Chapter 2
I sank deeper into the couch while outside my apartment window, the ocean painted the shore with white foam. My nose twitched like it sensed salt on the breeze. I'd grown up without the long, clean line of the coast, and I couldn't live without it now.
"How are you feeling?" Jonah asked.
"More embarrassed than anything."
I pulled a face as Jonah's lip tugged up the tiniest bit. He dropped next to me, and his enormous body pressed into my bubble. Not that I was complaining. I wasn't lying. For once, there were no residual effects from my claustrophobic reaction at the warehouse.
"You can confide in me, Lara. I want you to come to me if you need help." His thick fingers reached out and brushed a lock of hair, so he could stare into my eyes.
"Honestly, it's fine," I protested with a breathy laugh.
My skin tingled from his touch, and his gaze dropped to my lips. I wondered if he was thinking about the conversation in the car. I hadn't been able to stop thinking about it. Not even when I wrote up my debrief of the mission.
"I don't believe you."
I almost had to lean forward to catch the raspy whisper. After Jonah helped me up to my apartment the other day with gentle patience, I expected him to spill to Adelaide, but he hadn't. The secret was snug between us, and unlike my other lies, it didn't burn my chest.
"Not my first panic attack. Just my most mortifying one."
I gave myself a day off yesterday, but not before shooting off a sternly worded text to Beck. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing his demands irked me. Jonah scrubbed his jaw, like he knew my focus drifted.
"I have a day off coming up. Maybe we could have that meditation—" Jonah cut off as someone pounded on my door.
Jonah barreled toward the sound, waving a hand behind him.
"I got this." He checked the peephole first before making a sound of disbelief. "What the fuck is he doing here?" he muttered to himself.
He swung the door open, and Jonah's source of frustrated confusion leaned against the doorway.
Raimondo "Tail-light" Donato.
I'd done my research on the playboy Donato heir when I arrived in Greenich Bay. I needed to know all the people in power, and my first impression was lackluster. A sad waste of potential.
The Donatos were the only other crime family to rival the Orazios.
But their holdings were a tiny sliver, almost inconsequential, and Raimondo didn't help.
I couldn't imagine a world in which he and Adelaide were supposed to be married.
I knew the bare details of what happened years ago, a way to join the two families together and end their decades-long enmity.
Adelaide explained everything to me after the gala.
If Ray hadn't opened his mouth and insulted Adelaide, she wouldn't have met Logan, Briar, and Jesse.
Sure, they'd been on the cusp of adulthood, but there was no excuse when the stakes were so high.
"I'm here to see your boss." The dark-haired Donato heir smirked.
"Forget it," Jonah snapped with more force than necessary.
"She'll want to speak to me." The Donato heir stepped until they were almost nose to nose.
I moved toward the door as curiosity gnawed at my heels.
Adelaide mentioned the man in passing, thick with derision, but he intrigued me now.
His reputation preceded him. From marking up back streets with burning rubber tires, to indulging in girls and illicit pleasures.
Ray did anything to avoid what he'd been slated for since birth.
So why was he here?
So close on the heels of Adelaide's heartbreak? His hands jammed in his pockets with a sheepish tilt of his head.
"Let him in," I said.
Jonah pursed his lips, refusing to break eye contact with Raimondo. "Lara, you don't know who this is."
"Adelaide introduced us, although it was brief. But I have faith in you, Jonah. You're more than capable of protecting me."
Raimondo's shadowy locks had that kind of rolled-out-of-bed handsome that takes at least thirty minutes to achieve.
He had a proud, sharp nose, too straight for someone in his world.
The twinkle in his dark eyes caught me. For all his languid ease, he was seeing more than he let on.
And instead of using the knowledge in a calculated way, like I would, or Jonah might, he let it sift through his fingers like entertainment.
We were all players on the screen of life, and he was happy taking the enjoyment, and leaving the rest.
"You heard the pretty lady. Move." Ray shot me a wink.
This was a man who had never worn a sweater with the cuffs shrunk half up his arms. Never tasted the sharp metal tang of a microwave meal or the strange way your stomach could be full and empty at the same time.
Ray had never slept with a lumpy pillow over his head, to block out the scratch of rats in the ceiling.
Yet, there was a brittle quality to his enjoyment.
Like the taste didn't satisfy him anymore.
Maybe there could be hunger in him.
I wonder what kind of woman could inspire it?
A flicker of warmth flared between my legs. I crossed my arms and scowled, surprised by the jolt of energy Ray inspired in me. I wanted to know what would drive an enemy to my doorstep. Jonah gave a silent snarl as I waved my arm in welcome.
"Calm down, big guy. I'm not here as an enemy. I only want to offer the Orazios an arrangement."
"Don't embarrass yourself, Tail-light Ray." Jonah scoffed.
"My nickname precedes me. Don't give me too much attitude, or I might have to run you over just to prove myself." Ray let out a laugh.
"I'll check if she wants to see you," I told him and sent Jonah a look.
Adelaide didn't need a manager. She could handle herself, and Jonah knew it. He stepped aside while clenching his jaw. I padded to the bedroom and let her know she had a visitor.
When I returned, Ray lounged on a stool, looking at home in my small kitchen.
