Page 27 of Murder Notes

“You drew a line in the sand. You didn’t make peace.”

“What do you want to hear?”

“Are you now my father’s enemy?” I ask.

“Right at this moment? No.”

“But you could become his enemy?” I hold up a hand. “Don’t answer. Why didn’t you call me? If you cared about me at all, you would have told me.”

“A few rumors and meetings do not make a crisis.”

“It’s fucking Romano, Kane. Damn it, you should have called me. You watched me like a damn stalker, but you didn’t call me about this.”

“I would have, had it become an issue.”

“I need to stop it from becoming an issue.” I inhale a sharp-edged breath and breathe it out in an equally sharp change of topic. “What do you know about the man from that night?”

“He’s gone.” His tone is hard. “That’s all we both need to know.”

“Do you know his name? Who sent him? Anything?”

“Lilah—”

“Answer,” I command.

“No to all your questions.”

“How can you, the Kane Mendez, who knows everything about this town, not know those answers?”

“Someone made sure I couldn’t get them without bringing attention to things neither of us wanted attention on.”

“Had you ever seen the tattoo on his arm before or since that night?”

“Lilah,” he orders. “Hear me and hear me now. You will leave this alone.”

His intense need to control what I do or do not do regarding that night is exactly why I make the choice in this moment to keep Junior to myself. “What do you know about the tattoo?”

“Nothing.”

I narrow my eyes on him. “You’re lying.”

“Why are you asking about this?”

“That wasn’t a denial of the lie. Why are you dodging and weaving?”

“Why are you trying to get yourself on radars you don’t want to be on?”

“And yet you don’t know who’s involved. Right. Lies. Just so many lies.” I don’t give him time to reply. “I’ll be confirming your alibi. I’ll be in touch once I do.” I turn and head for the door, but the moment I reach for the knob, his hand is on the door above my head, his big body so damn close he’s damn near touching me. So close I can smell him. And he smells like a life I once found addictive, a life I loved and now hate.

“Let me out,” I order softly.

“You will not ask questions about that man or that night, Lilah. You aren’t the only one that has something to lose.”

I rotate to face him, cursing the decision that now puts me a lean away from touching him. “What happened to you trusting me like I trusted you that night?”

“I do trust you, Lilah.”

“Seems to me you were glad to have me on the other side of the country.”