by Sam Mariano
“But you didn’t know,” he says, to verify.
“I never asked,” I snap. “If that’s all you have, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you—”
Rex shakes his head, sliding the gun back inside the empty box and flipping open the dictionary. It’s not a dictionary, it’s a lock box, but it’s a cheap one and he clearly didn’t struggle to pick the lock. Opening it up, he sighs and lets me have a look.
I grab the box out of his hand and look through the contents. There are tapes in here that look suspiciously like the tapes I use to record video surveillance at the restaurant. Two tapes. Beneath the tapes is a folded up piece of notebook paper. I open it up, and I’m a little jarred to see Ben’s handwriting. Addresses, first names, pick-up dates. Notes that Virginia shouldn’t have, but I guess it’s not impossible he might’ve dropped it at the restaurant and she picked it up.
She should’ve given it back, though. Definitely shouldn’t have kept it.
Underneath the paper, there are some photographs. It takes me a minute to understand what they are, because they’re pictures of nothing. Places.
One of the pictures has an address, and a dead guy’s car in the driveway. I remember it’s his car because of the bumper sticker.
Feeling like I’ve just swallowed my fucking heart, I drop it all back into the box.
It’s evidence. She collected fucking evidence.
Adrian is standing outside the car, and he finally speaks. “We checked out the tapes, but we didn’t have enough time to see why she kept them. They’re surveillance footage from the restaurant, but it’s a lot of tape to go through. We assume she must have overheard something damning on these nights. I stopped by the restaurant on the way back and checked your tapes. The ones from these dates are still there, so she must have borrowed the originals and made copies so you wouldn’t notice.”
Rex nods. “That means it’s possible there are more tapes hidden in her apartment somewhere.” Holding up the fake dictionary, he says, “This box is small and pretty flimsy, so we figure if she has anything more solid than this, she probably did a better job of hiding it. We’ll go back and do a more thorough sweep once we get her contained.”
What they said deserves a response, but I don’t have one. I can’t speak.
Seeing I’m not going to be much help right now, but understanding we need to act, Mateo places a firm hand on my shoulder and gives me an understanding squeeze. “I know you’re not in a good place right now, Rafe, but we have to take care of this. I assume you’ll want to talk to her first, get some closure. Do you have somewhere secure you can keep her at your house?”
“I don’t have a fucking dungeon, if that’s what you’re asking.”
He does. He has a fucking dungeon. I thought it was overkill, but hell, maybe I should have one, too. This isn’t the first fucking woman to betray me, so maybe it won’t be the last.
Glancing back at Sin’s house, Mateo says, “We could keep her here. Sin’s house seems to be better equipped for something like this.”
“No,” I say lowly. “We’ll take her to my house.”
His tone is no-nonsense. “Can you get her there without alerting her that something’s off? Your face right now says no. Can you pull it together?”
I nod slowly, but don’t say a word.
“Are you sure?” he asks. “If she is a fed, you need to be extremely careful. You don’t want her to get a bad feeling and call for help. I will fucking kill you myself if my family gets caught up in all this bullshit.”
I think of Mia and the kids, of all the Hell that would unleash. No, he’s right, I need to get my shit together. I need to put my feelings in a box and not open them again until we have Virginia secured and cut off from the outside world.
“I’ve got it,” I assure him, meeting his gaze. “I’m fine. I can get her to my house, no problem. We’ve had some messy back and forth relationship shit going on, so… yeah, I can get her there.”
“We need to make sure she’s not wearing a wire,” Adrian tells me. “Do not say anything to her until you’ve checked.”
“I’ve had her naked; she doesn’t wear a wire around me.”
Rex chimes in. “Maybe not around you, but given how many of us were at today’s shindig, I’d say today would be a pretty damn good day to wear a wire.”
That’s true. I had Mateo here, for fuck’s safe.
Raking a hand through my hair, I mutter, “Jesus Christ.”
It’s probably because he has been in a similar place before that Mateo isn’t ripping me a new asshole for being so blind. Instead of telling me how badly I’ve fucked up, this time he squeezes my shoulder and assures me, “We’ll take care of it.”
