Page 110 of Thorns of Deceit

What if Duncan had completely broken her? What if Aiden and his brothers got hurt because of me?

Aiden and I had grown closer. We talked often, spent even more time tangled in the sheets, but there were places we didn’t go. Conversations we avoided. Like our feelings or what we might face once we reached Glasgow.

The days were growing colder and shorter. Aiden and his brothers had left after lunch, and the apartment felt emptier than ever. After sharing an apartment with my best friends for so long, I was used to constant commotion. Now, the isolation somehow felt even lonelier.

Dusk had settled over the city, casting long shadows across the bedroom walls. I sat curled up on the windowsill, Athena’s latest book open on my Kindle.

Reading had never come easily to me, although I always made a point of reading Athena’s books. How could I not? Friends support friends. But right now, I couldn’t focus and was still stuck on page two, even after an hour. Eventually, I gave up and let my gaze drift to the streets below.

Beneath me, Paris pulsed with adrenaline and people rushed home, into a bar, or whatever else they had going on. The girls and I used to be those people, but over the last few months, we’d one by one been swept into completely different lives.

I considered calling Athena or Isla to ask if there was any news about Phoenix and Reina, but I stopped myself. They’d ask too many questions, and I wasn’t ready to answer them. I didn’t want to risk shifting their focus to me.

Wherever Phoenix and Reina were, I prayed they were safe. They were fierce and could endure a storm. As if on cue, that fateful night with Angelo Leone came to my mind.

The keys jangled, sharp against the hush of the hallway. Our breaths fogged the air while Isla struggled with the lock. The New Year’s celebration had gone well enough, but the laughter still rang empty, because it wasn’t the same without Reina.

We giggled as Isla finally managed to open the door and we made our way to the kitchen, only to come abruptly to a stop at the scene in front of us. The kitchen looked like a battlefield. Reina sat on the blood-smeared tile floor, her face a canvas of bruises while in front of her a body sprawled in the pool of blood.

Silence—foreboding and ominous—stretched until Isla broke it. “What… the fuck…”

Reina’s deathly pale expression lifted and she whispered, “I killed him.” Then her eyes found her sister’s. “I’m not sorry.”

“Who the fuck is this?” I rasped, my eyes glued to the lump on the floor while images of another dead body played in my mind. I didn’t get to see my mom’s dead body. Did it look as terrifying and horrific as this one?

“Did he—” Phoenix swallowed with an audible gulp while her hands trembled as she signed. “Did he touch you?”

Reina shook her head.

“How did he get in?” Athena croaked, looking like a deer in headlights.

“I answered the door. Before I could shut it, he pushed in,” Reina answered. She seemed oddly calm, or maybe she was in a state of shock.

Isla stared at the body with a horrified expression before turning to look at me. “Who is he?” Isla asked, repeating my earlier question.

“Angelo Leone,” Phoenix answered. “Dante and Amon’s father.”

The name hung there, the apartment seeming smaller by the second. Dante and Amon’s father represented the Leone family in the Omertà. My mom had told me to hide in plain sight, but this… Oh my God, this wouldn’t constitute hiding.

I shook my head as a tremor zipped down my spine.

There was no time for panic. My roommates had been there for me when I needed them, and now they needed me. Reina needed us. If we acted smart, we’d remove ourselves from this situation, and I’d remain invisible to the underworld.

I zoned out their exchange while I tried to come up with a plan to keep us all safe.

“First things first,” I started in a calm, collected tone while turmoil raged inside me. I pointed a finger at Reina. “You need a shower. Then we need to brainstorm ideas about what to do with this body.”

“Why aren’t you freaking out?” Athena muttered.

“Have you killed before?” Isla mumbled, half joking and half serious.

I shook my head.

“Remember how I told you that I saw a mobster kill and dispose of a body before?” They all stared at me, and I waved my hand, now not even sure if I said that to them or maybe I thought about telling them. “It’s a long story, and we don’t have time for it right now. Let’s all change into something black.”

“Why black?” Isla whispered.

“It’s easier to blend into the night,” I answered. “I think so, anyhow.”