Page 77 of Finders Reapers

Why anyone would want to spike a boomer was beyond me, but there was plenty of speculation online—not limited to a revenge plot and a possible sugar daddy/baby relationship between ValentineXO and the crusty money-man.

My thoughts were muddy, but sleep alluded me.

After too long staring into the blue light of the phone, I put it under my pillow and closed my eyes, hoping that by pretending to sleep, actual sleep would come.

I hovered on the edge of wakefulness, for I didn’t know how long, when I felt someone shuffle past in the living room. I kept my breathing deep and even and listened as they drifted to the kitchen.

“Privet,” Rome said, his voice hushed as he spoke into the phone. “I didn’t work today, so I didn’t come to see you.”

Rome paused as he listened to someone on the other end of the phone.

“Sasha. It is not my job to hold your hand. You chose to take the job at the office. You could have become a Reaper. They offered you a position when Richard died.”

Rome clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

I eased myself from the bed and crept forward, my bare feet silent against the slate tile.

“You are jealous?” Rome scoffed. “Please. Do not play games with me. That is not the relationship we have.”

I kept to the shadows, pressed against the living room wall, just by the arch that led to the kitchen. I didn’t know why I was listening, but my heart was fluttering with a strange hot and cold flushing sensation that felt a lot like jealousy.

“I need you to tell me if you have seen a man pass through the reception.” Rome interrupted her. “Yesterday. You should have his name on the ledger, yes?”

He paused. “What do you want in return?”

He exhaled. “Just tell me. His name is Antwan Tanner. He came through yesterday.”

I recognized the name. It was the accountant.

The second victim.

“That’s what I thought.” Rome snarled. “Yes. Yes. I know. If I want your silence, I will have to come to you. I am aware of our deal. Goodbye, Sasha.” He spat her name like a curse before hanging up the phone and dropping it onto the counter without care.

Rome sunk into the nearest stool and pushed his hands over his face, pressing the heels of his palms into his eye sockets.

I pulled back and pressed my back against the wall, trying to sort my thoughts about what I had just heard.

It wasn’t a coincidence. I needed to know more about the second victim; I needed to learn more about what was going on. It felt like I was spinning fifteen plates, racing between them, unable to keep all of them going at once.

I craned my neck around the arch to check on Rome, but the stool was empty.

A hand curled around the back of my neck, and my body was tugged back, flush against someone’s hard chest.

Tobacco, leather, and vanilla.

Rome.

He had caught me spying on him. I broke away, pushing his hands back as I whirled on my feet to face him.

I let out a breathy laugh, awkward and silent. “Rome?”

“Myshka.” He whispered. “Are you spying on me?”

I shook my head, causing my red hair to fall into my eyes. Rome lifted a hand, brushing a single finger across the bare skin of my arm.

“Lying,Myshka?”

“My name is Valentina.”