Page 50 of Thorns of Death

“Clearly Isla prefers Italian men too. AnItalian daddyto be more specific,” Reina replied, facing Phoenix to sign. “She just refuses to admit it.”

Slamming on the gas pedal, the Land Rover revved into the next gear, causing a few honks to blare behind us. I laughed happily for the first time in days, then pushed my hand out the window and waved the car forward. It sped up to pass me but stopped parallel to me.

I turned my head and gave him a sweet smile. The old man sitting in the passenger seat rolled down the windows and then let out a string of Russian curses.

Another wave and he was forgotten as he sped up ahead of us.

“I’m just happy to get some time away from my investigative work,” I remarked dryly. “Apparently I suck at snooping.”

“Have you checked his underwear drawer?” Raven asked.

“Or his sock drawer?” Athena chimed in.

“If I were you, I’d find his safe and break into it,” Phoenix suggested. It was Raven who translated since I had to keep my eyes on the road.

“I’m good with stealing,” Raven told Phoenix. “I can handle that. Killing, not so much. My stomach is too weak. I can’t handle blood.”

Then as if to emphasize it, she gagged.

Silence filled the car and the ghost creeped through the air until Athena put a stop to it.

“Forget the fucker who’s dead.” She talked and signed at the same time. “Now, Isla, did you or did you not go through your brother’s stuff? We have to work using the process of elimination here.”

I held my hand up. “No, I didn’t go through my brother’s underwear and socks. Yikes!” I flicked a glance in the rearview mirror to meet Phoenix’s gaze and confirmed that Raven was signing for her since I was driving and needed both hands. “And my safe-cracking skills are slightly rusty, so there’s that.”

“So you know where his safes are?” Reina asked. I nodded. “Then he wouldn’t have it there. It’d be a spot that nobody but him would know.”

I rolled my eyes. “Lovely. Not sure how I’ll find it if nobody knows about it but him.”

Athena waved her hand. “Let’s worry about that some other day. Tonight is our break time.”

“Where are we staying?” Phoenix asked. “Please don’t say some motel.”

I chuckled. Reina, Phoenix, and I went on a girls’ trip once, and I’d been in charge of booking the hotel. Phoenix never let me live down my mistake in booking a motel instead of a hotel. How was I supposed to know a motel wouldn’t have any amenities aside from maybe a toothbrush and tiny bottles of shampoo and conditioner? I’d never stayed in one until that time.

And Phoenix liked her amenities apparently.

“I booked us at The Carlton.” I switched lanes so I’d make my exit. Reina signed to her sister, snickering. “It has all the fucking amenities. Best of all, there’s a club right next to it. We can walk to it, have fun, and be back in our room in no time. No drinking and driving.”

I never took anyone to Illias’s castle in Russia. I could take my friends to any other home but this one. It was one of the hard rules he’d given me early on. It was okay with me though. Nobody I knew was Russia-bound crazy. Besides, there was nothing for miles in the countryside where our home was. So this was a win-win.

Squeals of excitement filled the closed space of the Land Rover.

“Tonight we shall have music, food, and lots of drinks,” Raven exclaimed.

“I hoped you’d say sex,” Athena remarked. “I want to try some wild shit. Spanking. Oral. Ass play.” Enrico’s smirk and the dark glimmer of his eyes flashed in my mind. I’d bet my violin he was into ass play. Dirty man.

“I tried spanking, it just didn’t do it for me.” Reina stiffened, realizing she slipped, and we all watched her as she turned beet red. It just so happened that she’d conveniently forgotten to sign for her sister’s benefit. But Athena came swiftly to the rescue and filled Phoenix in.

“Tell me you did not let Amon spank you during sex!” Phoenix demanded to know, her eyes bulging out of her head. We all knew Reina and Amon’s history. She’d fallen for him hard. I was so fucking sure that he fell for her too. After all, he fucking waited for her to become of age to touch her. “I didn’t think he was into rough sex.”

I certainly wouldn’t have thought Reina was into it either.

Although it was interesting that Phoenix didn’t think it was Dante who spanked her, considering she was engaged to him. Unless Phoenix knew Dante’s preferences. Interesting.

“What?” Reina’s tone was defensive, her eyes darting out the window. “I wanted to see how it felt.”

I chuckled. “Good for you. I just think it’s sad for the rest of us that you have more sexual experience than all four of us combined.”