To Die For - Davidson King Page 0,70

to put your hands on me,” some guy was saying.

“You had no right to put your hands on Sparkles, but you did that anyway, didn’t you?” Atlas’s voice was thunderous, and I rushed toward it.

As I turned the corner I saw Ciro standing, blocking everything. “Let me in,” I said.

“Max.” Ciro grabbed my shoulders. “You need to calm down. If you go in there like this, it won’t do Sparkles any good, you hear me?”

“Let me in, Ciro.”

“Not until I know you’re calm.”

I took a breath…then another. “I’m calm. The longer you hold me back, though, the worse it will be.”

He nodded and stepped aside. A man, tall and creepy looking, was being restrained by Atlas. My eyes darted around the room until I found Sparkles, sitting on the floor, his costume crumbled but still fairly intact. His makeup was smeared, and he was crying against Toby. When Toby mouthed that Sparkles was okay, I knew my immediate assumption that he’d been sexually assaulted was wrong.

“Who are you?” I gripped Creepy Man’s shirt.

“Max, I got this. Take care of Sparkles.” Atlas jerked the guy forward and left the room. I’d find out later, but right now, I needed to be with Sparkles.

Toby saw me approach and whispered something to Sparkles, who lifted his head. He sobbed even harder when he saw me, and I fell to the floor and pulled him onto my lap. All questions and everything else could wait. This was where I needed to be.

I knew Atlas had to get the haunted house open again so I stood, cradling Sparkles in my arms and made my way out. He pressed his face into my neck to cover it from gawkers and as quickly as I could, I went to Atlas’s office.

“Sparkles?” I kissed his head as I sat on the couch. “Sweetheart?”

When he lifted his head I got a better look at him. There were marks on his neck, and it made me see red.

“I’m gonna kill him, Sparkles.”

He pressed his lips to mine. I tasted his tears, and it was fuel for my anger.

“I don’t know what to do.” His voice was strained, no doubt from the bruising, and I gently caressed the mark with my thumb.

“How about you don’t worry about it and let me handle this…please?”

I thought he’d argue, being the firecracker he was, but he nodded and laid his head on my chest.

Sparkles and I didn’t want to stay at his place, and we certainly didn’t want to draw attention to my family. So we got a hotel room. It was nice and quiet, and for the last five days it was where we’d called home. Tank took to the change well, but I knew Sparkles was feeling the cabin fever.

I’d taken a week off work, and Sparkles had done the same with the studio. Dorian had tried calling Sparkles, leaving voice mails filled with anger.

Ciro was trying to work out a plan, but I knew he was hitting walls. Sparkles made some calls to the realtor and got the owner of the new building to agree to let Sparkles move in sooner rather than later. When we got the word on that news, all the Joker’s Sin guys and a few of my friends came by to help get everything over there.

We weren’t fool enough at this point to know Dorian wouldn’t find out, but he was helpless to stop it. Sparkles was worried he’d do something awful, so we were all being vigilant. I knew he’d try, and part of me hoped he would.

That something came in the form of a photo of my ma out at the park with my niece and nephew. More than one photo. One of her at the farmers market, another going to church. Each one making me angrier and angrier.

Ciro immediately had a few of his guys watching my ma and sisters around the clock, which made me feel better.

And then an idea struck me.

I knew exactly how to end Dorian Birch and never have the blood on Sparkles’s hands—but still make sure it ended for good.

After Sparkles was all moved in, I pulled Ciro aside and told him my plan. It was very risky, but he agreed it would be perfect if it worked. I knew I’d have to tell Sparkles, but I also wasn’t sure that would be a good idea right now. He might hate me when it was over. My only hope was that he’d understand why I had to keep