Free Death Blow by Ashley Harma

eyes, as if trying to communicate an unspoken message more than the
words he was saying. “And Lila,” he stared into her. “I want you to call me if
you ever need anything. If you ever need anything ,” he
reiterated. He gave her shoulder a squeeze, sent that silent something to her
eyes again, and dropped his hand from her shoulder. “Well,” he said, putting
his aviators back on. “I was dropping by to have a chat with Carter, so I’ll
head on in and do that.”
    “Oh great,” Lila rolled her eyes. “Don’t tell him you saw me,
yeah?”
    “I’ll tell him I tossed you into the back of my wagon and
will deal with you myself.” The Sheriff stepped past her, and Lila’s heart
broke a little bit as he did. “Always good to see you, Lila. Hope your new job
won’t change things.”
    “It won’t, Sheriff. Promise it won’t.”
    “All right now. Get on.” The Sheriff shooed her away as he
opened the front door of the bar and disappeared inside.
    It was already 4:20pm—Lila rushed back to her car, shoved
the keys in the ignition, and took off.

Chapter Nine
     
     
    Lila was scared to even knock on the door, that’s how white
it was. She realized how ridiculous she must look, dressed in jeans, standing
at the threshold of this enormous mansion. It was a mansion, an honest to god
mansion. Lila had never seen one up close like this. White, white, brilliant
white, protected by regal columns that spanned from roof to ground. Lila’d driven
up through a huge, gravel circle where a man who could’ve easily worked the
door at Club Malevolence came out and asked for her keys. Now she stood here,
severely underdressed, wondering if this expensive—to her—bottle of wine could
even come close to making the impression she wanted to, thinking maybe she
should just turn around and go home.
    “Deep breaths,” she said out loud to herself. “Deep breaths,
you can do this. They like you. They invited you over. Cassandra knows what
you’re coming from here.” She followed her advice, inhaled, exhaled. She
couldn’t turn back now. She raised a hand and held it, hesitantly, inches away
from the door. This was it.
    One, two, three knocks. Wait.
    Lila heard the footsteps as they approached—the light click
of a pair of heels. She shifted her weight, took a last deep breath, and slung
a smile on just as the door opened.
    “There she is, right on time again.” It was Cassandra,
dressed in a pair of white linen capris and a loose-flowing white top. Lila’d
gotten pretty close with her mental image. On her feet were adorable white
kitten heels, and Lila made note that Cassandra was the type of woman who had a
pair of heels for every outfit, and probably nothing else. “Hey there, doll
face.” Cassandra pulled her inside, into a hug, grabbing the bottle of wine
seamlessly as they broke apart. “And you brought wine! Someone raised you
right,” she grinned, glancing at the label.
    “Hah, no, pretty much raised myself this way,” Lila shot
off, not realizing what she said before she said.
    Cassandra frowned. “I didn’t want to say anything, but I
know your daddy’s reputation,” she admitted, looking Lila straight in the face.
Lila hadn’t realized that Cassandra knew who she was, knew who her family was,
before they’d met. She must have. “Ooh, a Cali cab sauv, my favorite,” she
giggled, shutting the door behind Lila.
    Lila took in the foyer. The ceiling must have been 50 feet
high, with a giant crystal chandelier that hung intricately close to a big,
dark, wooden staircase. The floors were also a rich, deep mahogany, and
everything else was white. White, everywhere, white, even on Cassandra. The
furniture had a nice rustic aesthetic to it, and the pieces looked quite old, although
Lila wasn’t sure if they were genuine antiques or very expensive replicas.
    “Come on in, have a seat. If you don’t mind bein’ a bit
casual with us, we’ll sit in the kitchen for right now, yeah?” Cassandra
clicked