Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 77126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“So you think someone’s using me.”
“That’s my best guess. Someone is using you to get to him.”
I break from my brother’s embrace and walk a few steps away from him. “But he’s out of the country. They can’t lure me somewhere and then expect him to come rescue me. He’s not here.”
“They may not know that, Ray.”
“Oh for the love of God, Falcon.” I turn around and face my brother. “These are mobsters. They know everything.”
Falcon doesn’t respond.
No doubt because he knows I’m right.
“Listen,” he says. “When I went to prison, I had Hawk build a safe house. Savannah and I stayed there for a while after I rescued her from Miles McAllister. Vinnie’s been there too.”
“He has?”
“Yes. We brought him there when he first came back into this country.” He grabs my hand, squeezes it. “I know you love him, Raven. And I know he loves you too. I believe he’s a good man, but he had to make a choice. I believe his choice was a good one. If he’s going to bring down his family, his hands are going to get very dirty. Neither he nor I want you anywhere near that.”
“Yes, I know. You both think you can make my decisions for me.” I roll my eyes. “Poor little Raven with her bald head. Poor little Raven who needed her big brother’s bone marrow. Poor little Raven who can’t take care of herself.”
“Christ, Raven,” Falcon says. “You know that isn’t what we think.”
I poke him in the chest. “I’m not so sure about that anymore.”
He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “Let me see the text.”
“No.”
He opens his eyes and glares at me. “Let me see it, Ray.”
“Jared already told you what it says.”
“I know that. And he already gave me the number, and we’re working on tracing it. But I need to see it. I need to see the words.”
“Why?”
He clenches his hands into fists. “Because I’m already mad as a rabid dog, and I need to use my anger. Seeing that text might just give me the extra anger I need to see this motherfucker taken down.”
I walk up to him, run my hands up and down his arms. “Falcon, you’re happy now. You’re out of prison, and you’re with the woman you love. You’re going to be married. Don’t you want to live your life? Just live your life?”
“Of course I do.”
“So do I. Can’t we just—”
“No, we can’t,” he says. “You’re my sister and I love you. I will protect you no matter what.”
I sigh, take my phone out of my purse, pull up the text, and hand it to Falcon.
His neck and cheeks turn red as he reads it.
Yes, there’s the anger. This is the Falcon who got through prison. The one who ruled his cell block.
He did what he had to do. He got more years tacked onto his sentence because he attacked a man with a shiv. He did it to save his own life, of course. But the shiv was contraband. He shouldn’t have had it in the first place.
He hands my phone back. “You can continue to use this phone, but not to talk about any of this. Use the burner for that.”
“I don’t even know who gave me the burner.”
He frowns. “That’s true. We’ll get you another one.”
“How many phones am I supposed to keep track of?”
He lets out a deep breath. “As many as it takes, Ray.”
I sigh, shove my phone back in my purse. “I suppose Jared already told you about this text.” I hand him the burner.
“He did.”
“So who is texting this burner, anyway? That guy who hijacked my Uber?”
“We’re still looking into that,” Falcon says. “But whoever is doing that doesn’t seem to mean you any harm.”
“They told me I was in danger, and then a couple hours later I got that horrible text.”
“Yeah.” Falcon rakes his fingers through his hair. “Leif, Jared, and I are going to figure this out, Raven.”
“I can help.”
“No. You stay safe. I’m going to get you to the safe house.”
I stomp my foot on the ground. “Damn it, Falcon. How can I get this nonprofit off the ground if I’m not around?”
“Savannah’s going to help. And Robin. I’ve already talked to both of them.”
I blink. “You dragged your fiancée and our sister into this?”
“They’re not the ones in danger. You are, Raven. And they don’t want any harm to come to you any more than I do.”
I let out an exasperated huff. “So that’s it then. I can’t stay in my own home, which, by the way, has the best security system in the world.”
“No, Raven. You can’t.”
“What if I refuse to go?”
“Then I’ll pick you up, toss you over my shoulder, and take you there myself.”
“Oh, yeah, Falcon Bellamy.” I cross my arms. “Big man. Likes to push women around.”