“And Remi?”
That’s when she lifts her face, her pretty brown eyes rimmed in red and brimming with unshed tears she is fighting to control.There are a host of emotions displayed on her face I can’t even begin to identify.
She sits up, creating a little distance before she replies.
“Mancuso took him into protective custody.”
“Why?”is my immediate reaction.
“Because of the knife they found.”
“What knife?”
“The murder knife,” she clarifies.“It was stuffed inside one of the seats in the pickup.Didn’t you know?”
“Jesus.No, I had no idea.Mancuso told me they’d found additional evidence, but I thought it was maybe a fingerprint or something.Not a goddamn murder weapon.What the hell?”
“Yeah.They think it was the knife that killed the Wells boy.”
It takes a moment for it to hit me.
“They planted it when they left the phone,” I conclude.
It’s the only thing that makes sense.
The moment the words leave my mouth, Tessa launches herself at me, slamming her mouth on mine.Stunned by her abrupt move, I don’t have time to react before she sits back, now with a faint smile on her face.
“Thank you.”
I smile back.“For what?”
“For not even entertaining the possibility Remi might have put it there himself.”
The thought hadn’t even occurred to me.I don’t hold any illusions the kid is a saint—I caught him stealing, after all—but there is no way in hell I’d buy in to him having any hand in murder.I can’t see that.
“Not a chance,” I assure her, shaking my head.
“Thanks for saying that.Anyway, given these new developments, Mancuso felt it was probably safer to take Remi with him.Put him in a safe house.It doesn’t seem likely Linc or I would be in any danger, so he pulled the security detail,” she shares.
I try to read between the lines and offer, “But you sent Linc to the Battaglias’, just in case.”
She nods, indicating I guessed it in one.
“And I was hoping I could maybe stay with you.”
I don’t need to think.
“That goes without saying.”
Chapter19
Tessa
“Yesss…”
I suck air in between my teeth, as I feel Clem go rigid behind me.
The fingers he’s been using to play with my clit press down hard, as he drives up inside me.Staying planted deep, he sinks his teeth into the muscle at the top of my shoulder, as he shudders through his release and triggers mine.
