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Fitting, really.
Her father had created chaos and fear wherever he went. So, of course he would die during a thunderstorm in the middle of the night.
As the doorbell rang that evening, Jilly tiptoed down the stairs. She knew Mama would want her to hide while she answered the door. Nothing good ever came from someone ringing your doorbell at one in the morning.
Although this was New Orleans. Sometimes, it could be someone just wanting a cup of sugar.
Not in this weather, though.
Peering out of the shadows, she saw him.
He stood straight and tall. He looked older than twenty-seven. Or maybe that was due to how he carried himself. Confident. Dominant.
Every time she’d seen him, it was like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Jilly couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen him smile.
If ever.
“Mr. Malone.” Mama didn’t sound surprised. But then, she’d been married to Jilly’s father for over twenty years, a man with no morals or conscience, so it was probably hard for her to be surprised by anything anymore.
Who was the right-hand man to Laurent Malone.
The most feared man in New Orleans.
And this man’s father.
“Regent,” he said in a surprisingly gentle tone.
“Please, come in.”
He stepped inside, water dripping off his jacket, though he didn’t seem to notice. He wasn’t even shivering. Should she go and get him a towel? Surely she didn’t have to hide anymore now that they knew who was at the door.
But she didn’t move. Because she didn’t want to risk either of them sending her away.
Jilly was almost seventeen; she wasn’t a child anymore.
“He’s gone, then?” Mama asked in a strange voice. She sounded almost detached.
Who was she talking about?
“They both are,” Regent replied.
Hmm, he sounded almost like Mama. Who was gone? Where had they gone?
Mama slumped against the wall and Jilly jumped to her feet, ready to race down there and help her. But Regent leaped forward and grabbed her mother, swinging the older woman into his arms and carrying her into the living room.
Jilly tiptoed down the stairs, shivering slightly. It was cold tonight. Peeking in, she saw that Regent had laid her mother down on the sofa and was pouring her a drink.
That was Father’s Scotch.
He wouldn’t be happy if any of it was missing.
Jilly moved her weight from foot to foot worriedly. Father wasn’t a person you wanted to anger. Although she couldn’t see him getting mad at Regent.
Regent Malone was going to take over the family business one day. He was a man to be feared.
He was not a man that you got mad at.
Not unless you were stupid.
