Free Payable On Death: A Jax Rhodes Novel, Book One (The Jax Rhodes Series 1) by Rachel Rawlings Page B

and waited for him to set the plates down. No sense in more people thinking I'm nuts. He sprinkled our plates with fresh Parmesan which gave me a moment to think. Sal walked away and I switched tactics. "Have you ever heard of the Elioud?"
    "The what?" Dane eyed the pasta with skepticism, clearly still a little uncomfortable with the name. "I feel like this meal borders on blasphemy."
    "The story goes, the thick pasta was too much for the delicate priests and monks in the monastery. They would choke trying to eat it. What about the Nephilim, have you heard of them?"
    Dane was right, this sucked for dinner conversation. Not that I was going to let up. He’d offered to help—genuine or not, I needed someone to talk through this with me.
    "Isn't that like some half-breed of angels and people?" Dane shoved a fork full of pasta into his mouth, his eyes closing for a moment as the perfect combination of tomatoes and spices hit his tongue. "This is so good."
    "So you've heard of them. What else do you know about them?"
    "Is this what Joan was telling you? Some crazy story about half-angels running around Baltimore? She was sick, Jax. I know it's hard to witness something like that, believe me, but there's no point in driving yourself mad trying to make sense of what she said."
    "Well, if someone told you the Devil chose you above all others, it might give you pause."
    "Is that what she said?" He stifled a laugh. "Come on, Jax, you don't honestly believe that. Do you?"
    "What if I told you I know firsthand the Devil exists?" I watched him evaluate what I said, clearly deciding whether or not to excuse himself and never come back.
    "If you told me you knew the Devil was real, I would probably ask you how." Dane leaned across the table, his voice lower when he spoke again. "Do you think the Devil is real?"
    "Don't patronize me. If you want to go then go, just don't mock me.”
    "How do you know, Jax? How do you know the Devil exists?"
    "Because I sold my soul to him when I was seventeen and demons have haunted me ever since."
    "The other night in the alley?"
    "And tonight."
    "Tonight?" Concern or perhaps fear tainted Dane's otherwise handsome face. It wasn't pity but it wasn't belief either.
    "You saw one take off from the alley. I know you did."
    "So much for not needing to be saved," Dane muttered, before rubbing a hand across his face. "Look, I did some checking up on you. I know about your mom and your stepfather. If you're talking about the night your mother killed him... if someone else was there, this man you think was the Devil, you should be talking to a detective. Did you even tell anyone about this?"
    "I'm telling you."
    Dane let that sink in for a minute, the weight of what I'd just told him causing his shoulders to slump. I'd never shared my side of the story with anyone. And now he knew.
    "Okay, okay." He let out a deep breath. "Start from the beginning."
    I spent the next thirty minutes baring my heart and mind to a man I barely knew, stopping occasionally for a sip of wine to fortify my courage. Before I knew it, I was on my third glass and had spilled all my secrets. I'd told him things I'd never told another human being, things my mother didn't know, even though she should. With the anvil I'd been carrying around finally gone from verbally shedding my burden, I poured another glass of wine to celebrate, polishing off the bottle.
    Dane waved Sal over to the table to let him know we were done. Both plates remained relatively untouched. Dane slipped him two one hundred dollar bills, reassuring him everything was delicious but the wine had caught up with me and he felt it best to take me back home. Without waiting for the check or boxes to wrap up our food, we left the restaurant to head back to my apartment.
    "I really wanted that pasta. You couldn't have waited a couple minutes for a doggy bag?" Once I'd stood up, I felt every ounce of wine I'd had. This was why I stuck with ciders or spirits. Wine sneaks up on you.