“So apartment hunting was a bust, huh?” Joey perches on the edge of the sofa in my hotel room. Well, it’s not a room so much as a huge suite that I’m sure costs more a night than I’ve ever made in a month. I saw four places today and none of them were suitable. Kat said I should come back “home” to the mansion, but when I told her I couldn’t bear to face him, she insisted I stay here instead.
“Yeah. There’s not a lot available for my budget.” I have money in savings from my time in Iowa, but it won’t get me far. “I’ll find somewhere soon though. I promise.”
Frowning, she shakes her head. “You can stay here as long as you need to.”
“I can’t. You must be losing what, like a thousand bucks a night letting me stay here? I’d be happy in any room.”
“Actually, this is one of the few available rooms tonight. We keep suites like these open for our exclusive celebrity clients and high rollers, and we don’t have any in town this week. Besides, you’re family. You only get the very best.” Her warmth and generosity nearly bring me to tears.
“Well, I’ll be out of here as soon as possible. I have a bunch of apartments lined up to see tomorrow too. I’m sure one of them will be a good fit …” How can anything compare to the life I thought was mine just a few days ago? The future I imagined with her brother. God, she looks so much like him.
“Lorenzo is a jackass.” She pushes to her feet and gives my shoulder a gentle squeeze. Is it so obvious that I was thinking about him? She regards me with curiosity. “But I saw the way he looked at you the other night. If you want him, Mia …”
“What?” I blink at her.
“If you want him, he’s yours. My brother doesn’t fall often but when he does, he falls hard. I’ve only ever seen him look at one other woman the way he looks at you.” She leans down and places a soft kiss on the top of my head. “I have to get home or Max will send out a search party. Ring the desk for anything you need.”
“Thanks, Joey.”
“My pleasure.”
At a loss for what to do with myself, I pace around the spacious suite. I tried meditation earlier, but I couldn’t clear my mind. Every time I closed my eyes, all I saw was Lorenzo’s face. Asshole.
A knock at the door makes me jump. Kat called a little while ago and said someone was on their way over with my things.
Smiling, I open the door and his familiar face twists in a triumphant sneer.
My heart drops through my stomach. Oh god. How did he—
“Thought you could hide from me forever, Mia?”
Adrenaline thunders around my body. I can’t breathe. Can’t get my body to cooperate with the message screaming in my head—close the fucking door! He takes the opportunity to push his way inside my hotel room. I stagger back, but he catches my wrist, his brutish grip sending a sharp pain up my forearm. The memory of his touch makes my skin crawl, like a million scurrying ants have taken up residence.
I try to wrench from his grip. “G-get your h-hands off me.”
He holds tighter, pulling me toward him. The smell of cigarettes invades my nostrils. “What? You used to love the way I touched you.” He runs a fingertip down my cheek and I shudder. Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath. I’m safe. I’m in the hotel. There’s security here.
I blink and focus on his face. “What the hell are you doing here, Jake?” I spit his name because I dislike this man almost as much as I did his brother.
An arrogant smirk on his face, he pulls a pair of cuffs from his belt. “Taking you in on suspicion of murder, darlin’.” He twists my wrists behind my back and roughly slaps the restraints on me.
My head spins. He knows what I did to Brad? Am I going to prison for murdering a cop?
“Wh-what the hell are you on about?” I stammer, afraid my guilt is written all over my face.
He grabs my hair at the nape of my neck and pulls hard, forcing me to look at him. “You know exactly what the hell I’m talking about, you cheating whore.” A globule of his saliva hits my cheek. I try to wipe the vile substance onto my shoulder, but he holds my head firmly in place and brings his face close to mine, his foul breath making me gag. “Brad went looking for you and never came back. You might have the rest of the world convinced you’re some sweet little angel, but you and I know the truth, don’t we, Mia?” He shoves me down the hallway. “We both know you’re a liar and a bitch who’d fuck anyone over just to save her own skin.”
“No, Jake, please.” He knows that’s not who I am. He knows me.
“Jake, please?” he whines, mocking me with my own words. “Save it for the station, sweetheart, because you’ll be confessing to my brother’s murder before the night is over.”
He releases his grip on my hair and grabs my elbow, his thick fingers digging into my skin as he drags me along the hallway to the elevator. I glance around, hoping that a Moretti guard will be there, but we’re alone.
A sob wells in my throat. I guess this is what I deserve after all. I did kill Brad. I plunged that knife into his neck, and I’d do it again. The elevator doors ping open. One of Lorenzo’s men steps out and frowns at us, and my heart leaps with hope.
“Tommy!” His name leaves my lips like a prayer to the heavens.
He trains his eyes on Jake, teeth bared like a protective dog. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Jake pulls his badge from his pocket. “Back off, asshole. Mrs. Mulcahy here is under arrest.”
Tommy reaches around to his back, where he keeps his gun in a holster. Oh god. “Tommy, don’t! He really is a cop. Can you just let Kat know what’s happened to me? Please?”
His eyes flit between me and Jake.
“That’s right, fucker, do as the lady wants and back the fuck off.”
He grinds his teeth, likely torn between wanting to protect me and the knowledge that any attempt to free me from this situation would cause a load of trouble. “Please, Tommy. I’ll be okay, can you just let Kat and …” Swallowing, I stop myself from saying Lorenzo’s name. “Can you just let Kat know what’s happened?”
He nods but continues glaring at Jake.
“That’s a good boy.” Jake gives a sinister laugh and shoves me into the elevator.
