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I do everything I can not to react, but my widened eyes are no doubt a dead giveaway.
“You weren’t that hard to find, you know?” Savini slowly strolls around my living room, scanning the contents. “Banks Manor. You have your mother’s last name. But a quick search shows you have a half-brother, who, naturally, took his father’s last name.”
He continues to wander around my apartment while I remain frozen in place.
“I should have known when you started asking questions.” Savini shakes his head methodically and clicks his tongue. “I should have been more cautious when a random, stunning woman showed up at a known criminal gathering place, a lost little deer, wandering into a lion’s den. I should have connected the dots when I saw you with Axel. But no…” He rubs his forehead. “I was too fucking blinded to see what was right in front of me.”
Savini takes a few steps toward me. My entire body tenses.
“You don’t know who you’re fucking with, fawn.” His stare is deadly. “You need to tell Axel, or I’m going to.” He clenches his jaw. “You’re lucky I don’t kill you right here and now.”
I swallow harshly. “Why don’t you?”
He balls his hand into a fist. “Because I understand what it’s like to want revenge. But what you don’t get is that revenge is a poison that will seep into your soul, eating you alive from the inside. And the moment you act on it, you can never come back from that.” Savini exhales and loosens his grip. “I don’t want that for you. Save yourself before it’s too late.”
I say the thing I’ve wanted to say to him from the moment I set my sights on him. “You killed my brother.”
“I did what had to be done. Yourbrotherwas not a good person, fawn.”
“Stop fucking calling me that,” I blurt out. “And stop lying. You’re just trying to justify being a murderer.”
“If you don’t believe me, that’s fine. Why don’t you talk to one of his victims?”
I steady my raging heartbeat. Is he about to give me a lead? Or a false story only to validate his own?
"Claire Cooper, she goes by Jones now, but I hear she and Johnny are in town. They visit Bram's religiously. If you want the truth, go talk to her. But I warn you, that place is heavily trafficked by people you don't want to cross."
“How do I know you’re not just feeding me a line of bullshit?”
Savini shrugs. “You don’t, but it would be a lot easier just to kill you before you stick your nose in the wrong person’s business. Consider this my parting gift to you.”
The finality of his last statement slices through me without warning.
“Bram’s…that’s the diner near where Jared was killed?”
“Mmhm.”
“And this Johnny, his name sounds familiar. Is he the same guy who was shot over there?”
Savini nods.
“I thought he was dead.”
“You’re not the only one.” Savini stalks toward me, stopping only inches from my body. “What we had was fun.” He skims his finger along the cut on my neck. “But you and I both know what happens when you throw gasoline on a fire.” His gaze dips down to my lips before he walks away and pauses at my door. “Tell Axel.” And then he’s gone.
I stand there, in the silence and allow my mind to run rampant.
Claire. Johnny. Jared.
Savini knows the truth. Axel is caught in the crossfire.
I’m left with the burning question—can I trust Lorenzo Savini?
* * *
Ihave the ride-share driver drop me off a couple blocks from my destination in hopes that the fresh air on the rest of my journey will help clear my head and come up with a game plan.
Savini said Claire visits Bram’s religiously, but that doesn’t mean she’s there now. What will I even say to her if she is?
