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“I am.”
“No. You’re not. You don’t do this.” I gestured helplessly at the boxes of carnage all around us.
“I do.”
“Notthis.” I hurled the pair of hearts into the fire after the little one, styrofoam cooler and all. “You don’t kill the innocent! You never have.”
“There is no such thing as innocence.” His head turned toward me slowly, his gaze vacant. The dried tear marks on his face caught the light, but his eyes were empty now.
At a loss, I simply shook my head again. I could have the most logical argument in the world and it would fall on deaf ears. Knowing there was nothing I would be able to say or do to get through to him was both incensing and absolutely crushing.
Without saying another word, he rose to his feet and padded out of the room, leaving me in the midst of his bloody boxes and his broken soul.
36
Bennett
Elijah and Jake appeared in the kitchen one night, unannounced and unexpected. They were still living in the garage apartment, so their presence wasn’t entirely out of place. It was the looks on their faces that unsettled me.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, already dreading their answer.
Ever the eldest, Elijah spoke first. “Is Leander around?”
“He’s resting.”
In the days following my gruesome discovery, Leander resumed his hunger strike. On top of it, his insomnia was particularly brutal. I think he was on Day Three of no sleep before he finally crashed. Literally. He collapsed in the hallway and I had to drag him to bed.
Elijah frowned, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I know it’s been rough, but you might want to go get him.”
“Why? What’s happened?”
“He’s here,” Jake said, as if I was supposed to know what that meant.
“He who?”
It was Elijah who answered, looking even more grim than before. “The bomb maker.”
I swore under my breath. It all made sense now. Leander hadn’t been in a hurry to go after Giovanni’s daughter because he had other plans — like working his way through Gianna’s associates and their families until someone gave up the identity of the man whose device killed Olivia.
“You didn’t know?” Elijah’s frown deepened.
I shook my head. “No. He hasn’t exactly been chatty lately.”
Elijah nodded. Thankfully, he was all too familiar with Leander’s moods, so I didn’t need to elaborate.
“What do you want to do?” Jake asked.
“Where is this guy?” I asked.
“The Young property,” Jake replied. “In Missouri.”
“Give me a couple hours. We’ll meet you there.”
They nodded and left again. The sooner we got rid of this fucker, the sooner we could fully commit to giving Gianna her just desserts. Then, hopefully, Leander could move forward.
When I went upstairs, Leander was still fast asleep, his hand draped across Annabel, who was curled up in the curve of his stomach. He didn’t look like the ruthless man who ordered the execution of entire families. For once, he looked peaceful instead of the tortured specter I’d been living with.
I let him sleep for another hour before I went in to wake him. Sliding into bed next to him, I caressed his face. “My love. You have to wake up.”
