by Meghan March
Yep. I’m going to hell.
I made it home in time to smooth my hair up into a respectable chignon and slip into a black sleeveless sheath. It was one of my least favorites, which might seem odd because it was the only dress I considered wearing today. My only explanation: once you’d worn something to a funeral, it was impossible to put it on without thinking of death. I’d prefer to taint something I wasn’t particularly fond of rather than a favorite. The dress I’d worn to my mother’s funeral when I was fourteen years old still hung in my closet. It had hung there for sixteen years—never worn again after that day—and I still couldn’t bring myself to give it to charity. It seemed wrong, like I’d be sending away a piece of my mother.
I hurried through my makeup and dashed out the door. Ten minutes later I was slipping into the pew beside my father, one row behind Archer. A form slipped in beside me as we rose for the processional hymn.
I glanced sideways and cringed.
Titan. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to see him here, but there was no earthly reason why he needed to be sitting in the pew beside me.
I opened my mouth to whisper something to that effect, but the choir quieted and the priest started to speak. Unless I wanted the entire parish to overhear my tirade, it was going to have to wait.
As luck, or something, would have it, my father never seemed to notice the occupant of our pew who sat an arguably-appropriate distance away from me. He was too engrossed in the service. For that I was thankful.
An hour later, when six pallbearers were carrying the casket away, I tried to follow my father out of the pew, but the crowd swallowed him up. Herzog had attracted a full house. I suppose if he were sitting in heaven looking down on this, he’d probably be pleased with the turnout.
I tried to use the number of people to my advantage, but Lucas stayed close on my heels and even grasped me by the elbow to lead me through the throng and out the side door of the church.
Once outside in a deserted alley, I yanked my arm out of his grip.
“Please refrain from manhandling me. I know it seems like a complicated request, but I think you can manage to comply.”
“Even a spitfire in church, I see.”
“And why are you in church?”
“Figured I should do the upstanding thing and pay my respects to Herzog. After all, he’s the outgoing treasurer, and I’m the incoming one.”
“What?” His pronouncement caught me off guard. “You? Treasurer? Since when?”
“Since yesterday, at the special meeting of the board Archer called. No staff members were invited to the meeting, but I would’ve thought Archer would have told you.”
Archer probably would have told me if I’d been at work yesterday.
Titan leaned against the railing. “By the way, are you okay?” He looked down at the cracked pavement beneath his shiny black wingtips. “I should’ve insisted we arrive and leave together for those things. I don’t regret much in my life, but I do regret that you ended up in danger because of me.”
My eyes widened at his statement. “Then I guess you should back off so I don’t have to go to anymore.”
His smile was slow and condescending. “Nice try, princess, but I don’t think so.”
I stiffened. “Don’t call me that. Don’t you dare call me that.”
“Hit a nerve?”
I turned to leave the alley and Lucas Titan behind. I needed to follow the procession to the cemetery.
He reached out and grabbed me by the elbow. “I don’t like it when you walk away from me, Vanessa. I wouldn’t suggest you do it again.”
I stilled, and spoke quietly. “I’ve kneed better men than you in the balls, Titan. Don’t think your threat will stop me.”
Laughter burst from his lips, and he dropped my arm. I didn’t wait for a response before I strode from the alley.
I yawned and shifted on my stool to get the angle right to finish up the outlining I was doing on yet another tattoo of ‘YOLO.’ I almost just told the kid to close his eyes while I tattooed ‘Dumb Fuck’ across his bicep instead. But I’m pretty sure that I’d never hear the end of it. And I’d be footing the bill for the tattoo removal. Just another Saturday night at Voodoo.
Tonight was one of those nights where I definitely felt like I was getting too old for this shit.
I glanced up at the clock. Two more hours to go until I could close up shop and figure out what to do with the rest of my night.
Go over to Tassel and be seen and try to collect some more information, or go upstairs and climb into my empty bed. The empty bed part sucked ass. It’d never bothered me before, because despite what Vanessa seemed to think, I hadn’t had a different girl every fucking night of the week. But now… now that I’d had her there, empty bothered me a whole hell of a lot.
“I gotta piss. You mind if we take a break, man?” The kid beneath my tattoo gun grabbed his dick to emphasize his words.
I lifted up my hand and wiped away the excess ink and blood. Outline was done. Thank fuck.
“Sure. Bathroom’s around the corner.”
“Cool. Mind if I grab a smoke, too?”
I shook my head. “Go for it. Take your time. You can go out to the back alley or out front.”
A few moments after he climbed out of my chair and left the room, Delilah poked her head in the doorway.
“You need me to stick around, or you got this?”
I glanced at the clock. It was now two minutes after twelve. “This one will be wrapping up quick. Considering how slow it’s been all night, I can’t imagine we’ll get a slew of walk-ins. No reason for both of us to sit here.”
Her thick, blunt cut bangs bounced when she fist pumped. “Good deal. I’m dying to go find some fresh pussy. I’ve been riding the abstinence train for over a week, and it’s starting to make me cranky.”
She turned to leave, but my stomach growled.
“You want me to grab you some food before I go?”
