“I’ll email you with a handful right now.”

  “Thanks, Mom,” I replied before realizing I was talking to dead air—she’d already hung up. Hmm, the whole potential pregnancy had certainly gotten her into high gear.

  “Tut tut tut,” I heard someone admonishing me.

  I turned around and found myself face-to-face with Angelo, a giant smirk plastered on his mouth. I wanted to smack it right off him.

  “What do you want, Angelo?”

  “You’re a very bad girl… lying to our mother like that.” He said the words in our native tongue—a language I hadn’t used in years. I was surprised to hear it and then realized he was just further goading me—using our native language to drive home the point that I was breaking my mother’s trust.

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “You aren’t pregnant and, furthermore, you have no intention of getting pregnant, Fifi. More importantly, you have no opportunity.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about the fact that I know that little stunt you pulled with your stable of sasquatches was just for show.” He narrowed his eyes as he studied me and walking further into my office, leaned against the wall and crossed one leg over the other, looking like he owned the place. “You’re not feeding and I’m going to prove it.”

  “I’m feeding and I’ve been feeding,” I insisted, glaring at him. “So there’s nothing to prove.”

  “You haven’t and I know as much because I’ve been keeping tabs on you.”

  Instantly, I felt a spire of anger well up within me—who in the hell did he think he was? Keeping tabs on me? I stood up, not enjoying the feeling of him staring down at me. “You’re stalking me?”

  “I wouldn’t use that word.”

  “Stalking and ‘keeping tabs’ on me are the same thing,” I insisted as dawning realization overcame me. The reason he’d asked to stay with me while his floors were installed was because he wanted to snoop—he wanted to keep an eye on me to report back to my parents. “Why are you so pathetic?”

  It was his turn to glare at me and in his expression was hatred. “I made the mistake the first time of not having proof that you were starving the succubus. I’ll be better prepared next time.”

  “There won’t be a next time because Mom and Dad are sick of you and everything you’ve been trying to pull where I’m concerned. And, furthermore, if you were really keeping tabs on me, then you’d know I’m feeding on Roy Osbourne!” I smiled as his expression dropped slightly, before his poker face was intact again. “In fact, I spent the night with him last night. But, since you’ve been keeping an eye on me, you already knew that, right?”

  “How could I possibly have known that when the enormous oaf lives with the rest of his backwoods family in that village in the mountains?”

  I smiled even more broadly. “Roy doesn’t live in the mountains, Angelo. He lives right here in town, but as a… detective… you should have already known that.”

  “I don’t believe it,” he barked at me, stepping closer until I was forced to crane my neck upwards in order not to break eye contact with him.

  “If you don’t believe me, then smell me!” I insisted, suddenly beyond grateful I’d skipped showering this morning.

  Angelo grabbed my arm hard and then leaned into me, sniffing me like some sort of animal sizing up its competition. I could see his eyes widen as he detected Roy’s scent.

  I raised one eyebrow and smirked back at him. “There. Are you satisfied now? Not that it’s any of your damned business in the first place!”

  “I won’t be satisfied until you’re back home in New York doing what you were born to do,” he answered, wrapping his arms against his chest.

  “And what’s that?”

  “Seducing politicians and billionaires—using your natural gifts to gain wealth and power for our family.”

  “I’m attaining wealth in a different way,” I answered, stepping away from him. “And I’m doing it with my own talent and hard work.”

  Angelo shook his head and chuckled, but the sound was ugly. He looked around himself before his eyes settled back on me. “Do you really think you’ll ever achieve anything worth a damn with this failing business of yours? Selling homes to exotics, Fifi? Really? There’s a reason Ophelia didn’t take on that market—because there isn’t one.”

  “What I do is none of your concern,” I spat the words back at him. “And let me remind you I’m also your employer and that means I can fire you.”

  “We both know you won’t ever fire me, Fifi. You don’t have the guts.”

  “Why don’t you push me hard enough and find out?”

  “Regardless, you’re sullying our family name with your antics and that’s something Mom and Dad won’t abide,” he said, starting to raise his voice. “I’m well aware that your biggest client ended up dead in the graveyard and that’s likely just a taste of things to come.”

  “Shhhh!” I said immediately, not wanting any of my employees who were already piling in, to hear him. It was a split second later that my mouth dropped open as the realization of what he’d just admitted warred through me. Angelo knew about Darragh and Cranough? How was that possible? Unless… unless…

  “Your first exotic client and now he’s dead,” Angelo continued in a loud voice, laughing.

  Just then, a heavy crash came from outside my office, the sound of something shattering against the tile of the sales floor. We both froze for a moment before I pushed Angelo aside and stepped out my office door to find out what had happened. I noted the coffee pot shattered on the floor where Libby had dropped it, her face frozen in shock. Behind her, all my employees stood stock still, all of them staring at me.

  “What do you mean, dead?” Glenn, the werewolf, asked.

  “Darragh is dead?” Bea bleated.

