Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 71179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
But not Raven. She stayed in the house with Mom, learned to do homemaking things from our traditional mother.
She learned to ride a horse, of course, but other than that, ranching wasn’t really her thing.
Not so for Robin.
She never put a dress on until she hit puberty.
“You want an Orange Crush?” I ask.
“Just finished one, but help yourself.”
I grab a water out of the refrigerator behind the bar. Orange Crush tastes like fake flavoring to me, but it’s Raven’s favorite. She always says it tastes like sunshine.
“Is Savannah okay?” she asks when I sit down next to her.
“So far, so good.” I’m not sure how much I’m at liberty to tell Raven. “I had a parole revocation hearing this afternoon.”
“Oh my God…”
“Hey, I’m here, aren’t I? They didn’t revoke my parole.”
She cocks her head and smirks. “How’d you get out of that?”
“Lola. She wrote a script for me to memorize. It was the most obsequious thing you could imagine, but it did the job.” I fiddle with the lapels of the suit jacket I’m wearing. “This is Hawk’s tight-ass Armani suit, plus his shoes. They’re too tight on my canoe feet.” I lift one of my feet.
“Why don’t you take them off?”
I sigh. “Because I can’t stay long, Ray. I have to get back to Savannah.”
“What’s going on?” she asks. “Hawk won’t tell me anything.”
“Hawk only knows a little.” I pat her hand. “I wish I could tell you, but for Savannah’s safety—”
“Safety? What happened to her?”
I shake my head, take a swig of my water, and rise. “I’ve already said too much. Trust me. The less you know, the better off you are. But Leif, Hawk, and I will take care of everything. I don’t want you worrying. You use your energy to continue kicking cancer’s ass.”
“How am I supposed to not worry about you?” She places her hand on her chest. “You’re part of me now. You’re why I’m no longer sick.”
“That’s exactly why you can’t worry about me. You need to continue your recovery, get your immune system back up and running. I want you happy. Not stressed.”
She rolls her eyes. “Right. Like I haven’t been stressed for the last few years, fighting this damned thing.”
“Raven, please. For me. Just focus and keep healing.” I touch her head. “Hair’s growing back.”
“Yeah.” She laughs sarcastically. “I look like a teenage boy from the fifties.”
“Give it another week or two and you’ll have one of those sleek and sexy short haircuts. You’ll be gorgeous.” I kiss the top of her fuzzy head. “I’ve got to go. Love you.”
“Love you too. And Falcon?”
“Yeah?”
“Please stay out of trouble.”
I nod. I want to do more, to tell her that of course I’ll stay out of trouble.
But we both know that would be a lie.
Once I’m back in the car, ready to head for the safe house, I change my mind.
There’s someone else I need to see. I need to put a face to the name, look into the eyes of the man who sold his daughter for God knows what.
I’m driving to Austin.
24
SAVANNAH
The phone buzzes again once Vinnie and I finish our snack.
“Hey,” I say to Falcon. “Everything okay with Raven?”
“She looks good,” he says.
I let out a sigh of relief. “I’m so glad. So you’re on your way?”
“Well…not yet. There’s someone else I want to see first, and I may not be home tonight.”
My heart thuds. “You’re leaving me here alone?”
“I’d never do that,” he says. “But your brother is there, and the place is a fortress. There’s something I need to do in Austin.”
“What?”
“Just an errand that’s really important.”
My heart drops to my gut. “What errand?”
“Just something I have to do. It’s family business, and I don’t want you to worry about it. I’ll be in touch.” The line goes dead.
I gulp and look at Vinnie. “He’s not coming home. Says there’s something he has to do in Austin tonight.”
Vinnie’s jaw goes rigid. “He’s not thinking…”
“No. He wouldn’t. He’d never go back to the McAllisters’ place. Would he?”
“You know him better than I do, sis.” Vinny rubs his jawline.
“That’s the problem,” I say. “I know him. I know Falcon. But I also know Savage. And I’m pretty sure he is the one we’re dealing with.”
25
FALCON
I pull up to the wrought-iron gates of Savannah’s father’s mansion, my heart racing. The imposing metal stares down at me like a sentinel, daring me to take one step closer. Right. I don’t have Leif here to break me in like I did at the McAllisters’ place, but I will get in, and I will talk to Vincent Gallo.
Security cameras are trained on my every move. Every inch of this place is under surveillance. Thanks to Leif’s tutorial when we broke into Declan McAllister’s place, I know where to look and what I’m dealing with, except—