Page 9 of His Savage Vow
“What does that mean?” I ask as I flip it all around, noticing all the smudged fingerprints on the screen.
Instead of answering, he gives me a small smile and says, “Goodnight, Ms. Monroe. If you need anything, someone will be outside your door.” With that, he pulls the door to my room closed.
I open my phone and see that I’ve missed two calls and have text messages from Melissa that’ve been read by someone, but I haven’t yet seen them.
Did you go back to the hotel after the funeral? My offer still stands for you to crash with me.
Please tell me you just went back to the hotel and didn’t do anything crazy.
I send back a response:I came to Scarsdale and I’m at Luciani’s house if something happens to me. He invited me to stay here until I figure out what I’m going to do next.
I can’t tell my best friend that I’m here for revenge. She won’t understand or approve.
The floating dots indicate that she’s replying and my phone dings four times a few seconds later with consecutive messages:
You’re staying at his house?
Connie, wtf are you doing?
Get out of there and come stay with me!
You know I’m here for you, whatever you need.
It takes me a moment to figure out how to articulate my reply. How do I tell my best friend that she can’t help me with what I need to do now? I don’t want to hurt her feelings, so I finally type:Your roommate doesn’t want me mopingaround your apartment. I appreciate the offer, but I’ll be fine. I’m going to bed. Text me tomorrow, okay?
She replies:Be careful, Connie
After glancing at her message, I throw my phone on the nightstand and turn my attention to the thick file that Maximo gave to me at dinner.
I pile up some pillows, getting comfortable sitting on the bed, then I spend the next several hours flipping through the sheafs of paper, pages of schedules, timestamps, notes from men whose names I don’t know.
One entry near the back finally catches my eye. A note dated three days before my father’s death:
“Monroe reported seeing an unfamiliar black car outside his restaurant three nights in a row. Requested additional patrol. Told him no action will be taken until he provides photo and license plate of vehicle. Probably just being paranoid.
My stomach drops.
They knew something was coming. Maximo and his men knew my father was in trouble, and they let him burn!
4
Maximo
I’ve been sittingin my office for hours, papers spread across the desk, the light low enough to ease the migraine behind my eyes.
Someone in my crew is a traitor. And until I know who, I can’t trust anyone.
That’s why my hand snatches up my gun lying next to the ledgers when my door explodes open. The entire frame rattles, and instinct takes over before thought.
I’m halfway out of my chair, weapon raised…and then I seeher.
Constance storms inside my office like she owns the fucking place, her hair still damp, robe hanging off one shoulder, eyes burning hot enough to scorch the room.
She doesn’t flinch at the sight of my gun pointeddirectly at her.
Of course she doesn’t.
For a second, I consider the possibility that I might actually be losing my mind, because the sight of her angry, trembling, beautiful in a way that should be illegal, hits me harder than the threat of an intruder would have.