“Nah, don’t worry about it.”
She waited. “You sure?”
“Yeah. Get out of here. Go get yourself some action.” If it weren’t like imagining my sister, I’d probably fantasize about that shit. What dude wouldn’t?
While I waited for YOLO boy to come back in from his smoke, I grabbed my phone and sent a text.
C: I want to see you tonight.
Her response was instant.
V: I want to see you too.
C: Voodoo. I’m wrapping up soon and shutting it down early. Bring food.
V: Did you just order me to bring you food?
C: Woman, your man is hungry. Feed him.
I waited impatiently for her response. I hadn’t even thought when I’d typed ‘your man.’ It just came out. In that moment I hated everything that tied us both to this town. If we could just walk away from it all, go somewhere else, she wouldn’t have to come meet me in back alleys and on rooftops.
Although, I had to admit I liked the rooftops.
V: Fine, but I’m choosing.
C: Good, because I don’t care as long as you get your ass here.
V: On my way.
I slid my phone onto the counter and headed to the front window. I locked the door and flipped off the open sign. It was stupid to close early on a Saturday night because I’d undoubtedly piss off at least one potential customer, but tonight had been unusually slow. Besides, I’d piss off hundreds of customers if it meant an extra night with Vanessa. Bad business, but what could I do? Even though she seemed into trying to make this work, we both knew it couldn’t last forever. And that sucked. Especially because forever wasn’t even sounding long enough in my book.
YOLO boy came back in the room and I rewashed my hands and gloved up again to finish his tat. According to his ID, he lived in a rich area of the city, and he’d turned eighteen three days ago. Good money said his mother was going to be dragging his ass to the tattoo removal place when she found out. Not my problem.
There was a knock o
n the backdoor when I was re-locking the front after letting YOLO boy out.
Perfect timing.
I crossed to the other end of the shop and pulled it open.
It wasn’t Vanessa. It was Hennessy.
“What do you want?”
“Got some news for you,” he answered.
“Can you make it quick?”
He lifted his chin. “Hot date?”
“None of your damn business.”
“Fine. But I don’t want to do this in the alley.”
I shoved the door open wider and closed it behind him. Hennessy headed into the break room, making himself comfortable on the dog-hair-covered couch. His suit would be furry when he stood, but I didn’t particularly care to let him know that. I waited in the doorway, arms crossed over my chest.
“What you got?”
“Your boy, Lord, took a gun in on pawn earlier this week.”
“And?” Lord took dozens of guns in on pawn and outright bought even more. We paid top dollar and worked hard to make sure everyone knew that Chains was the place to go to unload your hardware if you needed cash. And we worked with Hennessy to run all of them through the police database. It wasn’t something most other pawnshops did, but it was pretty much the entire reason I owned mine. The gun that killed my parents had never been found. It might’ve been a long shot, but I kept hoping one day it would show up in my shop.
The adrenaline rushing through my veins at his next words gave me hope that it had.
“Lord sent me a spent casing and bullet to run, like he always does. A Smith and Wesson Bodyguard, .38 special.” He straightened and met my eyes. “It was a match, Con.”
Holy. Fuck.
“Where is it? Who owned it? Registration?”
“Don’t know yet. The serial number was filed off, so we’re still working on that part. But I thought you’d want to know that we’re getting one step closer. I pulled the case files and all the evidence from the warehouse. I’ll let you know what I come up with.”
I wanted answers. Now. And I remembered the little piece of information Gina Mulvado had shared. About a white guy pulling the strings. I probably should’ve passed that along to Hennessy, but I wasn’t quite ready. It didn’t always pay to lay out all your cards.
So instead, I thanked him for coming by. I needed to get him out of here before Vanessa showed. He’d already figured things out at the hospital, but I didn’t like the idea of him knowing any more than he already did.
“As soon as you know something, I want it,” I added.
“As long as you let the law handle it, I’ll keep you in the loop,” he countered.
I didn’t give him a verbal reply. Just a nod.
He pushed up from the sofa, already brushing the dog hair off his pants. “What the fuck?”
“One of my employees—her dog thinks that’s his bed. Sorry about that. I’d offer you a lint roller, but I’m fresh out.”
Hennessy shook his head. “You’re a prick, Leahy. You know that?”
“Takes one to know one.”
I turned and stepped into the hallway. A clear sign that I was ready for him to get the hell out of my shop. Hennessy took the hint.
“I’ll let you get on with your night, then.”
“Thanks for coming by. I appreciate it.”
The knock came on the back door just as Hennessy was reaching for the handle. He pulled it open. I heard Vanessa’s sharp intake of breath before I could see her face. I assumed it was a picture of horror.
“Ms. Frost,” Hennessy said. “Hope you’ve recovered from the other night.”
I wrapped my palm around the door and pulled it open wider. Vanessa looked as perfect as ever in a pale blue sundress and sandals. A thin white sweater covered her shoulders.
I tried to picture us from Hennessy’s point of view. On no planet did we look like we belonged together.
“Detective Hennessy,” Vanessa said, clearing her throat. “Thank you for your concern. As you can see, I’m fine.”
