Page 168 of Ruin Me With Lies

“Relax,” I say through a laugh.“Go get some sleep, you’re spinning out.If she wants us to figure it out on our own, then she probably left clues.Assuming she’s actuallyhelpingus, that is.While you rest up, I’ll go over everything.See what she buried in the noise.”

He drags a hand down his face and nods.“Okay.Okay…”

He starts to walk off, then stops.Looks back at me.“Shit, you really think she’s capable of killing Luca?And Rochi?”

I think of the snarling green-eyed wolf from my dreams, fur of thick black smoke, sharp teeth bared, leaping at me with cold ferocity.“Yeah.I do.”

CHAPTER THIRTY–SEVEN

Stefano

LORENZO FINDS ME INhis office, watching the thinning casino floor below as the last-call regulars shuffle out.He brings with him the scent of whiskey and the soft clink of ice in glass as he steps up beside me.

“Got a voice message from Vernon,” he says.“Ranting that you canceled on that business dinner tonight.”

“I did.”

He scoffs.“You must have a damn good reason, because you know how that thin-skinned egotist loves taking shit personally.”

I scan the floor as the staff begin closing down.Searching for…I don’t even know what.“What’s the one thing Luca craved most and would’ve doneanythingto get?”

“Besides easy pussy?”

“Yeah.Besides that.”

It takes him a second.“Ah, his papa’s forgiveness.”

“Luca was solid.Loyal.Blood,” I say.“There’s nothing that could’ve convinced him to turn on us…except that.Vale’s approval.”

Lorenzo slides me a side-glance, ice clinking as he takes a sip of liquor.“What are you getting at?”

“Check the secure cloud.I dropped you some photos.”

As he pulls out his phone, I continue.“We know by now that nothing about how Raya thinks is obvious.She likes to challenge the mind, give as little as possible, stay just beneath the surface.So I tried to think like her, where or how she would leave a clue, whatwewould overlook that she wouldn’t.Until I remembered something she told me the last time we spoke.‘Sometimes tattoos are a map to the soul.’”I rub my jaw.“And then I just knew exactly where to look.On Luca’s body.There’s a fake tattoo on his inner wrist.”

“‘Forgive me, Father, for I have failed,’” Lorenzo reads aloud from the zoomed in photo of Luca’s wrist.The words are accompanied by a rosary.

“What does that tell you?”

“I don’t—” Lorenzo shakes his head, perplexed.“She wants is to believeValeis behind this?”

“‘Luca knows what he needs to do to fix our relationship.’That’s what he said when I brought up their estrangement over our last chess game,” I tell him.“But I was too damn distracted to pick up on it then.”

Unconvinced, Lorenzo rubs his jaw.“Look, I hate the fuck out of Vale.Don’t think there’s a righteous bone in that fraud’s body.But I can’t see him pulling this off.Maybe Raya’s fucking with us, not helping.”He shakes his head again, more emphatically this time.“I mean, Valelivesoff your monthly donations to the church.How the hell would he afford a coup?Mercenaries, cartel sway, mafia reach, the goddamn mayor?It’s not adding up for me.”

“How?Easy.Someone’s funding him,” I return.“Don’t forget, I’ve blocked a slew of business plays in this city that many aren’t happy about.Someone’s backing Vale in exchange for a promise of something if Luca took over.We just need to figure outwhothat someone is.And I know exactly who to put pressure on.”

Lorenzo lifts a brow.“The mayor?Your power pussy?”

“It’s time I paid her a visit.”I straighten my cuffs, then turn and start for the door.“In the meantime, assign some Soldatis to sit on Vale.Quietly.”

“Will do.”

I’m halfway out the door when a strange feeling knocks into me, halting me.A forceful blow, like being slammed in the chest by a battering ram.A lightheaded sway passes over me.Followed by a sudden, overwhelming sense that something’s wrong.

I’m out of time…

Mamma dreamed of her own death, so I’ve always figured it would be the same for me.But I won’t.Thisis it.This crushing weight pressing down on my chest like a goddamn boulder is the only warning I’ll get.