“Is he going to deal with Shay’s car?”
“Da.”
Never let it be said he isn’t a man of few words.
Once he’s standing beside the vehicle, he holds out his hand for me. I eye it. Then him. “What are we doing?”
“Riding up front like big boys and girls.”
I tut but let him help me out and stand back so he can open the passenger door for me too.
Once I’m seated, I text Shay:
Me: All’s well. Going to stay with a friend
Shay: Who’s your friend in Poughkeepsie apart from me?
Me: Fuck off. I have friends.
Shay:
Me: Night.
I tuck my cell away as Maxim slides behind the wheel.
When he cracks his neck, I sense his relief that the night’s over is as strong as my own.
The little glimpse behind his armor has me fretting, “We should get you to a hospital.”
Maxim laughs. “It’s fine. I’ve had worse cuts. It’s stopped bleeding for the most part.”
I shake my head. “That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be cleaned.”
“You can clean it for me,” he dismisses.
At the offer, I shut up. Until…
“Why did you tell me to kill him?”
He pulls up at a stoplight. “Why do you think?”
“I-I don’t know.” Very few men of his standing want their women to have blood on their hands.
“Because he would have killed you first. He had a taste for it.”
“A taste?” I ask weakly.
“He hunts. Made a great show of getting the big four. But there’s a rumor that on his reservation in Kenya, he hunted people.”
Black dots dance in front of my eyes as I recoil. Mostly because I can believe it. The way he looked at me…
“How do you know any of this?”
“You’re my business.”
“But… you knew who was pledging?”
“Brother Theodoric sang like a canary with some persuasion.”
