Page 40 of Till Death Do Us Part

“Caitlyn’s an early riser too. She’s been enthusiastic, and we got her a new laptop, but she insists on an opportunity to get her own tablet. She says it’s important.”

“Ah… it was my birthday gift to her.”

“You’re a good one.” She squeezed my shoulder. “No wonder even the Wolf likes you.”

“Vera is…?”

“Just what some of us call her. Her last name, Farkas, means wolf. And she’s got the dark, broody, howling at the moon thing down.”

I looked down. “She’s just… gone through a lot. It’s natural she’d be closed off.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Yeah… sure.”

“Are you two even friends? You threatened to kill her and then got into a fight.”

“I hate her,” she said brightly. “She stole my job when she first joined the family. My chances of a promotion evaporated. I swore to get her back. I just haven’t managed to kill her yet. Besides that, she’s a psychopath and a threat to humanity. She’s just our threat to humanity.”

“I feel like I should be upset that you’re insulting my wife.”

Petra laughed. “Vera’s still out for preparation. Let’s grab you your breakfast.”

Preparation. To marry me.

To keep me alive.

I looked one more time up at the wedding decorations. “Yeah,” I said. “Breakfast sounds nice.”

petra

Vera Farkas was going to screw this up.

I couldn’t blame her. Talking to Elaine, I didn’t want to hurt her, either. She was that kind of radiant personality where you could tell all she did was care for people.

But we did what we had to do. The Blackbirds were family.

I finished getting Elaine her breakfast, and I grabbed another snack too—I’d eaten breakfast when I woke up just two hours ago, but I was always ready for another meal—and I got her the itinerary for the day, leaving out the part that she was going to die tonight.

I hated seeing the girl look almost excited for this wedding. Vera was good at what she did.

The fucking Wolf. I was going to kill her.

Caitlyn closed her laptop once I’d finished with Elaine and went to join her in the living room, looking up at me with concern in her eyes. Concern for her big sister who she loved dearly. What were we going to do with this one, anyway?

“Are we done for the morning?” she said.

“We get a nice break. Although you don’t need to do anything, you’re a guest.” I set down an iced coffee for her, and she lit up as she took it, closing her eyes with a long sip.

“It’s nice here,” she said. “You all are so kind… I never thought I’d feel so welcome in a place.”

I sat down on the sofa with her, putting a hand on her shoulder. She was so small, so delicate, even more so than her sister. “Your mother didn’t deserve you,” I said. “Don’t worry. You’ll be okay.”

“Can you tell me now what’s happening?” she said. “With my sister and everything?”

Vera and I had talked about this, and we decided it made sense to plant the seeds of Whitecliff assassination before the murder actually happened. “It’s some heavy stuff,” I said. “You sure you want to know?”

“She’s my sister. And my best friend. I’m worried about her.”

“Yeah, well, you’d be right to be,” I said. “Your sister inherited a small property in the industrial district. Not very important in of itself. But an organized crime ring needs that property to complete its project.”