Tangled Web: A Small Town Romance (The Cortell Brothers Book 6) by Giulia Lagomarsino (an ebook reader txt) 📕

got me there. A serial killer with varying interests. Now I’m convinced.”

“I’m serious, man. She paints and crochets. She fixes cars and she’s amazing with an axe—“

“I thought you were supposed to be convincing me of her innocence.”

“I’m telling you, she’s told me about her past and there’s no way she’s a serial killer.”

Joe sighed and leaned back in his seat, rubbing the heels of his hands into his eyes.

“Look, you believed that Sofia had changed when she came here. You saw something that none of the rest of us saw. Isn’t it possible that I see the same thing?”

“Like, you think she’s suddenly given up her serial killer tendencies?” I growled in anger and he held up his hands. “Alright, alright. Let’s say that this woman isn’t a serial killer. Unlikely, but let’s give her the benefit of the doubt. So, she’s just a random chick and bad shit happens to her.”

“Yeah,” I nodded.

“So, your problem is that you investigated her, dug into her life and got close to her so that you could find out if she actually was a serial killer.”

“Black widow,” I corrected.

“Right, well, so now your problem is that you feel you need to tell her.”

I winced. “Yeah.”

“Don’t do it.”

“What?” I asked, my eyebrows shooting up.

“Seriously, do you really want to be the guy that tells the woman he loves—“

“I never said I loved her,” I cut in.

He rolled his eyes at me. “Right, the woman you’re fucking and insisting isn’t a serial killer…Better?” I nodded. “So, do you want to be the guy that thought she was a serial killer?”

“Not really,” I grumbled. “But it’s so dishonest. It’s eating away at me. The closer we get, the more it gnaws at me.”

“So, what exactly do you think is going to happen? You’ll admit to investigating her and she’ll understand?”

“Well, no.”

“You have to ask yourself, do you want this woman, or do you want a clear conscience?”

I groaned, rubbing my hand down my face. “There has to be another way. I mean, this can’t be the only way to deal with this.”

“Okay, then let’s look back at your relationship with her. Who knows that you were investigating her?”

“Just the guy that hired me.”

“The step-son.”

I nodded.

“And you didn’t tell anyone else?”

I shook my head, but then paused. There was someone else I had told. I grimaced, closing my eyes.

“Shit, who did you tell?”

“Kat.”

He burst out laughing. “Man, you’re so fucking screwed.”

“You don’t think she would say anything, do you?”

“Kat? No, why would she say anything? I mean, unless she feels that you’re being used, in which case, she’s gonna get in her face and tell her exactly what she thinks of her.”

“Kat would never do that to me.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? You shared your pizza with her. You’re the one she’s closest to. You bet your ass she’ll say shit to her. Serial killer or not, Kat will get Carly on her side and then they’ll go take your little serial killer out. And probably Sofia too because she’s got that fighting spirit now that she spends so much time with Carly. Anna will stand there and watch for fun, and Charlie will be on standby in case someone gets hurt, but I’m not so sure she’d be willing to help Lorelei.”

“So, you’re saying I’m fucked.”

“I’m saying that they’re the least of your problems. If this step-son finds out that you’re screwing his step-mother, the one that he’s paying you to investigate, he’s going to take this to her and shove it in her face. This guy has an axe to grind and he’s not going to stop until he has his revenge. And what better way to get that than to shove it in her face that the man she loves has been lying to her?”

I dropped my forehead to the table, banging my head on it several times. This was such a mess.

“So, then I have to tell her. If I don’t, someone else will beat me to the punch and then there’s no way she’ll forgive me.”

“Do you really want forgiveness from a serial killer?”

“Dude, I just told you, she’s not a serial killer!”

“Maybe not, but when you tell her, I’m guessing you’ll be her first victim.”

✯✯✯✯✯

Joe had been pacing the apartment ever since our serial killer conversation. I was certain that she wasn’t a serial killer. Well, let’s say I was ninety-nine percent sure. There had to be room for the odd possibility that I was missing something. That being said, I would have to hear it from her lips that she was guilty.

The apartment door swung open and Carly walked in with Josh. Joe sighed in relief. “Thank God you’re here.”

“Why are they here?” I asked Joe.

“Because you invited a serial killer into our lives.”

“Hey,” Carly snapped. “I’m not a serial killer.”

“I’m not talking about you,” Joe said. “But I may need you to be.”

“How about we not try and convince the mother of my child to become a murderer,” Josh said, wrapping an arm around Carly’s shoulder.

She shrugged. “I have no problem with it, if the target deserves it.”

Josh chuckled slightly. “Babe, I thought we talked about this, you know, blending in with a small town.”

She sighed heavily, nodding. “Yeah, I know. I just miss it every once in a while.”

“Miss what?” I asked curiously.

“The adrenaline of it all. It’s not the actual killing. It’s knowing that danger is around every corner.”

“Well, thanks to Andrew, danger is living with us.”

“Sofia?” Josh asked. “I thought we were all past thinking Sofia was bad.”

“Not Sofia. He found himself a woman. A black widow.”

“You did what?” Josh asked at the same time Carly’s eyes lit up.

“So, you told Joe? This is interesting.”

“Not interesting,” Joe corrected. “Especially not when she’s out with our women.”

“Your women,” Josh said. “My woman is right here.”

“And she’s not a serial killer,” I said irritatedly.

“Wait,” Joe frowned, turning to Carly. “You knew?”

“Well, he had to talk to someone,” Carly said, crossing her arms over her chest. “He