Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 73042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Fuck. My job just got a lot more difficult.
Clarice widens her eyes. “You two know each other?”
“Yeah,” Raven says. “He’s my brother-in-law. Well, not really. My brother Falcon is engaged to his sister Savannah.”
“Oh my God!” Clarice says. “Raven and I have known each other for years. We went to school together.”
Really. Just kill me now.
Not only do I have to off the owner of this house, I have to off the employer of one of Raven’s friends.
Fuck. It. All.
“So what are you doing here?” Raven asks again.
“I have some business with Mr. Puzo,” I say.
Clarice looks back at Raven. “I keep telling him that Mr. Puzo is never home during the day.”
“Which is why I came by, actually,” I say. “I wanted to find out when he would be home. I was hoping to talk to Mrs. Puzo.”
“Yeah, she doesn’t check in with me, and she probably won’t be home until dinnertime. But since you’re a friend of Raven’s and all, I guess you can hang out and wait if you want. In fact…”
Clarice looks at me and then at Raven and then back to me again. Her eyes widen slightly.
“Oh my God, Ray…” she says.
Raven gives her a punch in the arm. “Let it go,” she says softly.
Let what go? What the hell is Raven talking about?
“All right,” I say. “Thank you, Clarice.”
Raven bursts into laughter. “Clarice? Since when do you go by Clarice?”
Clarice shrugs. “Since about five years ago. I decided it was a little more grown-up than CJ.”
Raven cocks her head. “But you’ve always hated your name. Ever since Billy Doyle kept calling you Clarice and making that Hannibal Lecter sound in middle school.”
“Yeah, well. I matured a little.”
Raven chuckles. “Clarice Josephine Simons. I thought you’d be CJ forever.”
“The name has kind of grown on me over the years. It’s not like I got a cool bird name like you did. I was destined to be named after my great-grandmother.”
“I think Clarice is a pretty name,” I say.
I’m not sure why I said that. I don’t really have any feelings one way or the other about the name. Now Raven, that’s a beautiful name. A bird the same color as the peach fuzz on her head.
With piercing dark eyes.
Just like this woman’s.
“The offer still stands,” Clarice says. “You’re welcome to stay here until Mrs. Puzo gets home. But like I said, it’ll be probably around dinnertime.”
“No.” I look at my watch. “I don’t have that much time. Got some other stuff to do. Would you please tell Mrs. Puzo to give me a call?”
“You mean she didn’t call you last time?”
I shake my head. “Nope, she didn’t.”
She frowns. “I’ll tell her again. Sorry about that.”
“Not your fault. Good to see you again, Clarice. Raven.” I nod.
Raven’s cheeks are rosy pink. All I can think about is grabbing her and dragging her out to my car and having my way with her on the back seat.
Elmo might have a problem with that.
Then again, who the hell cares? He works for me.
Damn.
I’m still not used to this life.
Even though I grew up in it. Being second-in-command to the boss is…
Just fucking weird.
“Anyway, if you see Mr. Puzo—”
“I hardly ever see Mr. Puzo.”
“Well, if you do, please give him my card and tell him I need to speak with him. It’s urgent.” I hand Clarice another card.
“I sure will.”
I leave, and Clarice shuts the door behind her.
I walk to my car, get inside, and instruct Fred to take me to Grandfather’s house.
“Right now,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Listen, old man,” I say to my grandfather, whose eyes widen at my words, “why in the hell did you tell me, when you wanted me to prove my loyalty, that I had to kill Raven Bellamy?”
Grandfather cocks his head. “I didn’t.”
“Don’t give me that shit. Of course you did. And when I told you that would be personal, not business, you relented and gave me the name of Giacomo Puzo. Well, I’ve looked into Puzo. I went to his home today, hoping to find him. And guess who I found instead?”
“I couldn’t begin to guess,” Grandfather says.
“You think? Give it a try, Grandfather.”
He simply stares at me. Glares at me, his watery eyes full of evil intent.
“Answer me,” I say, making my voice as menacing as I can.
And damn, I’m good.
“It is no secret that I’ve had you watched. I am aware of course that you encountered Ms. Bellamy.”
I nod coldly. “The same Ms. Bellamy that you ordered me to kill before turning your attention to Giacomo Puzo.”
Grandfather’s face remains as still as a statue. “So it would seem.”
“So tell me.” I cross the room and lean over his desk. “Is Giacomo Puzo actually an enemy of yours, or did you just tell me to kill him as an indirect means to get to Raven?”