Page 178 of Heartless Sinner

“You look like hell,” Enzo commented, snapping me back into the present.

Who knew how long I’d stood in the doorway, looking in a daze?

“That’s where I’ve been, so it checks out,” I grumbled, taking the seat to his right, straight across from Cedric, who looked like he was about to become a fucking librarian with his gray turtleneck.

“How’s Daphne?” Cory asked.

I cracked my knuckles, planted my elbows on the table, and glared at him. “Why the hell do you care about how my Fawn is doing?”

“Don’t be a dick,” Cory replied, indifferent to my attitude and looking like he’d had plenty of sleep. “Daphne and I are friends. That’s all.”

“I talked to Philip,” Emeri said, getting straight to business. “The fuckers who shot and chased you had no identification on them. I met him at the scene and managed to get a few of their teeth, hoping to identify them via dental records, but so far, nothing. The cars were stolen from a parking lot at a FedEx facility. Both were reported stolen a few weeks ago, and the owners appear innocent. One is a teacher who works part-time at the facility. The other is a pastor.”

“So basically we don’t have shit,” Cassian stated flatly.

I ground my teeth. I hadn’t expected a fucking miracle, but I’d hoped for more than that. Realistically, only a few hours had passed.

I’ll let that slide … for now.

“Don’t worry; we’ll find out who they were,” Nico said with full confidence. “Cory and I have been scouring footage on every camera I can.”

I bit back a snarl. Even the sound of his voice pissed me off.

Since when were he and Nico watching-footage-together buddies?

“Whoever planned this covered their tracks well,” Nico added. “They wanted to make sure no one knew who’d sent them. There were no messages. Nothing.” He spread out his hands. “What happened to leaving a head with a note?” He looked over at Cedric. “I hate how we’re dealing with pussies. In our world, when you try to kill someone, you make damn sure they know who sent you. Every hit is a fucking message.”

“Do we know if you or Daphne was the target?” Cory asked, lifting his chin toward me.

I dug my fingers into the edge of the table. Hearing him say her name scraped against every nerve I had. I wanted to slit open his vocal cords so he’d never say it again.

“No idea,” I replied. “That’s what we need to find out.” To make a scene and be an asshole, I narrowed my eyes at him. “Where were you last night, Cory?”

He jerked his thumb toward Nico. “With Nico.”

Nico nodded to confirm. “We were down in the Devil’s Lair, watching the game.”

“We’ll keep working on that,” Enzo said, turning his attention to me. “You have another problem as well.”

The pounding behind my eyes got worse. “What’s that?”

He pulled his phone from his pocket, unlocked it, and slid it over to me.

“Fuck!” I hissed, gripping the phone tight while reading the headline of the news article.

Secret Society Rumors Swirl Around Discreet University Attended by the World’s Richest Heirs

This wasn’t the first time some loser journalist had tried to expose us. I was sure it wouldn’t be the last either. Usually, though, we’d get a heads-up and take care of it before the story was made public. We’d either pay them off or make them disappear.

How did this one make it to the media without our knowledge?

Enzo nodded toward the screen. “Keep reading.”

The news article mentioned me partying at the club, but I wasn’t sure how the stories connected. I knew damn well I’d never told anyone about the Night Sons, yet the article claimed a source had heard me talking about them at the club.

“Never!” I slammed the phone down, shattering the screen, not giving a shit that it wasn’t mine. I pointed the broken phone toward each of them. “All of you know I’d never say a word about the Sons. My family has been involved since the beginning. Someone is setting me up.”

“This doesn’t look good,” Enzo said, eyeing me suspiciously, as if I’d suddenly become someone none of them could trust.