Chapter 25 #2
Blinking away the uncertainty, Rafe’s entire body tensed, and he suddenly looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
“Before we go any further, I need your word that you’ll let me deal with my father, and that will only be when I’m ready.
” He looked between Kai and me before adding, “Your word, from both of you.”
“I can’t do that until I know what I’m dealing with,” Kai growled.
I could have predicted that answer before he even opened his mouth.
“Then I’m sorry to have wasted your time,” Rafe said, stepping toward the door.
My hand shot out and pressed against his chest, preventing him from leaving. “Not so fast. I’m guessing whatever you know is likely to set my cousin on a murderous rampage, so you need to have a damn good reason why you want us to make that assurance to you.”
“Because I’m pretty certain my father killed my mom, and then lied to cover it up. Because I need a bit more time to get to the bottom of it before I kill him with my bare hands, not just for killing our mom but for taking her away from Sofe and me.”
Well, fuck me. I was not expecting that.
I held his stare, and in the light peeking in through the cracks in the wooden boards, I saw someone different from the boy I’d always thought he was. I removed my hand from his chest. “You have my word.”
If what he’d said was true, then he deserved to be the one to end his cunt of a father.
The two of us looked to Kai, who was deep in thought before he finally nodded. “You have my word.”
“I also need your word that you don’t breathe any of this to Sofia. I’ll tell her when I have concrete proof.”
“Fine,” I replied quickly.
She said that she’d acted on impulse when she tried to overdose, but I didn’t want to risk anything that might push her to that edge again.
Learning that her father was the one who killed her mom, and then lied about it, could have been the thing that pushed her back.
Even if she had promised that she wouldn’t try it again.
“Yeah, fine, I won’t mention it to her. Now get on with it,” Kai huffed.
I rolled my eyes. He wasn’t known for his patience.
Rafe raised a hand to the back of his neck and rubbed it as if he didn’t know how or where to start whatever it was he was going to tell us.
“Look, you might not know this, I don’t know if Sofia has told you,” he paused, scrubbing a hand down his face before continuing.
“Our father ordered her to get pregnant as soon as possible after the wedding.”
It was a damn good job Sofia had admitted that a few nights ago, otherwise I would have been blindsided, a little like Kai was as he gaped from Rafe to me with his brows almost disappearing into his hairline.
I crossed my arms over my chest and kept my expression neutral as I nodded once, not giving away that I already knew.
Rafe released a breath as his shoulder slumped. “He told her the reason was to strengthen family ties, but the truth…fuck,” he stopped himself, his gaze dropping to the floor.
“The truth?” Kai growled.
Rafe shook his head despondently. “You have to know that once I tell you this, everything changes. This is me taking a chance in proving my loyalty to the family I’ve been told my entire life are my enemy over my own flesh and blood.”
I exchanged a look with Kai, the two of us thinking the same thing; we were about to be hit with a bombshell.
“Then think very carefully before you go any further,” Kai said, his tone a fraction softer.
He wasn’t Rafe’s biggest fan, but he understood the enormity of this moment.
“We’ve given you our word that your father is yours to deal with, but swearing your loyalty to us goes further than just this.
I don’t take kindly to anyone who gives us their loyalty then goes on to betray us. ”
For a few tense seconds, Rafe could only stare back at Kai, a muscle twitching in his jaw as he deliberated his next move.
Tearing his gaze away, he focused on me.
“He wants Sofia to get pregnant so that once the baby is born, he can kill you.” He turned to Kai and sucked in a shaky breath. “And you. And Riley and Angel.”
A deathly silence filled the small room as the air grew thicker than tar. To my utmost surprise, Kai didn’t instantly turn into The Hulk, rip his shirt off, and take off to Forest Point to Hulk-smash Georgio’s face to pieces before putting a bullet in his brain.
It was one thing threatening to murder him and me, but it was a whole different bag threatening his wife, and for all intents and purposes, his adopted sister, or daughter, or whatever the fuck Angel was to him. It didn’t feel right calling a thirteen-year-old his sister-in-law.
“And what does your father stand to gain from murdering my family?” Kai said, surprisingly calm.
Too calm.
And that was never a good sign.
“He wants Hollows Bay,” Rafe said, collapsing onto the blood-soaked couch as if his legs couldn’t hold him up any longer.
As he sat, a cloud of dust burst into the already dusty room.
