Page 54 of Silk and Sirens

Another knock. Harder this time, almost impatient.

“I know you’re there, Aeris!” Detective Kane shouted through the wood.

Fuck!

“I’ve really got to go,” I whispered to my sister, moving forward so I could peek through the window. I saw Detective Kane standing on my doorstep, fist raised like he was seconds away from breaking the glass.

“Aeris, who’s th⁠—”

“I’ll be there!” I hung up before she overheard anymore and reached for the door. The moment I cracked it open, Kane shoved it wide to storm inside.

“You didn’t tell me Alexander Ackworth was related to Sebastian Devereux,” he snarled.

Before I could respond, he grabbed me by the shoulders and slammed me hard against the wall. The impact knocked the breath from my lungs, but I managed to bring up my arm to block his next hit. Only for him to grab it.

“Aren’t you supposed to be the detective?” I managed to say, the back of my head aching from the impact. “Besides, I thought you wanted to put all the bad guys away?”

“You have no idea, do you?” Releasing my arm, he dragged a hand down his face. “You’ve just fucked me. Seriously, Aeris. The Beast?”

I pressed myself tighter against the wall. “That’s not my⁠—”

Pain across my cheek—a slap so hard I fell. My hands stung as I caught my fall, my shoulders strained as I looked up through my hair at Kane. He’d begun to pace, his movements frantic.

“You’ve killed me, you bitch!” He took in a great gulp of air, then reached out with his arm to swipe across my side table until everything shattered. “Alexander’s already out, and the first thing he’ll do is get the Beast to go after me!” He grabbed my lamp next, throwing it across the room until it crashed against the opposite wall.

I sat back on my heel, wiping the blood from my lip. “Trust me, you’re not that important.”

He went to raise his fist again but thought better of it. Instead, he bent down, closing our distance until his nose almost brushed mine. “This is it, Aeris. We’re done. Contact me again, you pathetic little whore, and I’ll kill you. Understand?”

Chapter 24

Caden

Tony:

Her guests have left.

Dismissing the text, I checked the street again, ensuring the only ones lingering in the shadows were my men. She’d somehow managed to pit two of the city’s most powerful crime lords against each other … and still avoided sparking an all-out war. All to get protection.

Aeris was in deeper shit than she’d ever admit, and that meant I had something to use against her.

Using the key I’d copied, I unlocked her front door and disarmed the alarm. My boots crunched as I stepped inside, drawing my eyes down to the shattered glass and what appeared to be a broken lamp. The shards glistened against the streetlights leaking through the door, one I turned and locked.

Aeris’s home was exactly as I expected, all rich jewel tones and mismatched furniture that somehow worked together. One chair had been badly repaired, and another was worn to the bone. The kitchen was spotless, like she never cooked, but the living room told a different story. Books, blankets, and shelves lined with the random, shiny shit she liked to collect.

Picking up a trinket, I turned it in my hands, not understanding her fascination. Everything I owned had a purpose. The cushions and blanket I had draped over my sofa weren’t to make the room look softer, instead chosen for nothing more than simple comfort. Honestly, the idea of decoration for decoration’s sake had always eluded me.

I didn’t find pleasure in such things, but Aeris clearly did. So I pocketed a strange green sea glass that looked like she’d simply found it at the beach before turning towards the stairs.

The carpet muffled my footsteps, my ears straining for any sound. I expected to find Aeris vulnerable, asleep in her bedroom. Instead, her bed was neatly made with no sign of her.

I knew she hadn’t left with her visitors. So where the fuck was she?

Moving silently, I entered the bathroom. The lights were low, nothing other than the flickering of a candle on the windowsill illuminating the claw-footed bathtub. It was filled right to the brim, and it took me a second to notice anything beneath the perfectly still water. Aeris was lying at the bottom, her eyes closed and body still.

I didn’t think, reaching my arms into the bathtub to pull her out. Aeris’s eyes snapped open at my first touch, spluttering and splashing as I pulled her out and onto my lap. She let out a choked cough, her breathing laboured as she struggled to take in enough air.

“What … what are you doing?!” she gasped, her hair plastered across her face. She reached for the towel that had fallen when she’d flapped around like a dying fish, tugging it to drape across her naked body.