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)
He saved your life.
He had, and he hadn’t made me feel like a fool, even though I’d acted like one. He’d helped me through the shock. He’d taken care of my hand. What did all of that mean?
“Start talking,” Lorenzo said. “We want to know everything about this man.”
There was no point in trying to argue that he wasn’t anyone important. Dante already knew I was interested in a man, and Lorenzo had seen right through me. But what was I supposed to say? I couldn’t admit anything, not that I wanted to. It didn’t matter that Lorenzo and Dante had both fallen in love with amazing men. It didn’t matter that their connections had happened instantly. I still didn’t want to talk to them, and I sure as hell wouldn’t reveal anything about how I felt with Zach listening in. “There’s really nothing to tell.”
“Bullshit. And what’s this about you secretly working for Remington?” Dante asked.
I latched onto that. “Remington asked for my help and told me to keep it quiet.” Even though they knew something was up, I still intended to keep things vague. If Lorenzo discovered exactly what I was up to, he’d freak out and insist on doing the job for me.
That wasn’t going to happen. For whatever reason, Remington trusted me, and even though he was mad at me, he hadn’t taken me off the assignment. If I succeeded in finding the infiltrator and helping to track down Ivanov, I’d secure a real place for myself in the family.
“What kind of job?” Lorenzo asked.
“That’s between me and Remington.”
He snarled, looking his most dangerous. “Since when do we have fucking secrets from each other?”
I huffed, determined not to let him intimidate me. “Since forever.”
“Not about something like this.”
“If you want to hear a secret, I can let you know what I did with my hookup last night.”
Dante grimaced.
“Like I haven’t had to see enough of you and Alex.”
“Alex and I are very discreet.”
I snorted. “You think that.”
“Well. Don’t follow us around.”
“I need to get to the casino. My hand hurts. My car’s blown up, and so is my bike. I’ve got a lot to take care of.”
Lorenzo shook his head. “Remington said he’d send a crew over to take care of the cleanup, and you know the family has plenty of cars.”
“Go home and leave me alone. Let me sort through this on my own.”
“That’s not how we do things,” Lorenzo said.
“It’s how I’m doing things now. You want me to grow up. You want me to stop needing you to look after me. I’m trying.”
He studied me for a second. “There’s something you’re not telling us, and you’re acting weird about this guy.”
I shrugged. “He’s hot. We had fun, and he didn’t try to kill me.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Seriously. Isn’t that enough?”
Lorenzo shook his head. “You’re my baby brother.”
“I’m twenty-five.”
“You’re still the baby.”
Dante patted him on the shoulder. “Come on. Let’s leave him alone. At least he’s alive.”
“For now,” Lorenzo said.
Dante held my gaze. I was thankful he hadn’t said anything about our conversation, but the way he was looking at me let me know he wasn’t going to promise much more restraint. “I don’t like it either, and I will intervene if I need to, but Rafe’s right. We keep telling him he needs to be responsible. We’ve got to let him prove it.”
“Exactly,” I said.
Lorenzo huffed. “You just want to get home to Alex. You probably got out of bed for this.”
“What I’d like to do is get enough sleep to be on time for my class.”
Lorenzo and I both rolled our eyes, but he let Dante hustle him out the door. I closed and locked it behind them, then rested my forehead against the cool wood.
My hand was throbbing, and my head was swirling. How much longer was I going to be able to keep all my secrets?
A few seconds later, I heard footsteps on the stairs.
I pushed away from the door and turned to face Zach. If I had any sense at all, I would send him away, then call my brothers back and tell them everything. If I did that, I’d end up accepting their help. Not this time. I was going to do this on my own. I didn’t need interfering family.
“Are you all right?” Zach asked.
I wanted to say yes. I tried to, but the word wouldn’t come. He closed the distance between us, and I fell into his arms like I’d been waiting for him to hold me. So much for being independent.
He kissed the side of my head like he’d done as I held my hand under the water. How was it possible I felt so safe with him? “Rafael, we’re going to take care of this. We’re going to find the fucker who planted that bomb and figure out if you have a spy in the casino.”