  I stood there, looking back at them, trying to gather my thoughts, trying to come up with some reasonable explanation for what Angelo had just said. All the while, Taliyah’s warning to keep the case on the DL rattled through my already overwhelmed mind. But the more I racked my brain, searching for something to say, the emptier it became. And I couldn’t stop the panic that suddenly visited me because the fact that Angelo knew what had happened meant that it was just a matter of days before the rest of Haven Hollow would find out.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “I know you have questions, but some of you also have appointments this morning and our clients are our first priority,” I started, facing everyone as Angelo shook his head and, snickering, left my office. “Let’s get our morning appointments over and done with and then we’ll talk about everything over lunch—my treat,” I finished, doing my best to attempt to calm them.

  Yes, I was breaking protocol, but I didn’t think there was any way around it. They’d already heard Angelo say Darragh had been murdered. The truth was out, so now it was up to me to make sure that truth didn’t get exaggerated into something else entirely. Taliyah would have to understand.

  “Stalling anyone?” Angelo remarked from where he stood at the end of the hallway. I could almost feel the sarcasm dripping in his tone, as if it had taken on a thick physical presence.

  The sound of his voice made the hairs along my arm stand up at angry attention. He was so infuriating, always doing whatever he could to sabotage me and my business. There was nothing he wanted more than to see me fail, so I’d be forced to return home and become like our mother, sucking the life out of anyone unfortunate enough to cross my path. But, that wasn’t me and it never would be.

  Yes, there were moments when I wanted to fire him, when I wanted to tell him we were through and I was no longer his sister… But, no matter how bad it got between the two of us, I could never bring myself to say the words. Maybe it was just stupidity on my part, but I still believed in family bonds, even if I wasn’t close with my parents. Maybe that was all the more reason why I so desperately hoped things could be different with Angelo, that things could be better—because he really was the only family I had.

  “You weren’t even going to tell them what happened, were you?” he continued, glaring at me.

  “You should shut up now, Angelo. You’ve done enough,” I told him through gritted teeth, hidden by the smile I continued to maintain for the sake of my employees, who were still looking directly at me.

  “Or I haven’t done enough. It depends on who you ask.”

  I narrowed my eyes on him and realized this whole argument was going to get personal—it already had. It was just a shame it had to be in front of my employees. “I mean it, Angelo. I don’t have time for your antics right now. Get out of the office and go do your job.”

  “As you wish, your Highness. Good luck,” he laughed, sauntering out the front door.

  I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then another. And another. Then I turned around and stalked back down the hallway until I reached my office. Throwing the door shut behind me, I sat back down at my desk as I tried to prepare myself emotionally for the conversation I’d been forced into having. A conversation that Taliyah wouldn’t be happy about.

  ***

  When we finally broke for lunch in the conference room, everyone was quiet as they took their seats around the large oval table, and Libby busied herself with unpacking our lunch which had just been delivered by a local Italian restaurant called ‘Giseppe’s’. Our lunch consisted of deli sandwiches, potato salad, coleslaw, chips, and brownies, with various Italian sodas.

  Once everyone was seated and their lunches were spread out before them, I started explaining, “This information is confidential at this point in the case,” I said as I looked at each person in turn. “And the only reason I’m telling you what happened and breaking my agreement with Taliyah is because I have no other choice.”

  It took me about ten minutes to explain, in detail, everything that had happened the night I was supposed to meet Darragh and Cranough at the graveyard. Everyone looked concerned, which wasn’t surprising, but there was nothing I could do about their concern now.

  “So, they were murdered?” Bea asked.

  “It appears that way.”

  “Who would do something so horrible?” Ivan chimed in, looking distraught by the news. “Are there any leads yet?”

  I shook my head.

  “Are we safe?” Libby asked, her eyes wide.

  “I think so.”

  “How can you possibly think any of us are safe with a killer running around the Hollow?” Angelo demanded, a smirk still adorning his beautiful, yet diabolical, face. If ever there were a devil in disguise, it was Angelo.

  “There’s no reason to believe anyone other than Darragh and Cranough were the targets,” I answered. “For all we know, they had their own enemies.”

  “Are you sure there’s no way Hallowed Homes could be the target?” Libby asked, worrying her lower lip.

  “There’s no evidence that says any of this has anything to do with Hallowed Homes.”

  “There’s also nothing to say it doesn’t,” Angelo added with a shrug.

  I shot him a dirty look, but he only smiled more broadly as he put his feet up on the desk and began eating his sandwich. I ignored him and continued speaking to the others instead. “For now, I need you to try as best you can to put this out of your mind and focus on your clients. And I’m asking for your silence. If this gets out before we have more information about the killer or killers, it could muddy the case and cause hysteria in Haven Hollow.”

  “True,” Ivan said.

  “I say we all take a vow to keep this between us,” Glenn continued.

  “And not let it leave this room,” Ramona added.

  “Count me in,” Libby said.

  The others all chimed in and I tried not to let the tears that were already stinging my eyes show. “Thank you,” I managed. “I appreciate it more than you know.”

  “Angelo?” Bea said as she faced my brother.

  He shook his head. “You all can have your little vow, but I’m not interested.”

