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Because it does something to you, watching the light leave someone’s eyes. It changes you. Makes you more yourself.

She nods and leaves the room.

I grab the syringe in my pocket. “Heroin. You’ll slip into an easy warmth and you won’t wake up. It will look like an OD after partying with a sex worker. Is that acceptable?”

“Do I have other options?” he asks with vulnerability in his voice. He’s facing his fate. I don’t envy that.

I don’t want to die either. Not today, anyway. “Bullet between the eyes.”

“This one,” he nods.

I inject him.

His last hint of bravado fades. Fear streaks his eyes. Then anger. Sadness.

Fear again. But not of the pain this time. Of the abyss on the other side of existence.

The last great mystery.

I hold his hand while he fades into oblivion.

Then I stage the scene. Remove the tie that’s currently binding his wrist, wipe the needle, press his fingertips to it. First, the cuffed hand. Then the free hand.

I leave a card just for Matteo.

Miss You to Pieces

XO

I send him a picture of the image.

It’s a bit much, but I need to entice him. He’s too damn patient.

After, I find Diamond. Pour her a shot of limoncello.

She sips like it’s a rare treat, but there’s no delight in her expression. Only the shock of seeing murder up close for the first time.

“If you’ve got the stomach for this, I have work for you. You’d do what you do now. Seduction. Flirtation. Information gathering,” I say.

“Like a spy?” she asks.

I nod. “It’s dangerous. I won’t lie. But I can make it worth your while too.” I slip my burner number into her pocket, slip the bottle of liqueur into one of Tommy’s old leather bags, and walk her out.

I send her home in a cab.

Then I go to the hotel where I’ve checked in under a name Matteo knows.

Elena checks in to make sure I don’t mind her bringing someone back to the AirBnB.

This is supposed to be a bonding experience. A working vacation.

For cover, yes, because we’re two women out on the town, because that’s less suspicious than a single woman, traveling alone.

But mostly because we like working together.

Even if she wouldn’t appreciate good pasta if it slapped her in the face.

I text her back.