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)
“You don’t want to tell them you were willing to swallow my dick? They don’t want you to eat my ass?”
“I wasn’t fucking acting! Not tonight, not for a long time. Maybe when we first met, but it changed so fast. I’ve never felt like I do when I’m with you.”
Tears stung my eyes. I wanted to believe him, but I couldn’t. I was furious with him for using me, and with myself for falling for it. And it hurt. God, it hurt. I fought for composure. “Leave now, Zach. Just leave me alone.”
“Rafe, please. I don’t want you thinking I’d hurt you like this.”
The look in his eyes almost made me reconsider, but what if that was just more acting? “If you’re worried I’m going to put a hit out on you or turn you over to Remington or some shit like that, don’t. I don’t need revenge. I need you out of my sight.”
He squeezed his eyes shut and exhaled. “I’ll go, but this isn’t the end. I’m going to make you understand. This is real. I haven’t been playing with you since I thought Andretti was going to slit your throat. If you need anything, you call me. I will come. I will help you no matter what.”
If I said anything else, I was going to start crying. There were tears in Zach’s eyes too, but I couldn’t believe those. Clearly, he was a damn good actor. He scooped up his clothes, dressing as quickly as he could. Then he let himself out the door. I didn’t even know where he was going to go—his car wasn’t here—but I couldn’t make myself worry about it. He could walk home for all I cared.
When Dante opened his door, I could tell he was furious. “What the fuck are you doing banging like—” His eyes widened as he took in my appearance. I was in pajama pants and a T-shirt, and I was sure my hair was standing up. My eyes were red from crying, and if I looked half as bad as I felt, I had to be scary.
“Rafe? What’s wrong? What happened?” He ushered me in and wrapped an arm around my shoulders like he wasn’t sure I could walk.
“I was so fucking wrong. I thought… oh God, I’m so stupid.”
“No, Rafe, you’re not stupid. Tell me what happened. Should I call Lorenzo?”
I shook my head. “No. Yes. Fuck, I don’t know.”
“Maybe tell me first, and then we’ll figure out how to explain it to him.”
“Yeah, I like that.”
As soon as I sat down, I spilled my guts to him, the whole fucking sordid story. I was prepared for Dante to lose his mind, to demand to know where Zach was so he could go and beat the shit out of him. Maybe shoot him. But when I looked up at him, he was frowning.
“The guy you told me about is a federal agent, and you’re in love with him?” His voice was surprisingly calm and steady.
“I was in love with him.”
Dante nodded. “And he’s been helping you find Ivanov?”
“Yes.”
He studied me, and I hated that I couldn’t figure out what he was thinking. “Do we need to prepare a counterattack?”
I shook my head. “He’s not going to come after the family. He just wants Ivanov.”
Again, he waited to speak. “Don’t yell at me, but are you absolutely sure he’s lying?”
Anger burned in my chest. “What the fuck, Dante? Are you on his side?”
“No, you know how much I care about you. But I also don’t want you to make a mistake. Is there a possibility he was telling you the truth? Do you think he said all that shit because he thought he had to?”
I took a shaky breath. I was so fucking confused. “I don’t know.”
“What do you think if you let yourself get past the hurt? Take a minute to consider everything else you know about him.”
I looked up and met his eyes. “I thought you wanted me to stay away from him.”
He laid a hand over mine. “Rafe, if you’re in love with him—actually, really in love with him—then I want you to have that. I want you to have what Alex and I do. But if Zach really did use you, he’s going to hurt for it.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want you going after him. I just want him out of my life.”
“Why wouldn’t you want revenge?”
“I don’t know what to believe or what I’m supposed to want.”
“Were there signs that you missed?”
“Dante—”
He took my hands in his. “Think about it. What does his behavior tell you? Was he faking it, and you just hoped he wasn’t? Or was he sincere?”
“How the hell am I supposed to know? I’m not any good at this relationship bullshit.”
“Rafe, you read people well. That helps make you good at what you do.”