by Ali Vali
“What did you have in mind, Cain?”
“Well, we share a name and all these kids running around, so what do you say to being friends? That’s one thing we haven’t tried in a while.”
“I’d love that. You’ll see with time that I mean what I’ve said to you. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere ever again.”
Cain gave in to her fatigue and closed her eyes. “One day at a time, sweetling. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” The feel of the towel disappeared, but not the fingers running through her hair. Their presence put her to sleep.
*
Merrick was sitting behind Cain’s desk at home getting some business done when the phone rang. They had gotten back from the hospital after the nursing staff wouldn’t be put off anymore and evicted Emma from her spot on the bed. After a late lunch the Caseys had retired upstairs for naps.
“Runyon,” she barked into the phone.
“Merrick, this is Blue over at the club.” The man sounded winded and rushed.
“What’s going on?” She reclined in the comfortable chair and glanced out the window. Six guards perched on the fence line not far from where she was sitting.
“Some fucker just blew the shit out of the place.”
Giovanni’s eldest son looked on from a few blocks away, the detonator still in his hand. They would take out every one of Cain’s holdings, showing her she had no safe place to hide, and they wouldn’t stop until all of the Caseys were dead. The blond bitch who had the audacity to touch his son would pay the ultimate humiliation before he personally slit her throat. He smirked as he thought about making Cain watch as he fucked her precious little wife before he took her out.
“Tick tock, Casey. Your time’s running out, and I’m holding the stopwatch.”
About the Author
Ali lives right outside New Orleans with her partner of many years. As a writer, she couldn’t ask for a better more beautiful place—so full of real-life characters to fuel the imagination. When she isn’t writing, working in the yard, cheering for the LSU Tigers, or riding her bicycle, she makes a living in the nonprofit sector.
Ali has written The Devil Inside, The Devil Unleashed, Deal With the Devil, Carly’s Sound, Second Season, Calling the Dead, and Blue Skies and the soon-to-be-released The Devil Be Damned.
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