Page 89 of Kill for a Kiss

My jaw locks.

He gestures toward the door behind me with a bloodied thumb. “She’s sleeping, breathing,alive, which means it’s time we stop playing house and start figuring out what the hell we’re doing next.”

The shift in him is subtle, but there. Stanley’s always been all jokes and bravado. But I’ve known him long enough to see when he’s being serious.

“I have some pieces,” he continues. “Bits of what Clo’s up to. She’s not just licking her wounds. She’s planning something. And it’s big.”

I exhale slowly. Finally, he’s talking sense instead of his usual nonsense.

“We compare what we know,” he says, standing straighter. “We start from there. No more secrets. No more solo missions. Not if we want to keep Elle safe.”

I glance at the door again. Where Elle is. Sleeping. Recovering. Trusting me. And now I have to trusthim.

I hate this. But I nod. “Fine. We make a plan.”

Stanley grins again, his fingers drumming against the counter like this is all a game. “Great. But first, for real this time, ribs or loin?”

I don’t answer. Because my stomach’s full of fiery rage, not hunger.

***

The firepit crackles under the open sky, sparks flying upward. The boar—what’s left of it—is skewered and slowly turning over the flames, fat hissing into the embers.

I sit with a beer I don’t really want in my hand. The taste is bitter. Or maybe that’s just me.

Stanley crouches nearby, bare-chested and puffed up, flipping meat with a carved stick. There’s blood still dried on his wrist from earlier, and he hasn’t washed off the red on his tattoo either. That big cursive E on his left pec.

“Smell that?” he says, beaming like a lunatic. “That’s the smell of a perfect medium-rare.”

I grunt, scrubbing a hand down my face.

He jabs the stick at me like it’s a pointer. “You’re in a mood.”

“Because you’re insufferable.”

“Because we shared Elle.”

The stick snaps in his hand. I turn sharply, jaw tight, but he just shrugs like it’s no big deal.

“I mean, come on, Silver. She’s safe. She’s sleeping. We just survived orgygate. Let’s not pretend we’re gonna unsee any of that.”

“You’re fucking unbelievable,” I mutter, slamming the beer can down.

He points at me again. “Andlet’s not forget, charming as fuck.”

Silence stretches. Stanley’s grin fades, his brows furrow, and then he speaks, more seriously this time.

“So…you gonna fill me in or what?”

I glance sideways at him, nodding slowly. “You first. What do you know?”

Stanley rakes a hand through his hair. “Bits and pieces. I ran a job for Clo before I bailed, ‘cause I came home to a mansion without my future missus in it sincesomeonetook her.” I choose to let that comment slide, but I almost groan. “It was some high-level errand. Delivery to someone called Lix. Weird setup. The guy’s name kept popping up in the past year. I tried digging but hit nothing. The dude’s a mystery, I’ll give ‘em that.”

I frown, staring at the fire. “I asked my contact about Lix. He said there’s no paper trails, digital records, or any clues. He’s a goddamn ghost.”

Stanley nods. “The weird thing is, I found something buried in Clo’s files. The same name.Lix.” He puts more meat on his skewer. “I’m thinkin’ he’s either one of her errand killers like me, or worse, her right-hand man.”

“Likely,” I say. “And if he is, then Clo’s most likely tracking Elle through him, or using him to find her, which means she’s not done.”