Shackled Hearts (Chained Hearts Duet 4)

“Adora,” I say her name again, and she looks down. “It’s not Costa, is it?”

I manage a laugh when she nods.

“You hid?” I ask.

“In plain sight. It’s always the best way, isn’t it?” I study her now. She isn’t the shy book girl I thought she was. She is the smart book girl who worked out how to use everything to her advantage.

“You’re meant to be married to Joey. That was his brother, Kier,” I say, pointing to the door where he just left.

“I’m no fool. I know who he is. Just as I knew who you were.” I throw my head back and laugh as she walks off, then comes back holding a first-aid kit. “I know how to remove a bullet and stitch. Do you need me to repair your leg, or do you want to go to the hospital?” she asks, opening the kit and grabbing the surgical needle and thread then waiting for an answer.

“Your father signed your contract. Where is he?”

She glances up at me. “I killed him,” she states, then holds out a flask of gin. “It’s all I got.” She hands it to me, and I swig a mouthful, then she takes it back and pours some on my leg before she starts digging around for the bullet.

“Fuck.”

“Stay still,” she says, pushing my leg back down as it moves, trying to get away from the pain.

“How did I not know?” I ask, trying to think of something else besides the agony she’s currently inflicting.

“I showed you what you wanted to see, and you approved it.”

“Approved it?”

“I’m guessing that’s what you did with that lady. You showed her what she wanted to see. Not the real you.”

I throw my head back again and laugh. “Oh, she knows the real me, that’s for sure.”

“Well, why isn’t she here, then?” I look out the window and wonder the same thing.

“Because sometimes the villains don’t win.”

“Do they ever?” She laughs.

“They do sometimes,” I say, smiling.

As soon as she’s done, she gets a mop and bleach to clean the floor while I finish off the rest of the gin. I stare at Sergio on the floor and sigh.

“He was always nice when he came in to help get your books,” Adora says.

“He was…”

“Sorry,” she whispers before she collects the cleaning supplies and heads to the back of the store.

She leaves me staring at my only friend in the world lying dead on the floor only a few feet away.

Sergio had a family. When he started working for me, I promised him that, no matter what, I would look after them. I knock on the door, and Sookie opens it with a smile on her face. “Lucas. Sergio isn’t here.”

“I know.” I pull out an envelope and hand it to her.

Sookie’s head shakes back and forth, and tears fill her eyes. “No, no, no. I know what this is. Tell him I’m not in the mood for a joke. You tell him, Lucas.”

“I can’t.”

“He rang me, told me loved me. And now…” The tears are flowing down her cheeks.

“He loved you, you know that.”