31
Virginia
I frown as I root around in my purse, looking for my keys. Most of the party mess is cleaned up, but I can’t find Rafe, and I’ll feel bad if I have to leave without saying goodbye to him.
Sin was just helping us clean up, but now I don’t see him anywhere. Laurel is the next best thing, so I walk over toward her. As I approach, I find my keys, so I pull them out and get my key fob ready.
“Hey, have you seen Rafe?”
She frowns, looking around the yard. “Um… I don’t know where he went. He was back here just a minute ago.”
“Yeah, I saw him, but I can’t find him. Well, anyway, I have to run. Can you tell him I said goodbye?”
“Of course. Is everything okay?”
“I hope so. I guess there’s some emergency at the restaurant, and they can’t function without me,” I tell her, rolling my eyes lightly.
Smiling, she says, “Sure, I’ll tell him. Thank you so much for all your help today.”
“Oh, of course. I hope Skylar had a good birthday.”
“She definitely did. Poor baby, she was so beat, she passed out in the bounce castle. Sin just took her inside.”
“Aw, that’s so sweet. Well, I have to run, but thanks again. Tell Rafe I’ll text him later.”
Laurel nods and continues cleaning up, while I turn around and head out the front door. I bump into Rex on his way back inside.
“Whoa, someone’s in a hurry,” he says, flashing me an easy smile. “Where’s the fire?”
“Restaurant emergency,” I tell him.
He nods. “I see.”
I nod back, then awkwardly glance past him. “So, can I get through?”
“Of course.” He takes a step aside, but then grabs my arm and frowns as he glances up the stairs into the house. “Hey, did you see where Ariel went? I was supposed to catch up with her after the party.”
I nod my head, turning and pointing toward the back yard. “Yep, she’s playing ‘Ariel says’ with Mateo’s kids.”
“Ariel says?”
“Like Simon says, but Ariel. She was teaching them how to hula a few minutes ago, and that didn’t even make sense. Ariel lives in the ocean, right? Mermaids don’t do the hula. She needs to get her shit together.”
Rex cracks a smile. “I’ll tell her that when I find her.”
My phone buzzes, and I glance down at the screen. A little bit ago, a number I didn’t recognize texted me and asked where I was. It turned out to be Felix. I didn’t have his number in my phone, but I guess he got mine out of the computer at the restaurant. When I told him I was at Skylar’s birthday party, he sent me a text back and told me they needed me to come to the restaurant right away, there was some kind of emergency. He wouldn’t elaborate, just asked me to come as quickly as I could.
The text on my phone now is from him again. It reads, “Did you leave yet?”
I text back, “Not yet. On my way!”
Rex is still standing here. “Rafe?” he questions.
I glance up at him. “Hm? Oh, the phone? No, it’s a co-worker. Some kind of kitchen crisis. They need me to come in.” I roll my eyes indulgently. “That place would collapse without me, I swear to God. Anyway, I gotta go. Have fun with your mermaid.”
I make it
off the porch, but before I can make it to my car, Rafe steps into view. I glance past him at Mateo. He doesn’t spare me a glance, just turns and heads toward the backyard, presumably to retrieve his wife and kids now that the party is over.
“Running off without saying goodbye?” Rafe inquires as he approaches, seeing me holding my car keys.
“Restaurant emergency,” I tell him. “I was trying to find you to say goodbye, but I didn’t know where you went.”
Nodding to where he stood with Mateo, he said, “Talking shop with the Chicago cousin.”
I smile and take a step forward, throwing my arms around his neck and hugging him. “Well, I’m glad you caught me.”
“Me too,” he murmurs, rubbing my back. “Actually, I need to talk to you. Now that the party’s over, I want to take you to my place. We’ll have a little more privacy there.”
“Your place,” I repeat, somewhat warily.
