My laugh is light and delicious.“Why wait?If you come clean to Tazi right now, you could watch me dietonight.”Letting that hang for a beat, I turn to her and lift a brow.“But before you do, you should question what else do I know about you.”I tilt my head.“Are you hiding any othermajorsecrets, Eleni?”
She blinks at me, stunned, then mutters, “What a psycho,” and runs out of the room.
Ah, blessed silence.
Turning back to my toys, I pick up the hot pink one.Rose-shaped, with a soft little silicone tongue peeking out.“Hmm.I think I’ll start with you first.In the shower…”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Stefano
A LONG NIGHTOFwhiskey, blood sport, and putting out fires at Black Gold has donenothingto quell the ire boiling under my skin.
It’s irrational.I know that.There’s no goddamn reason for me to be this twisted up.What the fuck do I care what that lying little trickster does with her damn mouth?
But no matter how much I try to reason with myself, it’s not enough to quiet the rage clawing at me.Loud, sharp, relentless.
It won’t let me sleep.
She’sin my head and I don’t know how the fuck she got there.
Restless on my favorite couch in the living room, I stare out the large windows, watching the dull blue of dawn bleed into brilliant gold, flooding the house with light.
A new day.
The early morning stillness is eventually broken by Cora’s soft clattering in the kitchen.Normally, that’s my cue to head upstairs and get some rest.But there’s no point.No chance of sleep with this wildfire roaring in my chest.
I need to shoot something.
I need to kill something.
Maybe I should head to the zoo and hack up one of my debt-owing hostages into pieces, feed them to the piranhas.That might help.Or maybe—fuck this shit.
I shove to my feet and walk straight out of the house.No direction.No thought.Just motion.I hop into my cart and just sit there for a moment, staring at nothing.
Mamma…
Easing off, I cruise toward the southeastern edge of the villa grounds.Straight to Soul of Mirabella—the tribute park we built in honor of Mamma.
She loved amusement parks.Spent her final days chasing the craziest rides she could find, laughing through pain, refusing to let illness steal her zest.Until her condition became too deteriorated for those thrills.
As much as she loved the wild rides, the carousel was her favorite.That’s why a custom-made winged unicorn carousal is the center piece of Soul of Mirabella.We also added a Ferris wheel, bumper cars, a few claw machines and game stalls for nostalgia’s sake.
Leaving my cart at the entrance, I make my way to the Ferris wheel.
Benny Four shuffles out of his work hut, rubbing sleep from his eyes.“Boss?”
“I’m getting on,” I say without slowing.
There are about thirty Bennys in the operation, so we started numbering them to keep shit straight.Benny Four’s been around since the beginning.Grayed out, balding, and over it all.He maintains and manages Soul of Mirabella, but since the park is rarely used, he spends most of his time in that hut watching Westerns and baseball.
As he trudges to the control panel, I climb into one of the cabins and latch the gate.
“What level, boss?”he calls.
“Slow.”
Moments later, the wheel lurches to life.
