Bloody Vows (Lilah Love 5)

He’s right which is exactly why I’ve gone back and forth about this decision. “I really don’t want to leave it like this and I don’t want to sell it.”

“Why don’t we re-build and make it our place in the Hamptons? You can design a Purgatory just the way you want it. And before you answer, yes, you were also attacked here, but you survived here.”

He’s right. I did. And in the end, we did. “What about your house?”

“And there lies the reason to rebuild, at least one of them. You still call it my house. We’ll sell it. Or keep it. We’ll figure it out. But as a bonus, rebuilding and moving here would make a statement. It would tell the Society they didn’t get rid of you, or us. It would be a real fuck you to the Society.”

“Sold,” I say, without hesitation, because, yes, fuck you to the Society. I’m coming for them. And I won’t stop until I win. And as for Director Murphy, he’d better pray he’s not involved with the Society. Or killing my mother. Or I will kill him.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Once Kane and I are back in the car, with the heater blasting, I have tomorrow on my mind and still no update from DD on the autopsy. I shoot her a text message: Is there an autopsy in the morning or a fashion shoot?

She replies with: You really are a bitch.

I answer with: Thank you. I still need an answer.

Eight AM, she replies. Room B. Sweet dreams while you can, Special Agent Love.

It’s a weird reply that almost seems like a threat though she isn’t exactly someone who intimidates with such things. Rather than ask what she will deny, I reply with: Abso-fucking-lutely. I don’t have a problem with dead bodies, remember?

She doesn’t reply.

My mind goes to Andrew and all the new and old snakes slinking about around him. I shoot him a message: Call me when you get a break. Not urgent but important enough for you not to pretend to forget.

Not long later, Kane and I arrive home to find the house is clear, and Jay is there waiting on us. Jay is a tall, dark, good looking enough guy, I guess, with a scar on his cheek, and a personality, I don’t hate. Which is saying a lot, considering he’s supposed to be my backup when things get dicey, but he might actually need my protection.

We join him in the kitchen that is now spotless, free of all signs of a dinner and cops digging about. “Did you eat the mac ‘n’ cheese?” I ask him.

“The poisoned macaroni and cheese?” he asks.

“Unconfirmed poison,” I correct. “And why not? You dived in front of a bullet for me. Why not just test the food?”

He crosses his arms as if protecting himself from yet another shot, this one coming from me. “You’re never going to let me live down jumping in front of that bullet, are you?”

“Actually, I’m giving you a hard time, but I appreciate your bravery. Thus why I brought you chocolate cake. This, you can eat.” I set it in front of him, on the counter from across the island. “It’s safe. Shove it in your mouth hole.”

“I will.” He accepts it, a smile hinting on his lips. “Where are we going tomorrow?”

I eye Kane, who is now joining us from the living room entry, with the bottle of whiskey Andrew gave us in his hand. “We’re doing this bodyguard thing again?”

“Did we stop?” he asks, setting the whiskey on the counter and retrieving three glasses.

I don’t argue. I don’t mind backup I can trust. And if anyone proved I can trust him, it’s Jay, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need an understanding. “I’m not a damsel in distress,” I say, meeting Jay’s stare. “If we’re in the middle of an active incident and I tell you not to do something, don’t do it.”

“I’ll try,” he says, and he’s opened the chocolate cake container and already has a fork in hand.

“You’ll try?” I demand.

“If it’s you or me and a bullet, it’s me and the bullet,” he says, “and I won’t care what you say at the time. I won’t get a second chance once the gun is fired. Be happy about that. Bullets hurt a hell of a lot more than I knew.”

“If I tell you something, it’s for a reason.”

“Perhaps that reason will be to save my life, Ms. FBI Agent. That’s not how this works.”

Kane laughs and lifts his glass, pausing at his lips. “Now you know why I brought him back.”

My cellphone rings with Andrew’s number and I answer with, “Hold on,” before I look between Kane and Jay. “I can’t deal with either of you right now. I’ll let you figure out the morning plan on your own. I have to be in Hauppauge at eight and then straight to the city.” With that, I grab one of the glasses of whiskey and exit the kitchen.