Page 118 of Pretty Lies

In this life, there were no exceptions. Only consequences.

Luis’s face morphed with rage at every question she threw at him. They landed like knives until he was standing from the chair and coming toward her. Della didn’t move—refused to show him fear because she no longer felt any for him.

This man didn’t scare her. He’d only broken her heart and even that didn’t hurt now.

His hands raised, but her next words stopped him from coming close enough to actually put them on her in some violent way. “The jacket, Luis … should have checked the pocket. He knew you were coming back for it—you couldn’t miss the chance. Schoolyard shit, Cory said, but you wouldn’t forget it. He stopped wearing it for a reason. He put it in my closet for a reason. Have you figured out what that reason is yet? We showed you the way to get here and you walked right in.”

The figure stepping out of the rear hallway with a skull bandana pulled high over his mouth and nose with a black pup on his heels had Della’s heart racing more than the sight of Luis coming closer did.

Those sixty-seconds were up.

Della smiled when he came within feet of her in the hallway, his eyes blazing with rage and disbelief. “Because when someone watches you, you always watch back, Luis.”

Cory already had the gun aimed when Luis realized they were no longer alone in the townhouse. It was already too late. “None of this shit happened by accident, man.”

He spun on his heels.

The barrel of Cory’s gun met his forehead.

“Remember when you used to tell me that?” Cory asked. “Jacket still fits—die in it.”

“You fucking—”

Della pulled the taser from the pocket in her coat and jammed it straight in between Luis’s shoulders. She pulled back the trigger, and the volts of electricity sent Luis flying to the floor in a heap. She gave the twitching body one last look before she stepped over it.

Cory lowered his gun and kissed her on the way by. “Harry will take it out the back. Nobody will see. Joe’s coming to help us get rid of it.”

She wished she cared.

“I’ll be back before two, hopefully,” he told her.

“Good.” She didn’t sleep well without him anymore. Della let him kiss her again, softer that time while his fingers grazed her chin. “But the better question is where’s my latte?”

His laughter drowned out Luis’s noises from the floor.

“On the table at the back door. Are you babysitting Mace?”

She gave the pup a look. He sat, his head cocked to the side, watching the twitching man on the floor.

“You don’t even have to ask, Cory.”

Not for anything.

She would give him everything. He’d already given exactly that to her, after all. It was her turn now.