Page 39 of Deadly Sins: Envy

After learning his one bargaining chip was dead, Danny was full of commentary. Most of what I’d guessed was true, except Alex never wanted Danny to kill Dale. He’d asked him to shoot Dale in both kneecaps, leaving him with permanent damage for life, something all the money in the world couldn’t fix. Once the job was complete, Alex told Danny he would let Willow go and then disappear, vowing never to return to New Orleans again.

I sipped on a glass of iced tea and braced myself for a discussion I wasn’t interested in having.

“Life is grand, isn’t it?” Dale said. “My daughter’s back, and the bastard is dead. You may not like me, and I may not like you. Still, I appreciate your efforts.”

Myefforts?

“I didn’t do it for you,” I said.

“I don’t know what my brother paid you, but I’m sure it wasn’t enough. Name your price.”

“Excuse me?”

“You do this for a living. I won’t allow you to leave here underpaid.”

“This wasn’t about money. It was about helping a friend.”

He laughed. “You sure? I didn’t know my brotherhadfriends.”

“I had an interesting talk with my grandmother this morning,” I said.

“Oh?”

“Your father told her that your brother is a lot like him, and you are pretentious and self-serving, just like your mother. I understand now why Coop left this place. It was so he never turned into you.”

I let the comment simmer and walked away, joining Willow on the porch.

“Thank you for coming here,” she said. “My uncle said you saved my life.”

“We both did. I’m glad you’re home.”

“I’m not. I mean, I’m glad it’s all over, but I wish it had a different ending. Everyone here thinks Alex was a terrible person. He wasn’t. He didn’t mean to kill Blake. She caught him off guard, and he pulled the trigger. It was still wrong, but it was an accident.”

“I believe you.”

“For the longest time, I’ve told myself my dad isn’t the person he appears to be, but it’s time I see and accept the truth.”

“Your father is a product of how he was raised. Had he not been born into money, I suspect he’d be a different person.”

“My uncle’s not like him.”

“No, he isn’t.”

She took a sip of her cocktail and said, “My father may have paid for my tour, but Gina and I made connections on our own.”

“Will you go back?” I asked. “Will you return to the tour?”

“I always thought having my own band was all I ever wanted. Being out on the road with Gina was amazing. It was an experience I’ll never forget. But through it all, I couldn’t stop thinking about Dean. Now I know my life has no meaning without him.”

“Sounds like you have it all figured out.”

“I do,” she said. “And I hope you’ll come back for our wedding.”

“Yourwedding?”

Willow removed her hand from her pocket, revealing the diamond ring Dean had shown us before.

“When did this happen?” I asked.