Page 28 of Under Her Skin

I’m going to get herback.

ChapterFifteen

“So, who did you piss off?” Imelda looked down at the notes Hero showed her and the photographs of the murderedgirl.

Hero shook her head. “I don’t know. I got the first one just a few days after I got here. The other three later.” She thought back. “The first one…I’d just got back to the hotel, and someone had followed me. A man. He had a knife, Ithink.”

Imelda gaped at her. “And you didn’t go to the police afterthat?”

“No. I ignored it. Who would threaten me like that? I figured they...got the wrong room.” Her excuse sounded flimsy even to her as she saw Imelda lookskeptical.

“You were withhimthat night,yes?”

“Yes.”

“So, you had ‘fuck-brain.’”

Hero snorted with laughter. “I hadwhat?”

“Fuck-brain. All those endorphins flowing through your system. You were dick-ma-tized.”

Hero chuckled, feeling lighter now her sister was here. “I don’t know what makes me say this, Melly, but I missedyou.”

Imelda studied her younger sister. “You know what’s strange? I missed you,too.”

“Thanks,” Hero said dryly, but Imelda waved herhand.

“No, I mean…for once, when you weren’t there, it was odd. And it wasn’t like when you married and lived all that way down in Chicago. It felt like…you were gone.Gone, gone. When we didn’t know where you were, I honestly thought you’d done something stupid. Hero, when I told you to move, I was just trying to shock you into doing something. I didn’t actually want you to move to anothercountry.”

“I know that,Melly.”

Imelda gave a little sigh. “I wasn’t very nice to you when we were growingup.”

“No.”

“I wasjealous.”

Hero’s eyes widened. “Youwere jealous ofme?Why?”

“Because you were nice, and I didn’t know how to be like that. I was just born abitch.”

“You arenota bitch,” Hero said, emphatically. “You tell it how it is.” She considered, then grinned. “Sometimes you might…take a scoop from the assholejar.”

They bothlaughed.

“God, Melly, it feels so good to laugh.” Hero rubbed her face, her smile fading. “I messed up right from the beginninghere.”

Imelda didn’t say anything for a moment, and when she spoke again, her voice was soft, kind. “Was hespecial?”

Hero nodded. “I’ve never met anyone like him, Melly, not even Tom, and God, I loved Tom. He was absolutely my best friend in the world, but Arturo…” She flushed. “I’ve never known…sex…like that. And the connection…God, Melly.” She could feel tears threatening again. “It just felt right, youknow?”

Imelda sighed and took her sister’s hand. “Hero…I hate to say this because I can’t forgive him for leaving you at the hospital, but if you really feel that deeply about him, maybe there’s achance?”

“I really want to believe that, but I don’t think there’s muchhope.”

Arturo finished speakingto his Board after securing their agreement to change the name of the Villa Patrizzi. He saw they didn’t really care what he called it; they were just delighted that he’d acquired the last apartment, and as far as they were concerned, it was free of charge. He didn’t tell them that he’d paid Hero back everything she’d paid. The cost was nothing with all his millions. Peter had been annoyed but eventually let it go. “Hey, it’s your money,buddy.”

Arturo grinned. “So very passive-aggressive.”