Chapter 8 #4
“If you guess, I’ll have to kill you,” she said, moving the wood block out of the way. “Let’s get back to the mystery at hand. Which for me is what were you looking for in my workshop.”
“Can I get dressed first?” He grabbed up the jeans lying on the grass nearby.
She’d liked being in control of him. A lot. He’d submitted to her, and that still trickled through her bloodstream. Even though he was already pulling up his pants, she said, “I suppose.”
“Sounds like you want me to stay naked.”
“Do not.”
He approached her, chest still bare, stopping inches from her. “If you were mad crazy in love with me, sounds like we wouldn’t be able to have a relationship because of your family.”
“I wouldn’t be mad crazy in love with you.”
“But if you were…”
“I’d catch hell. It wouldn’t be worth the dissension.” She nodded toward the wall. “Or being strung up there.”
“When I signed on to be a Vega, I knew a serious relationship was out of the question. But you didn’t sign on for something like that. It’s not right for your family to deny you a relationship or give you a hard time about who you choose to be with.”
“I know it’s not fair, but it’s just how it is.” She looked at the beauty of the marsh and swamp beyond. “There are obligations that go with the good of being in a big family.”
“Like keeping the books when what you really want to do is make jewelry. You’re good at it. I saw your work while I was being nosy.” When she shot him a look, he said, “Hey, I thought you’d rather me be in your workshop than in your bed.”
She blinked at the memory of that.
He took her chin in his hand. “I know keeping peace is important, but every time you sacrifice what you want, you cut bits and pieces off your soul until there’s nothing left.”
She thought of the yellow dress hanging in her closet. “What do you know about sacrificing your soul?”
“My father worked his way up through the Guard ranks and then on to the Concilium with a stellar record.
I was expected to be a certain way, to want certain things.
Yeah, I grew up with prestige, money, high-class parties.
No one thought it was clever when I flew down the banister to make my entrance.
Or Changed to a wolf and ran across the buffet table.
“I wanted to be Guard on my own terms. For a while it worked, but life smacked me down. I had to make a choice: conform or lose what was most important to me. Being a Vega was all I ever wanted. I sacrificed my personal life for it, and my nature. I see you fighting that same struggle. Don’t sell your soul, Vee.
It strips everything away and leaves you empty and wanting something you can’t even name.
Something you’ve forgotten was inside you, but it’s an ache that never goes away.
” He continued toward the house, pulling his shirt down over his head.
She could only watch him while the heavy weight of his words sank into her chest. He’d shoved that playful, sexy guy deep inside him. Despite her words, she wanted him back. But what he’d said intrigued her in another way. Was he telling her to stand up to her family on her choice of boyfriend?
But he’s not your boyfriend! You’re pretending until you get to the bottom of this, or until he can convince his boss to have the Guard investigate.
That’s all. She killed the lights and caught up to him.
He’d given up serious romantic relationships, which meant he’d probably never loved a woman.
Yet, he’d sounded so convincing with all of that waking up next to her in the morning stuff he’d told her.
As they approached her porch, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his vibrating phone. She glimpsed the word Ferro on the screen before he stuffed it back in his pocket.
“I can give you privacy if you need to take that call—”
His expression shadowed. “I’ll check in with him later.”
Violet led him down the hall, turned on the light in her office, and walked to the map. Somberly, she pulled another red tack from her drawer and put it in the August property. How many more would die?
“I saw a yellow and a red tack in August territory on your boss’s map.” She turned to him. “Were you able to find out what the yellow pins meant?”
“He didn’t want to discuss the case with me at all. But there were two red pins in August land. I thought you remembered it wrong.”
“I’m sure they were different colors.” She tapped her temple.
“Photographic memory. Yellow changed to red. Red means dead. So yellow means a potential victim, like you said. There was also a yellow pin on Slade land. I want to know why he thinks a Slade might be a target. Their biggest enemy is the Stramaglia clan, and they haven’t been involved in any of this. Yet.”
Kade released a long breath. “Good questions, Vee—Violet.” He slid her a quick glance.
“We’ve never bothered with your Fringe wars unless they affected non-Fringers or appeared to be something that might get out of control.
Your clan wiped out another clan entirely, and it didn’t even warrant an investigation, as far as I know. ”
She stared past Kade, feeling the shadow of those dark days.
“I was only fourteen then. My father…killed for no apparent reason… Everyone was out for blood.” She’d wanted to go, too, in a rage of grief and anger.
Hearing her family’s triumph, that they’d killed every Garza who was there, didn’t give her the satisfaction it seemed to give them.
“I have another question, one you’ll no doubt find uncomfortable,” Kade said. “I talked to the head of the Murphy clan. He claims he found one of your alligator claw key rings near his son’s body, proof that someone in your family was responsible. Is there any chance—”
“None.” Her hand had gone to her chest though. She jerked the key ring out of her pocket. “Did it look like this?”
He backed up, a distasteful expression on his face. “That’s what he described. With your C on the metal disk.”
She squeezed the claw. “Someone left this at the Augusts’, hanging from a bush near the body.
Leaving evidence so blatantly at the scene of a murder, whether on purpose or accident, just doesn’t happen.
Especially twice.” She fisted her hands at her sides, fury suffusing her.
“I want to kill somebody, too. I want the Murphys to pay for what they did.” She had to take a deep breath.
“But I know they were only going by the code of the Fringe. It’s the person behind this who must pay. There’s only one thing to do.”
“Dare I ask?”
She jabbed her finger at the yellow tack. “I’m going to stake out the Slade land and wait for the murderer to show. And then I’m going to kill him.”
“You mean we’re going to stake out the property. Charade or not, we’re in this together.”