- LUCIANO -
"So are you going to sleep on this deck tonight or am I?" I ask Dex after Raya goes to check on Rory inside.
He gives a wry look and then groans. "Nothing is going to happen, Luci."
"I know that’s the life that you’re used to living, cuzzo. But it’s not mine."
"It has to be exhausting to think soone is going to jump out of the bushes at any given mont."
He has no idea.
"That’s why you trusted to watch over your girl while you were out of town, right? I anticipate the ones who co jumping out of bushes."
He nods and stares off into the jungle. "Are you ever able to relax, Luci?"
"Was Kenneth Rider the stalker you had watching out for?" I ask instead of responding to his question.
"No, he had been caught by then. But only by a few days. I guess I was paranoid after that." His jaw grinds. "Sorry I misled you."
Normally I would be pissed to find that he lied and used as security detail for the woman he loves when I have so many more important things to do. It’s insulting, and it shows how privileged and spoiled and entirely naive Dex is about the family. He should have never asked to do that if it wasn’t true.
But I saw Rory for the first ti because of it. And now that I’ve gotten to know these two sisters better, I can’t bla Dex for being paranoid that sothing else might have happened to Raya while he was gone. In fact, I think he should be more paranoid now.
"You should consider hiring security for her," I tell him.
"Why? We have that state of the art system you put in the house now," he chuckles. "It’s not like I’m a Made Man in the family."
"You’re related. Sotis that’s enough."
"When was the last ti you even had problems like that, Luci?" He asks, appearing slightly irritated now.
"You don’t want to know things like that, Dex."
When he continues staring at like he’s expecting an answer, I sigh and rake a hand through my hair.
"Other families like ours don’t get involved on the West coast. It’s the Russian Bratva who fuck with us. They’re cocky bastards. No morals. And they really like our territory. I pissed one of them off awhile back, and since then they’ve had it out for us in a personal way."
"What did you do?" He frowns, and then his attention flickers back inside where Raya has started walking back out of the bedroom. "Never mind. I don’t want to know," he mutters before she erges on the deck.
"Everything okay?" He asks her.
Human expressions are so fascinating. Sotis it’s hard to even pinpoint how an emotion gets conveyed. There are things revealed with the eyes, but every single muscle in the face has a part to play, and right now several of Raya’s look drawn and tense. Her lips press together in indecision before she decides to flash Dex a crooked smile.
"What’s wrong?" I ask, hoping to retrieve more truth than whatever polite, reassuring words are about to form.
Raya is a peacemaker, and she has found herself in a difficult position. That’s what her expression says to . I want to know what that difficult position is, because it obviously has to do with her sister.
The edge of her lips falls. "Nothing," she shrugs—lying. "Rory’s tired. She fell asleep already."
I cross my arms and watch Dex’s little liar walk to his side and sit down. When she glances at , prepared to engage in friendly conversation, her eyes flare a little wider and dart back to Dex with fluttering lashes before returning my way. Now I have Raya looking like a startled animal and Dex glaring with that protective predatory darkness of his revealing itself again. It’s cute.
They both stare at like they’re expecting an aggressive line of questioning, but I just cock my head to the side and wait for the truth. Raya will offer what’s on her mind. She’s not the labyrinth of darkness that her sister is.
"I’m worried," she finally says with a sigh.
"Okay." I nod calmly, gesturing for her to continue.
"We’re all worried," Dex says. "But today was a good start, don’t you think? She seems a little more relaxed than she has been. She definitely talked more than I’ve heard her in a long ti."
Rather than point out that there’s obviously sothing new worrying Raya, I just shift my gaze her way again. By now, she’s probably getting the sense that I can read her. If she considers at all why this is a skill soone like would have, I doubt she will bother with pretenses.
It’s not like I expect her to tell her sister’s secrets, but if there’s sothing going on with Rory that we need to know, she better reveal it. And there is. I can feel it.
"God, I’m probably just paranoid now," she says, the rest of that serene facade sliding from her expression. The tension and concern return, and she looks really tired. Tired and worried.
"You have intuition for a reason, Raya. You need to trust it," I tell her. "What’s going on? What are you worried about?"
"Well... everything now," she sighs again. "But there’s this one specific thing. Rory had a hole in her heart when she was younger. She was always really tired. When she got breathless after running just short distances all the ti, it was finally discovered. But it was small enough that it closed on its own. She’s still supposed to see a cardiologist for it. How tired she got today just reminded of all those tis..."
I’m out of the chair and stalking toward the bedroom before she can go on.
"Luci," Raya hisses, catching up to and grabbing my arm. "You can’t just go in there. Please. What if you scare her? That’s the last thing she needs."
"You think Rory could have a heart problem, and you’re worried I’m going to scare her?"
"She’s not in any imdiate danger," she says, tugging away from the door. Dex is standing behind us, hands shoved in his pockets while he watches let Raya guide back out. "I promise you that I will keep a very close eye on her while we’re here. It’s best that she doesn’t drink much just in case. But it’s probably nothing. Like I said, I’m just... paranoid."
With a heavy sigh, I return to the chair I was in and bury my head in my hands, trying to shake the imdiate anxiety that spiked with this new information. Why? Why this, too? With every other fucking thing that I have to worry about, now there’s this. And it’s not sothing I can shoot to get rid of.
"She’ll be fine," Raya adds, regaining that reassuring grace that makes her want to put everyone at ease.
My chest tightens.
"You two gonna be here for awhile?" I ask without looking up.
"Yeah," Dex says, and I get up—needing to move, needing to check the area, needing to do sothing.
I feel Dex and Raya’s curious stares follow as I descend the steps that take out into the forest where the golden glow of lights strung across the deck can’t reach. There’s probably so creepy shit that prowls the forest when the sun goes down. Good. I’ll fit right in.
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