe, there was a strong breeze. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not. All this change,” She took a deep inhale, and on the exhale out breathed, “You didn’t deserve the drama.”

“Life is full of surprises.”

“But it shouldn’t be full of loss. Once I heard your story, I wanted to slow the plan, I swear. I’m sorry I didn’t warn you.”

“You did.”

She tilted her head to the side, I wrapped the blanket around her shoulders, cocooning us both.