Nodding, he brings his hand up to caress my face. “I’ve been thinking about some things. Bookstores and freckles,” he murmurs, looking at the bridge of my nose. His thumb moves across my bottom lip next, his dark eyes lingering there for a couple silent seconds. Meeting my gaze again, he finally concludes with, “It’s important.”
He’s not saying what I think he’s saying… is he? “Well…” I glance at my car, then down at my phone, torn. There’s another text on my display from Felix, asking me to please hurry. Looking back up at Rafe, I say, “How about this? Can I go to the restaurant real fast and see what they need, then I’ll swing by your house and we can talk?”
“No,” he says simply, pushing my hair behind my ear. “I’ve waited long enough. I’m not waiting any longer.” Reaching down and taking the phone out of my hand, he drops it into his pocket and twines his fingers together with mine.
My heart nearly stops. I look up at him, afraid to hope, but everything he’s saying sounds really positive. Could he really want to get back together?
My sense of responsibility tells me I need to go to the restaurant and fix whatever problem they’re having, but my heart takes control and makes me follow Rafe past my car to his. He walks me to the passenger side and opens the door for me. I smile up at him and thank him. He nods wordlessly and closes the door once I’m inside.
I can’t believe this is happening. I don’t even know what to think. On one hand, I don’t want to get jerked around again, but on the other, this could be real. Mia was Rafe’s idea of what he could have had; maybe seeing her and her husband together while they’ve been staying with him has made him realize he could be just as happy, if only he’d let himself. If only he would let in the woman who is perfect for him.
Rafe knows I’m perfect for him. He told me so. He told me I was perfect.
Sighing happily, I decide to test the waters, reaching over and resting my hand on his thigh while he drives. He glances down at my hand, then looks over at me. His gaze drifts to the silly clamshell bra stamped on my tank top.
“Take off your shirt.”
My eyes widen. “What? We’re driving down the road.”
“You can leave your bra on,” he tells me. “I want a peek. Just take off the tank top.”
Sighing, I consider telling him no, but then I decide, what the hell? It’s not like anyone else can see me, anyway. I reach for the hem of my tank top and drag it off over my head, so that I’m sitting here in just a purple lace bra and my denim jeans.
“Better?” I ask playfully.
The corner of his mouth tugs upward. “Much better.”
I feel bare, but I also feel good. He wouldn’t be undressing me in the car if he didn’t mean business.
“Can I at least have my phone back so I can text work and tell them I can’t come to the restaurant, after all?” I inquire.
“Nope,” he says, simply.
I shake my head at him, but I don’t bother arguing. I watch out the window and ride in silence, since he’s clearly not going to talk until we get to his house.
I wonder if he’ll talk at all. I wonder if he’ll let his body do the talking instead. I close my eyes, letting memories wash over me. Memories of us rolling around in his bed, memories of us in the shower, memories of his warm brown eyes and all the tenderness they held for me. That’s much nicer than watching the scenery, anyway.
When we get to his house, Rafe takes my hand and leads me upstairs to his bedroom. My heart soars the whole way there. As soon as we get in his bedroom, he takes both our phones out of pockets and deposits them on his dresser, then he walks over to me. He stands so close, I can feel his breath. I’m tempted to lean up on my toes and kiss him, but I wait. I know he likes for me to follow his lead.
Looking down at me, he commands, “Unbutton my shirt.”
I can’t keep from smiling, reaching for the top button and pushing it through the hole, then the next, and the next until his shirt is gaping open. I slide my hands inside and push the fabric down over his broad, sexy shoulders. Since we were outside today, he’s wearing a white tee underneath. I don’t see him in a lot of T-shirts.
I don’t see him in this one for very long. As soon as his dress shirt hits the ground, he reaches back and grabs the neck of his shirt, tugging it off and tossing it on the floor.
“Mm, much better,” I tell him, bracing my hands on his muscular chest.
“Yeah?” he murmurs, encircling my waist with his perfect arms.
“Mm hmm,” I agree, as his lips brush my neck and send shivers down my spine.
“What color panties are you wearing, Virginia?”
I bite my bottom lip and look up at him, looping my arms around his neck. “They match my bra.”