  “How did you happen to know about the murders anyway?” Glenn asked, narrowing his eyes at Angelo.

  “Yeah, isn’t it a little… convenient that you happened to be at the graveyard at the same time the murders happened?” Ivan continued.

  “If you’d like to know, I’ve been trailing my sister,” Angelo started as I realized what he was about to tell them—that he was spying on me to prove to my parents that I wasn’t feeding and hadn’t been.

  “That’s enough,” I interrupted. Then I faced everyone else in the room. “Ivan, Bea and Glenn all have open houses this afternoon… some into the night and I will have more listings shortly for Angelo and Ramona.”

  “Do you think Hallowed Homes might have to shut down because of… the murders?” Ramona asked.

  I could understand her concern. As a wraith, it would be difficult for her to find employment in general. Like night hags, many wraiths could pass as human but only to an extent—night hags had the unfortunate habit of rotting plants and wraiths weren’t much different—they both were bad for the landscape.

  “We’ll be fine, Ramona,” I told her, giving her a big smile as I did my best to soothe her. “Everything will be okay.”

  Angelo laughed as I glared at him. “I hope the entire company sinks. Then we can go back home to New York and put this absurd idea of you being a land baron to rest.”

  “You put a lid on it!” Libby yelled at him, facing him with an ugly expression as she surprised the hell out of me. Bea gave me a look that said she was amazed as well.

  “Yeah, we’ve all heard just about enough from you,” Bea said as she faced my brother, crossing her arms against her chest as her wings suddenly fluttered out of her cape—revealing she was agitated.

  “You are lucky your sister feels bad enough for you to offer you a position here,” Libby continued, glaring at him. “Fifi has too big a heart to see what a lech you really are!”

  “I second that,” Ivan said.

  I returned Angelo’s petulant gaze, all the while wondering if he really did have anything to do with the deaths of Darragh and Cranough, like Ivan and Glenn had not so discreetly intimated. Of anyone, Angelo had the most motive to have killed my clients, because he only stood to gain if my business went under. But, I was still caught on one detail—would Angelo really take things that far? I didn’t think so, but I also didn’t know for sure. I didn’t want to believe him capable of something so horrible, but the honest truth was that I didn’t know what Angelo was capable of.

  “I’m out,” he said as he stood up and walking out of the conference room, slammed the door behind him.

  I turned back to face my staff, who all looked uncomfortable and anxious despite my best efforts to calm them. I was sure Angelo’s outburst didn’t help things. But, that was something I couldn’t focus on now—I’d handle it later. For now, I had to pay attention to my staff and hopefully alleviate any concerns they had.

  ***

  After lunch, everyone began shuffling back towards their desks, still looking dejected and concerned. Some of them gathered closely together in the break room, whispering feverishly to one another as I wondered whether or not this whole situation would blow over.

  It was then that Angelo decided to make another appearance as he walked out of his cubicle and into the hallway, heading for my office. And that was just as well, because I was already on my way to his desk. I glared at him, my lips pursed together in a thin line as I spoke to him through gritted teeth.

  “My office. Now!”

  He followed me in, and I closed the door behind us, trying to maintain as much calm as I could, despite how angry I was. And my anger spoke volumes because, in general, I wasn’t someone who lost her cool easily. Usually I was just laid back and easygoing Fifi. But, Angelo had a way of pulling the worst out of me.

  “What do you want?” he growled.

  “I don’t appreciate you trying to upstage me in front of my employees. And I really don’t appreciate the fact that you came out with the information about the murders before I have any answers. You put me in a position of trying to explain something I don’t yet fully understand, not to mention the fact that this is police business and you shouldn’t have mentioned it at all!” I took a deep breath. “All you do is undermine me and I’m sick of it.”

  “You should always be honest with your employees,” he responded with a dismissive shrug, glib as ever.

  “This information wasn’t supposed to get out yet,” I responded.

  “Someone killing supernaturals in town is something everyone should be aware of, especially if the murders somehow tie back to this office.”

  “And why would you think the murders have anything to do with Hallowed Homes?”

  He frowned at me. “Oh, I don’t know, Fifi, maybe because Darragh was murdered during one of your showings?”

  “That could have been coincidental.”

  “And it might not have been coincidental.”

  I further narrowed my eyes at him. “For all I know, you’re the one who’s responsible.”

  “Responsible for what? Killing a grim and an elf?” He started chuckling when I didn’t make any motion to deny the accusation. “I may be a lot of things, sister, but you really think I’m a killer?”

  “I believe there’s no limit to how far you’ll stoop in order to ruin me.”

  “If you say so.”

  I could see the anger boiling beneath the surface. Angelo’s biggest shortcoming was his pride and as such, he didn’t like being questioned. I wasn’t convinced he was the killer or that he even had it within him to kill someone, but he also wasn’t opposed to doing someone harm. Furthermore, I didn’t believe he was past draining someone’s life essence to get his way. Maybe that’s what he’d done in this case and he’d just gone too far? Anything was possible when it came to Angelo and his greed. He was just like our mother.

  “While we’re discussing this office, let me remind you that I own this business.”