“He made a deal with Herrera. He knows you have the monopoly over the arms market in South America, so he agreed to find a way to take over Hollows Bay and all the Wolfe assets. In exchange for the cartel ending the feud, he’ll work with them so they have the monopoly while he focuses on expanding your drugs market. ”
Fuck me. Georgio was an idiot. In the months our enemies tried to rule Hollows Bay, a number of our contacts took their business elsewhere, but when Kai returned, those businesses came back to us with their tail between their legs, and begged us to work with them again.
They all swore that no matter what, as long as there was a Wolfe in Hollows Bay, they would remain loyal to the Wolfe family.
The puzzle piece clicked into place.
“Georgio needs a Wolfe,” I said, leaning against the wall and looking from Rafe to Kai, my earlier fury at him gone.
For now. “You don’t have an heir, if something were to happen to you, Hollows Bay goes to Riley.
If something happens to Riley, the city goes to me.
If I have a kid and something happens to me-”
“The city goes to your heir,” Kai said. “And Angel? She isn’t a Wolfe.”
“I guess my dad doesn’t want to take any chances on someone else staking a claim,” Rafe shrugged.
“Fucking bastard, Angel is just a kid,” I hissed, a murderous streak coursing through me.
Angel was my family, as was Riley. The thought of anyone hurting either of them was incomprehensible.
“I’ll double her security,” Kai said, more to himself. “Riley’s too.”
“No, not yet.” Cogs turned in my head as I thought things over. “I’m guessing with all the secrecy of this meeting, it wasn’t your old man who filled you in on his fucked up plans. We need to keep things normal for now, not give away that we know.”
Kai nodded before turning back to Rafe. “How did you find out all of this?”
Rafe shook his head. “It doesn’t matter how I found out-”
“Of course it does,” Kai barked. “For all we know, this could all be bullshit, and you and Georgio are plotting something else.”
“It’s the truth,” Rafe gritted out before his tone softened. “It came from someone…important.”
Unspoken words hung in the air as Rafe looked between Kai and me.
Interesting.
For all I knew, Rafe wasn’t involved with anyone, but the affection in his voice was undeniable. Whoever that someone was meant a lot to him.
Kai must have sensed it too because he didn’t push any further. “So, Sofia has a baby, and your old man runs the city until the kid is old enough?”
“Not quite,” Rafe winced. “He…um…he plans for me to run the city under his guidance until the kid is old enough to take over.”
The tension thickened once more as Kai narrowed his eyes on Rafe. “Why tell us then? Surely you stand to gain more by going along with your father’s plan.”
Rafe stood, brushing the dust off his black shirt and beige chinos.
“I don’t want your city. This may come as a surprise to you, but I don’t even want Forest Point.
I’m my father’s second-in-command because I never had a choice, just like I don’t have a choice about taking his place one day.
But I have a choice about this. You want to know why I’m choosing to tell you, aside from not wanting to stand back and watch while Riley and Angel are murdered?
I’m telling you because of Sofia. My sister means everything to me, and it would break her to know that I didn’t do something to put a stop to this. ”
For several tense beats, Rafe and Kai glowered at each other, each man debating their next move.
For me, it was simple. Rafe loved his sister enough to go against his father.
Even without the possibility that Georgio was responsible for the death of their mom, Rafe would have known that coming to Kai with this development would be signing his father’s death sentence.
That was enough to earn my respect.
But it wasn’t my decision to make. As pissed as I was at Kai for his little bunker stunt, when it came to important shit like this, it was his call what happened next. Whatever he decided, I would follow.
No, I didn’t always agree with his decisions, but unlike some, he made his decisions with the best intentions for the family and for the city, and that was always enough for me to put my trust in him.
After what seemed like an eternity, Kai did something that I never thought I’d witness.
He held out his hand for Rafe to shake. “Sofia might be your sister, but she’s Miles’ wife.
She’s family, and we protect our family.
And by proving your loyalty, whether you like it or not, you’re now one of our family, too.
We work together and we keep our girls safe. ”
Rafe swallowed, and if I hadn’t been watching him as intently as I was, I would have missed the glint of relief flash in his eyes. He reached out and took Kai’s hand, the two of them shaking.
When they broke apart, I offered him my hand. “Welcome to our side. Now all we need to do is work out how the fuck we’re going to sort this shit out.”