“I want to see.”
I drop my arms and reach down to unbutton and unzip my jean shorts, pushing them down my legs and kicking them away from me so I’m standing here in just my bra and panties.
“Good girl,” he tells me, running his hand down my arm, letting his eyes take their time perusing my body. His hand touches my hip briefly, then he takes a couple steps away from me. “Sit on the bed. I need to grab something.”
I walk over to the bed and take a seat on the edge, looking at the sight of his sexy back. God, I’ll never stop being impressed with his back. As much as I adore his whole body, I think his incredible, muscular back might be my favorite part. I think I would have fallen in lust just catching a glimpse of him from behind at a swimming pool. I can certainly see why so many women have.
Most of them didn’t try to keep him, though. Even as I sit here half-naked on his bed, memories of how much it hurt when it ended flash back to me. He wouldn’t be starting things again unless he was sure this time… right?
When Rafe saunters back over, he’s holding a pair of metal hand cuffs. Tossing aside the inadvertent symbolism of him bringing over metal restraints when I’m worrying he’ll leave me again, I bring my gaze back to his face.
“I want to cuff you,” he tells me.
“Okay,” I say slowly. “Are we playing cops and robbers? Are you going to be a cop? I like it. I can work with this.”
Rafe smiles ever so faintly. “Yeah, that would be a hell of a role reversal, wouldn’t it?”
Shooting him a coy look as he places my first wrist in a cuff and secures it, I ask him, “Do I have a back story? Did I shoplift a Christmas ornament? Or am I a sexy cat burglar? Since we’re playing pretend, we can go much bigger. I can do worse things than I would ever actually do. Ooh, I could be a con woman, and you’re the man I tried to steal from. How will you punish me, Mr. Morelli?”
He puts my other hand in the other cuff and clicks it shut, pulling on it to make sure the lock holds. His lip tugs up in faint amusement, but something seems off.
“Are all my ideas stupid?” I ask, watching him. “I confess, I’m not entirely sure how roleplay works. I’ve never done it before.”
“No?” he asks. “Seems like you have.”
I watch him step backward and bend down to retrieve his dress shirt from the
floor. He slips it back on, but doesn’t bother buttoning it. Then he walks over to the dresser and picks up his cell phone, tapping out a text message.
“Are you okay?” I ask him, confused and a little worried. I don’t know why he’s putting his shirt back on. Is this part of the game? Maybe I’m sneaking into his room at the end of a long day, thinking he’s asleep and I can rob him, but the sexy man of the house is awake and undressing for bed. Yes, that sounds fun. I’m going to suggest that, just as soon as he answers me.
I nearly jump out of my skin when his bedroom door opens. I want to scoot back and dive under the blankets since some asshole is barging in unannounced, but Rafe’s bed is made, and I can’t get under them easily while I’m cuffed.
Rafe turns, not appearing at all surprised by the intrusion, or the sight of Adrian walking into the bedroom. I open my mouth, a breath away from demanding to know what the hell is going on, when I see my lock box tucked under Adrian’s arm. My heart drops like an elevator with a snipped cable, exploding as it hits the floor.
Oh, God.
Oh, no. No, that can’t be my lock box. This cannot be happening.
My gaze jumps to Rafe, and all the warmth has left him. He’s gone completely cold, his face carefully blank.
Oh, my God, it is happening. I’m going to die. They’re going to kill me. Rafe is going to kill me.
He didn’t invite me here to get back together. He went through my things. Why? Why would he search my apartment?
My stomach is in knots, my chest heaves as I struggle to breathe; I feel on the brink of an anxiety attack, and no one has even spoken yet. All the memories of Rafe that I relived on the way here swirl around me like a tornado of torment, and I want to throw up.
Adrian hands the box to Rafe and walks over to the dresser, picking up my cell phone, peeling off the case, and messing with my phone.
Rafe’s cool gaze lands on me and he saunters closer. I need to speak. I need to beg for a chance to explain. I need to say something but I feel like I might pass out, and all I can think about is where my next breath is going to come from.