An olive tan peeked out from under his neat white socks. Even in casual athletic wear, it was obvious he was born with innate grace, one losing its sheen as he aged. He flashed me a megawatt smile.
"It's nice to see you again, Raimondo. I'm Lara, in case you didn't remember me."
"Call me Ray, or lover, whichever you prefer." It wasn't sleazy when it came from his perfect lips and rumbling timbre.
Ray was a blaring red flag whipping in the wind. I knew I'd taste trouble in the sweat on his skin. But red was my favorite color.
"You seem like you'd be a selfish lover." I arched an eyebrow, but Ray only chuckled, eyes glinting.
I swore I heard Jonah's teeth crack.
"I'll take you out and let you be the judge. What do you think?" He reached over and twirled the strand of hair that escaped my ponytail.
The same one Jonah had earlier, and the burning stare from the guard only enticed me more. Adelaide's door creaked open, and I leaned back.
"You wouldn't know what to do with me." My assessment made his nose wrinkle, and I knew Ray would stop at nothing to prove me wrong.
His reputation might have been in tatters, but he wasn't going to add bad in bed to the blemishes.
Adelaide tore apart his practiced smiles with a flick of her disdainful eyelashes. No one would suspect she nursed a broken heart.
When Ray offered his services to make her ex-boyfriends jealous, something sparked, low and sharp, in my stomach. The idea was perfect. Being associated with Adelaide would help his reputation, and he was the ideal foil to make her exes choke on their regret.
I excused myself as they hashed out their plans.
An insistent ache spread in my stomach, and I wondered why I cared so much.
Ray wasn't mine to command. But a small part of me wanted to see him win me over.
I unlatched the fake electrical outlet behind my bed and pulled out my burner phone.
My fixation on Ray, a dark-haired, dangerous man, was a distraction from my own responsibilities and the other dangerous, dark-haired man who already owned my heart.
Unknown: Not cute. And next time, message me as soon as you finish a task.
Beck's short reply spoke of restrained fury.
Me: I replied as soon as I could. Don't send me cryptic threats, and I'm more likely to give you what you want.
Unknown: Just follow orders and call me, coward.
My spine snapped. Coward? Sure, I'd been avoiding calling him. It hurt too much to hear his voice and know there was nothing between us. The memory of our tryst hadn't faded. It haunted my sleep, and to him, it meant nothing.
Me: I'm busy. I have a cover to maintain.
Unknown: Little Liar. You can spin your stories to anyone, but not me. Call me. Or I'll be on the next flight to Greenich Bay to take my frustrations out on your pretty little ass. Got it?
Sweat popped up on my upper lip, and I swiped it away with a soft growl.
What was it about Beck that brought out the brat in me?
I resisted the urge to call his bluff. His threats didn't move me, but I couldn't hide the quiver of anxiety that zapped down my spine.
The Unseen had purged anxiety and fear out of me years ago until the only thing I feared was them.
That didn't hold true for crushes, it seemed.
My phone vibrated, and I pulled it out with a scowl. The message was from a different unknown number. This game of Beck's was getting old.
Unknown: Extract camera footage from this address. Possible transaction from Ellington on one of his old credit cards. When you have it completed give confirmation immediately, Lyra.
My blood chilled. What was Beck thinking? We never used our real names in written communications. My fingers flew before I could catch them. Jittery with a surge of anger and disbelief.
Me: Not funny.
Unknown: Not joking. Do your job, no laziness.
The three dots bubbled, and a photo came through.
A neon sign for a place called Howie Barbecue. I knew the place but had never been. It sat on the fringe of Greenich Bay, right on the border of Donato and Orazio territory.
"I'm going to kill him."
It stung that I'd pined for Beck for years, and after Angelo Amato almost put a bullet through my head, Beck admitted how much he wanted me.
My mentor fucked me and immediately backpedaled.
There was only so much my heart could take.
Now he was doing anything to get my attention.
He was still my handler, and I had to take orders from him, so I guess I was going to Howie Barbecue for lunch.
I'd have to hack into their system to download the camera footage, but hopefully, there was an upgraded system.
When I came out of my bedroom, Ray had left, and Adelaide was staring at her juice with a furrowed brow. She barely responded when I told her I was heading out.
"Where are you going?" Jonah clenched and unclenched his fists. "You should take the guard from downstairs."
I swallowed an incredulous laugh. If only he knew how little I needed to be protected.
"I'm no one important." The excuse swirled in my head as Jonah stepped aside, jaw clenched.
"We got interrupted earlier, but I wanted to see if you were serious about… about the meditation. Next week?" Jonah scrubbed the back of his head.
"At your place?" Adrenaline surged and crashed like a roller coaster.
I didn't believe in coincidences, but Jonah offering to have me over the moment Beck was driving me further away from him made goosebumps spring on my arms. Fate, you petty little bitch.
"I'd love that." My ribs tightened around my lungs, and I smiled through the ache.
I'd never struggled to do my job before. But the charade chafed now.
"Great, I can't wait," Jonah ducked his head.
I hurried out the door. What could I say? I wanted to visit Jonah as a friend, as something else. But how could I even think about him when everything he knew about me was a lie? Right now, I would focus on getting the footage, and maybe I'd finally have some way to catch Ellington.
But my debt of lies was taking payment from my insides, and I didn't know how much longer I could pretend.