“Glad to hear it. I’ll leave you two alone,” he replied.
Vanessa stepped inside, and Hennessy was gone. I locked the door and drank in the woman before me. Her blond hair was loose, and her blue eyes were wide with surprise.
“What was he doing here? Is something wrong?”
Irritation flared within me. “No, princess. I’m not in trouble, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
She glared. “Knock it off, Con. I’m not worried about you being in trouble. I’m worried about someone else. Trey? Your other boys?”
The irritation died as quickly as it rose. My gut reactions were going to get me another knee to the balls one of these days. I almost cupped my testicles protectively at the thought. “Nah. Something else. Don’t worry about it.”
Her eyes flashed. “I threatened to injure the last man who told me not to worry my pretty little head about something.”
The irritation was back. “Who the fuck told you that?”
Her expression cleared, going from angry to unreadable in the space of a second. “No one you need to worry about.”
What the hell is she hiding?
I didn’t get a chance to push further because she held up two bags. “Brought you dinner. Or whatever a meal is after midnight. A midnight snack? We eating upstairs?”
I’m not sure what prodded me to answer, “How about the roof?”
Confusion creased her features. “The roof?”
“Yeah, got a table and chairs up there. It’s… another place I go to chill.”
Gesturing with the bags, she said, “Lead the way.”
I was glad I’d worn flat sandals, because climbing a rickety fire escape in heels would’ve been treacherous. I wasn’t sure what Con’s deal was with rooftops, but you’d better believe I was going to get an answer before I climbed back down this deathtrap.
Con helped me over the edge and onto the flat surface. The glow of the pale moon and the city lights revealed a patio set on green outdoor carpet. There were also a couple folding chairs that looked like they’d be fairly comfortable for lounging.
Con, who’d taken the bags from me the moment he’d gestured to the fire escape, set the food down on the table. Producing a lighter from somewhere, he lit a bucket candle on the table and then the tiki torches that edged the roof.
It was very much the rooftop version of a man cave.
“Come up here often?”
It was a stupid question, because he clearly did. But his answer surprised me.
“Yeah, for about twenty years now.”
Twenty years?
“That would’ve made you, what? Eleven?”
Con nodded and began pulling the containers out of bags. It seemed like it was easier for him to talk when he wasn’t looking at me.
“This was the place I came when I couldn’t handle whatever was going on in my latest foster home. Sometimes it was a longer hike than others, but for the most part, I was always able to get here.”
“Why this place?”
Con opened a container and the heavenly smell of lasagna wafted out. His head jerked up, and he stared at me.
“Really? Lasagna?”
I nodded, and looked away, feeling like my choice of food was baring my soul a little too much. It had sounded like a good idea when I’d stopped into a tiny Italian restaurant only a few blocks away just before they’d closed. It had seemed like a way to show him that I trusted him—that I was apologizing for the way things had started.
“I thought we’d give it another try.”
Con straightened and crossed the few feet between us. “I need you to make this real clear to me, Vanessa. I don’t want to misunderstand whatever it is you’re trying to say here. I don’t want to read into it and give it my own spin.”
I thought carefully for a minute before I spoke. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that I want to figure out a way for this to work. The way you make me feel… I’m not ready to give that up. And th
e way I feel about you… well, let’s just say I’ve never felt that way about anyone. And I’m afraid if I don’t tell you now, somehow it’s all going to slip away.”
I knew I needed to come clean with him about Titan. It was a huge risk, but I was done hiding it. “There’s something I haven’t told you.” I looked up and met his eyes. “And you have to promise not to overreact.”
Con’s expression hardened. “What?”
I bit my lip as I worked on finding the right words. “You know that I used to go to functions with Simon, mostly because it was easier to go with a date and my dad laid off the ‘let’s get Vanessa married’ shtick when I was with him.”
“Yeah. I’m well aware.”
“Well, someone else thought having me on his arm was a good way to get into certain circles he otherwise wouldn’t have been given easy access to.”
Con’s jaw clenched, and his eyes darkened. “Don’t stop now, princess. You’re just getting to the good part.”
“It’s not what you think. I didn’t want to do it, but he saw us together… and decided that since he knew I wouldn’t agree to date him, he’d use what he knew about us to get me to do it anyway.”
“Who?” The word came out low and threatening.
“You can’t do anything, Con. He’ll tell Archer about us and portray it in the worst possible light. I need a chance to tell him first. You have to promise you’ll let me handle it. I’m already blowing the terms of the deal by telling you. I just don’t want to keep any more secrets—”
Con interrupted what was becoming a full-on babble. “Just fucking tell me who, Vanessa.”
“Lucas Titan.”
“I’m gonna kill him,” Con bit out.
And that was exactly what I didn’t want to hear.
I laid a hand on his arm. “You aren’t going to do anything. I’m going to fix this. I just have to go to one more event with him, and it’s done.”
“You aren’t going anywhere with Titan. He can go fuck himself.”
My emotions were split evenly between frustration and something that felt a lot like gratitude for Con’s behavior. I squelched that second emotion.
“Stow the possessive routine. I’m telling you because I need you to trust me enough to handle it.”