Chapter Sixteen #4
Wilder’s eyebrow rose. “Babe. Really? Rafferty was corrupt as hell, but he wasn’t the kind of man who would physically harm you or Shabina or any of the other women we consider family.
Why would you think Rainier would kill him when Bale is walking around alive and well?
Bale actually did threaten Shabina on several occasions, tried to implicate her in a murder, and he’s quite capable of carrying out his threats.
But he’s alive. That should tell you something. ”
Harlow had to admit Bale had threatened Shabina on several occasions.
“But Rainier went to Rafferty’s home in the middle of the night.
” And she worried, absolutely, that Wilder would have done the exact same thing.
She was coward enough that she didn’t come out and say it, but she knew he was perceptive enough to know what she was actually concerned about.
Wilder’s demeanor didn’t change in the least. In fact, he remained perfectly relaxed.
She couldn’t sense any tension in him whatsoever.
His fingers continued to work on the knots in her neck without the slightest hesitation.
Harlow had deliberately tilted her head as she spoke so she could look into his eyes.
She needed to see his reaction. His light green eyes continued to hold that soft look of love that seemed to wash over and through her, drowning her in the sensation of well-being.
“Didn’t I tell you that we don’t ever kill innocents?
We go out of our way to gather proof that whoever we go after has committed a terrible crime and has escaped justice.
We don’t just decide we don’t like someone and end them.
” His tone was low. Even. Not at all defensive.
He wasn’t belligerent or hostile. He made a soft inquiry, and then his statement.
Wilder had told her that he didn’t ever kill an innocent, but then Rafferty wasn’t exactly innocent. “Then why would Rainier go to Rafferty’s home in the dead of night?”
“Just because he goes there doesn’t mean his intention is to kill him. Babe, you have to understand and really believe, we don’t ever kill an innocent.”
“He isn’t so innocent,” she insisted. “He was so corrupt it wasn’t funny.
In the beginning, he would just make evidence disappear if Bale was involved in something.
But lately, it’s been so much worse. He actually lied to the FBI agents about Shabina in the middle of investigating ritual killings.
Along with Bale, he tried to throw suspicion on Shabina instead of trying to find out who was actually committing the murders.
That’s not innocence.” She didn’t know if she was trying to defend Rainier’s actions, or what she believed Wilder might have chosen to do if he were the one to confront Rafferty.
“But Rafferty isn’t a killer,” Wilder reiterated. “He was being investigated, and eventually the law would have caught up with him. If we went around assassinating every corrupt official, there would be no government, most likely in any country.”
Harlow had to agree with him. She believed most politicians started out with the intention of doing good, but along the way, they had to compromise so much in order to get whatever they felt was necessary that in the end they all became used to the bribes and double-dealing.
“Are you saying Rainier was there just to talk to him?”
He nodded. “Had Rainier not been talking to him, I would have been. What he did was unacceptable, both to you and to Shabina. So, yeah, honey, he absolutely warranted a talk.”
“In the middle of the night?”
He gave her that boyish grin that was so rare but transformed his face from tough and ruggedly handsome to a softer, younger look. “Psychological advantage. We look damn scary coming silently into your bedroom, proving we can get to you anytime we want.”
He made the explanation sound like a little boy playing a prank, and she realized he viewed it that way.
“Rainier had no intention of actually harming Rafferty, but he was willing to scare the crap out of him, and you both think that’s funny.
” She tried to use a schoolmarm tone, but the relief she felt almost made her giddy.
And sadly, for her, she did find humor in the situation.
She had such a bad sense of humor. She could imagine just how terrifying it would be to have Rainier or Wilder appear in the bedroom in the dark.
They would choose the darkest hour to pay their visit and look as menacing as possible.
“Well,” he conceded. “It is kind of funny.”
She leaned into him, put her head on his shoulder and let the peace of the night settle over her.
Once again, Wilder had proven she was safe with him.
She could tell him her fears, and he didn’t get indignant or angry with her, feeling as if she was insulting him.
He took the mug from her hand and set it on the table before wrapping his arms around her and settling her back into his chest. The night ended up being perfection, something she wouldn’t have thought possible after the fiasco with her parents.