Page 5 of Beautiful Things Obey
But Leonore came as a surprise, and unless I’m willing to throw that cold, dead body over my shoulder, which I did consider, I have to wait. Patience is not my virtue, but since it’s my uncle Pietro, his body deserves to be handled with respect.
My fists clench in and out; I’m devastated by his death. I’ll have to break the news to my sister, but first, I need to figure out which family was behind this.
As I stand beside my car, the rain picks up as I watch Leonore lock up. She turns to face me, the rain hitting her face and catching in her lashes, and she locks eyes with me, emerald eyes so deep that you can almost tell what she’s thinking. Almost. Beautiful things like her should obey. Yet she has a fire that I’ve never come across before. It’s silent in the way she stares at me. I parked right next to her car, so she has to walk thisway regardless. The rain gets louder, almost drowning out her footsteps as she makes her way closer, and I make sure I am blocking her car door. When I look down at her she seems so small, but the burn in her gaze does not give off a woman who thinks of herself as small. No, not at all.
“Do you like to intimidate people often?” she asks as she sidesteps me and is able to reach her car door. She pulls it open and throws in her jacket and purse. “Of course you do,” she answers for herself.
“I’ll pay you more than your yearly wage to hand over the body now.”
Her gaze flashes with harsh intellect. But I can sense she combats with something until she finally says, “No. I don’t work for you. You can pick up the body on Monday once I’m done.” She slides into her car, and my hands flex back and forth once again.
Who the fuck is this woman to have the nerve to say no to me?
I watch as she starts her car and drives away. I had never actually met her before tonight. I had heard rumors about her. Not just the work she does, but who she is. Closed off and neutral to all the crews. Not once has she had an issue with any of them, and that’s saying a lot, considering the caliber of gangsters she collaborates with. They’re hot-headed assholes who like to be demanding, especially with women.
The woman can hold her own, but that leaves me empty-handed, and the reason I don’t make a move is because right now, I’m at my most lethal. Whoever killed my uncle is going to fucking pay.
Getting into my car, I call Valen, my second-in-command and the man I trust over all others.
I pull the door shut behind me, the sound of the rain cutting off in an instant. My hair is still dripping, cold running down the back of my neck as I settle into the seat.
Valen picks up on the second ring.
“Where have you been?” he asks. I hear the giggle of women around him and figure he’s at one of the clubs. That’s where he likes to go to burn off energy. He loves women. Lots of them.
The engine turns over as I listen.
The heater clicks on a moment later, warm air slow to push through the vents, fogging the edges of the windshield as the rain continues to hammer down outside.
I lean back slightly, watching the glass blur.
“Visiting the morgue,” I tell him.
“Ohh, so you finally went to see her. Tell me, is she as hot as they say?” he asks, getting to what he considers the important details. “Big tits? Juicy ass? Don’t leave me hanging, Silas. I heard she has the kind of lips that look good wrapped around?—”
“We aren’t discussing her looks, Valen,” I growl, surprising myself with the sharp edge to my tone. Valen doesn’t yet know about Pietro, and it’s the only reason I’m not going to kill the fucker for getting on my last nerve.
“Fine,” he says, and I hear him shuffling something before his voice comes through again. “Why were you at the morgue? That’s unlike you.”
“Pietro’s dead.”
Silence. I hear Valen shuffling again, and the giggling quickly cuts as well as the music. I’m assuming he’s stepped into a private room. “What did you just say?” Silence fills the call. “Who the fuck?—”
“I don’t know which family is responsible yet,” I quickly say.
His tone is more brutal now, the pleasure from moments before completely gone. “What did she say? Did she say how he died or who handed in his body?”
“No, she has…” I pause, thinking of the right word. “Attitude.”
He doesn’t even try to cover up his laugh, as if maddened by his own rage. “Yes, so I’ve heard. But that hasn’t stopped you in the past. Or do we need her?”
I’ve never needed her before. Mostly because we don’t leave bodies to be found, but something she said sits with me.“I give them a burial.”
If it weren’t for her lucrative operation, I’d never have any hope of finding his body and being able to give him a proper burial. Suddenly, my thoughts of her job shift slightly.
“You know as well as me that no one does the job like she does. Maybe she’s the lead we need to trace his killer,” he says. Valen knows when I go silent I’m thinking.
Running a hand down my face, I know he’s right. She has a reputation, and it’s all very fucking good. Not once has anyone tried to kill her for her work. And why, you may ask? Because she’s fucking good. Not only does she have the protection of one crew, but she has the protection of multiple. And that’s hard to get. But she never discloses where the bodies come from because if she did, she’d be out of business.
