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“I didn’t write it and I didn’t have my mother write it. She must have done it on her own, which has nothing to do with me.” She shook her head and shoved the letter into my chest, sidestepping me.
“Nice try. Covering for Mommy Dearest is sweet and all, but I’m not buying it.” I slid to the side, blocking her escape route. Laying a hand on her shoulder, I gave it a gentle squeeze, subtly keeping her in place. “And in my world, snitches get stitches, blondie.”
Her brows furrowed again. Before she could ask a question or make another denial, I rammed the knife into her abdomen, angled upward. It didn’t go as far as it should have, which was irksome. That’s what happened when I rushed — the precision was off. Her gasp of surprise was followed by a strangled moan.
“Oh, God, Doc. I think I hit a bone in there.” I jerked the handle, but it refused to go further. “Yep. Definitely got caught. That’s the problem with a serrated edge. They don’t slip as nicely as a straight blade, but they sure hurt like hell on their way through the skin. In, or out.”
She pitched forward against me, shaking, digging her nails into the front of my shirt for some sort of support.
I held her with one arm, pressing my cheek to the top of her head, a mocking inversion of a tender embrace, even as I maintained my grip on the knife. “What should I do? Do I leave it in? Give you a chance to fuck me over in the future? Or pull it out and hope you bleed to death? Tell me, Lorelei. In your professional opinion, what should I do?”
She tried to stand tall, but every movement made her double over again and grab her stomach. The blood seeped out at a steady rate, scenting the air around us.
“Ooo. Maybe the poison will get you first.” I ran a hand over her hair, grabbing her by the back of the neck and tilting her face up toward mine. Her blue eyes were wide, frantic, and glazed over by pain. “So what’s it going to be?”
I couldn’t tell if she was purposely refusing to answer, or if she was too stunned to speak. Either way, my patience ran out.
“Tick tock, tick tock... Fuck it.” I yanked the knife out and shoved her away from me. She staggered back a couple steps before collapsing on the asphalt.
Strolling over to her trembling body, I leaned down and swept a lock of hair from her face with a bloody finger. “You know, I still don’t see what his fascination was with you. You’re like a helpless little lamb, all sweet and stupidly trusting. Guess you forgot you were dealing with a lion underneath all that sadness.”
Blood spread over her white shirt, staining her fingers as she tried to press a hand to the wound. Her breathing shifted to short pants. It was either shock or poison. Didn’t matter which.
“You rest easy now, Doc. I’ll go get help.” I winked and chucked her under the chin, standing again.
I stopped by her car, puncturing the front and rear tires, just in case she managed to drag herself over to it.
Whistling as I strolled away, I wiped the handle down and flung the knife over the tall, wrought-iron fence into the cornfield behind the hospital. A moment later, I, too, was over the fence and headed back to the Windy City for a much-needed night of relaxation with Del.
15
Bennett
It was a beautiful day when I loaded up the car. I had everything all mapped out for my little road trip, including a rough timeline of events. Now all I needed was to grab a coffee and set off. Leander was away on business with Olivia, so it was just me and the open road and... Jake.
As soon as I spied Jake ambling down the sidewalk, I yanked the Maserati to the side of the road and rolled down the window. It was a spur of the moment decision I hoped didn’t ultimately end up biting me in the ass. But if there was ever going to be peace in the kingdom, I needed to at least extend an olive branch to the little twerp.
Jake stuffed his hands in his pockets, stopping short with a glare when he saw it was me. “What do you want?”
“Get in, loser, we’re going hunting.”
Predictably, he made a face and remained exactly where he stood. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Come on...” I tossed my head to the passenger seat, slightly disappointed he ignored my Mean Girls reference. “I need you to help me with something.”
“Me? Helpyou?” He snorted and looked around, like he was expecting cameramen to jump out from somewhere.
“I’m serious. Truce?” I stuck my hand out the window, waiting.
He stared at me, then my hand. If I had to describe the look on his face, it would be something along the lines of pure hatred. Not that I blamed him. We started off on the wrong foot and never had a chance to make it right. So, hopefully this little road trip would do the trick, for Leander’s sake.
I sighed. “Look, you’re basically on the ‘No-Hit’ list. So unless you fuck up royally, you don’t have anything to worry about.” Maybe it wasn’t the best way to convince him, but he was screwing up my timeline.
He kept glaring at me, as still as a statute, the little cynic.
“Here. You can even hold on to this if you want.” I fished the ice pick out of my waistband and held it out to him. “I just need you for a couple hours. A day, max. Then we can both pretend like it never happened.”
Glancing up and down the street, Jake bounced on the balls of his feet before swiping the ice pick. “If you even fucking look at me sideways I’ll stab you.”
