I couldn’t answer.
"Come on now, kitten, don’t keep me in suspense. What’s going on in that pretty head of yours? Should I brace for impact?"
"Why did you kill him? He didn’t do anything wrong." I found my voice, but it didn’t hold as much anger as I thought it would.
"He treated you like shit. He deserved to die."
"Are you gonna kill everyone around me until there’s no one left?"
"Kitten..." he purred. "Are you saying I had something to do with your father’s death?"
"..."
"If I did have something to do with Roman’s death, I wouldn’t have left behind a mess like this. I wouldn’t have given the cops a trail to follow." His voice remained eerily calm. "I work clean. Swift. No loose ends. When I’m done, there’s nothing left to find."
A smirk curled on his lips. "This killer may be a professional, but stealth clearly isn’t one of their talents."
I trembled at his words, and it wasn’t just about that. But the way he spoke in detail as though he was showcasing one of his many talents.
"But you know that, don’t you?" He traced his thumb against my lower lip. "You know your husband isn’t sloppy."
I did. God knows I did.
"Yes, which is why I didn’t believe him when he said you could be responsible for his murder, but Jacob was a different case. That was your work."
"Jacob was a sorry excuse for a man. I simply made sure he stopped existing. Away from your thoughts. Away from your reality."
I haven’t thought about Jacob in a while. I’ve barely even considered him. He was once someone I thought was my everything and what I could have, but now I looked at it from a new perspective; I think I had been incorporating him as Zade.
Zade was the one who had been in my life, and I think after I had amnesia, I somehow tapped into the past feelings I had for Jacob and pulled him closer.
God, just thinking about it gave me a headache. However, to summarize it, I don’t think I ever really loved Jacob as much as I thought I did.
"You didn’t have to kill him," I said.
"Either way, he was gonna be a problem later. So it was a win-win situation."
"W-What do you mean?"
"Right when I ordered him to be killed, he was found selling information at the docks. His actions could have ruined your father and me. Roman kept him close, and when he finally sent him to work at the docks, he had no idea he was gonna get betrayed for a few bucks."
I shuddered. Oh my God. Ja-Jacob did that? I don’t really understand how it works, but I knew selling out information about a Don was like digging your own grave.
What made Jacob go that far? After everything my father has done for him?
"Now let’s stop talking about unconcerned parties; I’m not in a good mood."
He said that, but his face said otherwise with that smile on his lips.
I was still shaken about the news about Jacob, but I somehow pushed it aside and got to the matter at hand.
"What are we gonna do about Julius?" I asked.
There was a brief pause before he spoke. "What do you think we should do with him?"
Having Zade ask me that question made me realize he was just as in a loop as I was. Julius was still a mystery, and his objective was unknown.
He claimed he was on my side, and I don’t even know what to make of that. He was a stranger. Someone who just popped back into my life as a supposed relative. A sworn brother of my father and God knows what kind of fallout they had.
"I think he may know something about the killer that we don’t," I said for certain because his actions proved that, and when he gave me his card, I knew he wanted me to contact him.
"Judging by the way he approached me, I think—"
"He wants to curry your favor," he finished for me.
"Yes." I rested my hands on his bare chest, feeling the hard lines of muscles beneath my fingertips. "We don’t know his agenda. But that seems clear enough."
"I don’t know much about him... yet. But I will find out in due time, but it’d be taxing having to deal with him and the killer."
I slide my hand lower, and my fingertips brush against his belt.
"Let’s not forget Detective Conner."
I froze midway and shot my eyes up to him.
"He’s getting on my nerves, and I think he has a thing for you."
Oh no.
"Zade—"
"The nerve he has to not even hide it. That man is either stupid or very brave. I admire brave men. But not men who think they can set their eyes on what’s mine."
"D-Don’t hurt him," I whispered, my heart pounding so loud I could hear it in my eardrums. "He’s just a concerned friend that wants to catch the killer, that’s all."
"Careful, kitten, saying that only makes me wanna hurt him more."
The air got stolen from my lungs when he wrapped his hand around my neck, and I could feel my pulse vibrate.
"You can’t kill everyone who approaches me or tries to hurt me."
"Is that a challenge?" His eyes darkened. "Be careful about the next words that come out of your mouth, kitten. You have no idea how important you’re to me. You’re my property, and if someone even thinks they can take you away, I don’t mind staining my hands with their blood."
I swallowed, knowing Zade was dead set on this. Rick made a fucking mistake thinking he could confront the Serpent.
"What can I do to convince you not to hurt Rick?"
The last thing I wanted was his blood on my hands; I needed to do something.
"And what makes you think you can change my mind?"
I shot him a challenging look. Without breaking eye contact, I undid his belt, slipped it free, and let it fall to the floor.