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Lizzie raps her nails against the table, pursing her lips and averting her gaze. “I . . . messed up.”
“So you mentioned. Elaborate.” I catch the approaching waitress’s eye and politely wave her away. I don’t want any interruptions. The faster she talks, the faster I can get the fuck out of here and start looking for my girl.
“Well, you see, one night on tour, the guys and I were looking for a little fun, and we ended up at this club downtown. It’s nothing like The Menagerie in New York City, but it?—”
“Oh for fuck’s sake, Lizzie, get to the point,” Coraline snaps.
“Fine,” Lizzie says, baring her teeth at her cousin. “We ended up partying with some guys that night. Had a lot of party favors, parted ways in the morning. It’s not unusual, and I didn’t think anything of it. Until we saw them at the next city on the tour, and then the next one. I’d lost count of all the times we’d party together after a show or on our off nights. We didn’t realize that they were going to charge us for all the party favors we did with them.”
“And? You tell anyone who will listen how much money you rake in from your tours. And suddenly you’re balking at the idea of paying for your own shit?” Cora shakes her head and folds her arms across her chest. “Nah, I don’t fucking buy it. Start telling the truth or Bane is going to shoot you.”
Lizzie startles in her seat, her head snapping to me with wide eyes.
I won’t shoot Evangeline’s sister—unless my girl asked me, of course. I’d do anything for her. But Lizzie doesn’t know that. So I make sure to maintain my most neutral expression, giving her nothing.
She should be fucking scared, because if we find out she had a hand in this, not even God himself will save her from Coraline Carter. That woman is a fucking menace.
Lizzie sniffs, her gaze darting away. “I’ve had expenses lately, so my savings are low.”
Coraline rolls her eyes and scoffs. “Aunt Ginny is fucking loaded, so spare me your poor orphan Annie routine. And don’t for one single second act like you weren’t just dying for your moment to take your sister out. You’ve hated Evangeline from the moment she was born.”
“I asked my mother for the money, and she said no. In fact, she’s the one who told me that Evangeline got Nana Jo’s house. And all the things inside it,” she says, her face red with anger.
Coraline stills. “Tell me you didn’t.”
Lizzie shifts in her seat, still managing to hold onto her haughty expression.
“Tell me you didn’t orchestrate a fucking robbery on your sister,” Coraline seethes.
10
BANE
Lizzie holds her ground, her back snapping to a straight line. “She wasn’t supposed to even be there. I had someone keep tabs on her to make sure. She’d been spending so much time slumming it with those bikers that it would’ve been fine.” The words tumble from her mouth rapidly.
Coraline’s mouth moves but no words come out, like her incredulity has stolen her voice.
I don’t share in her astonishment. Mostly, I feel fucking sad for my girl. How the fuck she ended up the caring, nurturing woman she is when she was born into a viper’s nest is one of the world’s biggest mysteries. Newfound appreciation wells up inside of me for her resilience, and I can’t help but wonder how she’s going to react to this news about her sister.
I let my gaze roam the restaurant, my nerves fried enough that I’m on high alert. “So far, none of this lines up with why you called me.”
“Right,” Lizzie says, swallowing hard. “So Matty, my friend from tour, well, we got away with a couple of bags worth of stuff, but Owen went rogue, and he, uh, well, you know.” Her glaze slinks to the side, as if she suddenly remembers who she’s sitting across from.
Yeah, I do fucking know. Owen is apparently the name of the motherfucker I shot that night. I have half a mind to dig that piece of shit up just so I can find a couple creative ways to punish him further. He got off too easy. I’ve overheard enough of Evangeline’s true crime podcasts that I have a few ideas to try out.
“Yeah, I guess I do know.” I lean back in my seat, my mind reeling with the revelation that Lizzie had orchestrated the robbery on her own fucking sister. I make a mental note to update the guys so they know who to keep away from Evangeline.
Though that feels like a moot point, since I don’t plan on letting my girl out of my sight any time soon.
She clears her throat. “By this point, I’d been hanging around these guys a lot. They live a few towns over, and I was mad about the robbery. Like really mad and maybe I was getting a little chatty.” She twists a ring around her middle finger, twirling it over and over as she stares at some random spot on the wall next to us. “And I might’ve mentioned how my sister was hooked up with some motorcycle gang. I didn’t know one of the guys at Matty’s house was also in a motorcycle gang. A rival one, I guess. I had no way of knowing that.” She murmurs the last part, more like she’s trying to absolve herself by her shitty reassurances.
My gut tightens, dread like sour old milk sending flames of nausea up my throat. If the Savages or Hounds took Evangeline—I can’t even let myself go there. Not yet.
“Should I be expecting a ransom call then, is that what you’re telling me?”
“No, I don’t know anything about a kidnapping. I was warning you about the attack on the compound. I knew they’d go after her. Once they found out who she was to you, I couldn’t dissuade them. They were obsessed with getting revenge. And I . . . I was trying to do the right thing.”
“The right thing? Are you fucking kidding me, Lizzie?” Coraline scoffs.
