Chapter 13 #2
“The wife,” Coeus announced.
“Suzanne?” Zeus said. The question in his tone mirrored my own thoughts. Suzanne Troy was harmless. She was a sweet woman, quiet and mousy. How that son of a bitch convinced her to marry him was anyone’s guess.
“It’s always the spouse.” Coeus shrugged.
“It’s always the husband,” Zeus corrected.
“Not a fucking chance. What motive would she have?” I asked.
“Sheer fucking boredom?”
I hid my grin behind my hand because Coeus wasn’t far off. Suzanne’s life had to be dull as fuck married to that man. A slow death by monotony and abuse.
“That may be, but Suzanne isn’t a killer. Have you found anything connecting the victims?”
“Is that what we’re calling them?” I asked.
Zeus ran a hand through his hair, then pulled it back and secured it with the rubber band on his wrist. The gesture was automatic. Familiar. Something he did when he was thinking hard.
“Those deaths are suspicious as fuck. Until we know otherwise, I’m calling them victims.”
“I just started running background on all of them. Give me a day and I should know everything from their eye color to their sexual fantasies.”
Zeus groaned. “I don’t care about their fucking sex life.”
Coeus held up a finger, and I grinned. “Done incorrectly, autoerotic asphyxiation can cause heart failure.”
“Get the fuck out of my office.”
Coeus winked and bolted out the door as Zeus grabbed the gavel and hurled it across the room. It hit the wall with a satisfying thunk, leaving a dent in the drywall.
“Coeus!” Zeus called out.
He stuck his head back through the door. “Yeah, boss?”
“Harlan have any life insurance?”
“Yeah, pretty hefty policy taken out a few months back.”
“Make sure the M.E. doesn’t say shit to the chief.”
“Already taken care of. Had him label the sample as canine so it wouldn’t flag.”
Zeus nodded, and before Coeus could slip out again, he added, “I want everything you can find on Reggie.” Coeus nodded. “And, Coeus.” Zeus paused. “That includes her fucking sex life.”
Coeus’ eyes widened, but he kept his mouth shut and nodded again before letting the door close.
“What are you doing?” I asked, shaking my head at my best friend.
“You heard the lawyer. If I’m going to prove she’s unfit, I need fucking proof,” Zeus answered, leaning back in his chair and clasping his hands behind his head. His boots thumped onto the table. Casual. Arrogant. Like he hadn’t just ordered an invasion of privacy that would blow up in his face.
“You’re playing with fire, brother, and you know you’re gonna get burned.”
“She has my son.”
“And you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.”
“Flies eat shit,” he muttered.
“You need me for anything else?”
“You got something more important to do?” he asked, eyeing me suspiciously. That look that said he knew I was up to something.
“Yeah, I do, asshole,” I said with a grin. “Need to go meet my old lady.”
I was halfway to the door when his feet hit the floor and he gasped, “What the fuck are you talking about?”
I didn’t answer as I strolled out of the clubhouse and climbed on my bike.
The engine roared to life beneath me, vibrating through my thighs, my chest. Power and freedom and purpose all rolled into one.
Zeus might not want to settle down, but I sure as fuck did.
The only thing holding me back was that I hadn’t met the right woman yet.
Technically, I still hadn’t met her. Not really. But from the moment I saw her, I knew. All it took was looking into her eyes, and I knew deep down her soul was as black as mine. Dark and twisted and perfect.
I rode up the long dirt driveway until her house came into view. The farmhouse sat back from the road, surrounded by gardens and trees. Peaceful. Isolated. The kind of place where secrets could grow as easily as flowers. I knew someone was living here—just never took the time to find out who.
The front porch door opened as I stopped the bike. Her dog came bounding down the steps, all snarling growls and bared teeth. Massive. Black. A fucking hellhound if I’d ever seen one.
“CERBERUS, FASS!”
My eyes locked on the dog as he skidded to a stop. His hackles rose as he snarled and growled. Saliva dripped from his jaws. One wrong move and he’d rip my throat out.
“Cerberus, platz!”
The noise stopped and the dog sat. His snarls had ceased, but a low growl rumbled from his chest. A warning. A promise of violence if I fucked up.
I looked up at the sound of her voice. “Cerberus, komm.” She stood on the porch in her flowing skirt and sleeveless shirt.
Her hair cascaded over her shoulders, catching the sunlight, turning it gold.
She was staring at me, not the dog. Those eyes locked on mine. Seeing everything. Seeing through me.
“His name’s Cerberus?” I asked, struck stupid by how fucking gorgeous she was. My cock stirred in my jeans, already half hard just from looking at her.
“Yes.”
Cerberus sat by her side on the porch as I swung my leg over my bike and walked closer. Each step was deliberate. I stopped at the bottom of the steps when the dog growled again; only this time, she didn’t stop him.
She watched me warily as my foot landed on the first step, then the second, until I stood eye to eye with her.
Close enough to smell her. Flowers and earth and something darker underneath.
Something that called to the darkness in me.
The dog growled louder and stood, his massive body coiled and ready to strike.
I couldn’t tell you I wasn’t terrified, because the beast was huge and one lock of his jaw would have ended me, then and there. Torn apart. Bleeding out on her porch. But as the God of the Underworld, hellhounds were my bitches, and Lettie?
She was my fucking queen.