Page 116 of A Taste like Sin

he have done it?”

“Never,” Julio says without a shred of hesitation. “If Mr. Villa were to kill someone, there would be

no question that he was the culprit. None. If anything, he would have to call me in to clean up the

mess.”

I have to consciously keep my mouth from dropping open. “You make it seem like he’s done as much

before.”

He doesn’t answer, staring resolutely through the windshield instead. His silence conveys more than

any words could, however. A quiet reinforcement of his earlier warning:The other Mr. Villa. He is a

man you have not met, and you do not want to.

“Where are you taking me?” I ask.

“Someplace safe. Neither Chief Harrison nor Mr. Villa will be able to find you, unless you desire to

be found.”

It sounds too good to be true. A mythical concept so beyond my current circumstances. I’m skeptical

when Julio navigates us through a district in the heart of the city, finally stopping in front of a

nondescript brownstone townhouse.

“If you make a list of your things, I can procure them for you,” he explains while exiting the car and

circling to my end. As he opens the door, he adds, “In the meantime, make yourself comfortable.”

A suggestion made all too easy by the home’s simple-but-clean layout. It’s a step back from the luxury

of Damien’s suite, but a welcome change all things considered. The small living room contains just a

modest array of brown leather furniture centered around a TV.

“I wonder if it’s made the news?” I find myself blurting.

Julio quickly grabs a remote from an end table and flips the television on.

Sure enough, the blazing headline sports a grim update as to my father’s status, but the main footage

features a vaguely familiar man standing in front of a podium instead of a shot of the hospital. It must

have been filmed hours earlier, because the sun is shining behind him, casting an aura of authority my

father could have only dreamed of staging for himself.

Leaning toward the screen, I struggle to catch the words of his speech.

“…honored to have the family’s blessing to continue on in my campaign,” he says, his lips contorted

in a charming grin. “I hope to make Heyworth and the rest of the Thornes proud. I do not accept this

lightly.”