Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 73302 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73302 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
“What the fuck is going on, and who stole one of our cars last night?” I guessed the question came from Lorenzo.
Great, so they’d already pulled surveillance footage. “A guy I hooked up with, and he didn’t steal it. I offered it to him.”
“Then why the hell was he chasing you?”
“It was just a game,” Rafe insisted.
“A game?”
“I thought we didn’t kink shame in this family.” I bit my lip to keep from laughing. Rafe really was as impossible with his family as he was with me.
“It was a fun game for him to hot-wire a car and chase you through the city?” That question must have come from Dante, the professor who was now married to a former student, one who had been targeted by Ivanov.
“Yeah, I told him if he caught me, he could have me.”
“Jesus Christ.” Lorenzo again. “So some random man chases you down, then your car blows up the next morning.”
I tensed, ready to run if I needed to.
“He’s not involved,” Rafe said.
“Who is he?” Remington asked.
“It doesn’t matter. He didn’t put the bomb in my car. He was going to ride to the casino with me so he could pick up his own car. He’s as lucky to be alive as I am.”
Why did it feel so good for him to lie to protect me?
I tried to push that thought away. He was probably trying to save himself trouble as much as protect me.
You pulled him away from a burning car. Don’t think maybe he feels some kind of loyalty to you?
Before I could think about that anymore, Remington spoke again. “Rafael, I need you to be serious and objective. When I put you in charge of this investigation—”
“Wait. What?” Lorenzo yelled.
“This is between me and Rafael,” Remington said.
“Fuck no. This is my baby brother you’re talking about. Somebody tried to blow him up. I want to know what you’ve involved him in.”
“The car went off when I hit the fob to unlock it,” Rafe said. “It could have been a warning.”
“Either way, you could have died,” Dante said.
“I am being serious and objective.” I imagined Rafe pleading his case to Remington. “I was with the guy the whole time he was here. There was never a time when he could’ve put the bomb there.”
“So where is he now?”
“Gone. I sent him away so he wouldn’t be involved.”
“He could have put the bomb there before you hooked up,” Lorenzo said.
If I had any sense at all, I would get the fuck out of there and find another way to track down Ivanov, but I didn’t move. I couldn’t abandon Rafael. I didn’t think his family would hurt him, but I had to be there for him if he needed help.
16
RAFE
“It’s not him. He’s been vetted.”
“Not by me,” Remington said.
“X vetted him, okay?”
Remington’s eyes widened, and Lorenzo made a strangled noise as Dante looked at me like I’d lost my mind.
“You went over my head?” Remington asked.
“You told me to handle this my way, so I talked to X about people I was suspicious of. He cleared this guy.”
Lorenzo and Dante looked at each other.
Shit, they were reading too much into this. I could tell.
“You seem very interested in assuring us of the man’s innocence,” Lorenzo said.
I rolled my eyes. “He’s a good fuck. I don’t want you to kill him.”
Remington made a disgusted sound. “This is serious. You could’ve been killed.”
“I wasn’t. And I’m working on things. I’m doing exactly what you asked me to do.”
“Running around getting things blown up and going all the way up the chain to check out hookups is not what I asked you to do.”
I couldn’t really argue with that. “I have plenty of leads, and I’m working on the problem.”
“So far tonight, you’ve almost had your throat slit, and now your car exploded. How many of my men do I need to have watching you to keep you alive?”
“None. I can take care of myself. I’m ninety percent sure the knife thing was a personal vendetta.”
“You’re likely right. We haven’t found any connection between Andretti and Ivanov, but we’ll keep digging. What about your car? Any suspects there?”
“No. That one might not be personal.”
“I need you focused. I need you to stop having personal vendettas that cause people to chase you with knives. Fucking hell, Rafe. I thought you were ready to act like an adult.”
“I am. I am taking care of this. I’m watching several people at the casino, and I’m going to do everything you asked.”
“I hope to you hell you are. Let me know when you learn something, not X. And try not to get killed.”
“Yes, sir,” I said.
When Remington left, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I did not want to face my brothers, especially not with Zach upstairs. They were right. I was protecting him. I would do whatever was necessary to keep them from tracking him down, even knowing he was a goddamn fed. I’d lost my fucking mind.