Chapter 17
17
RUTGER
S taring at my phone, I see a new message from Alonso. Nashville PD has P Boy and his crew in custody. One less thing to worry about. I drop a pin in reply, requesting backup.
My mind races as I consider my next move. Out of nowhere, Bijou throws the passenger door open and runs out into the night. My heart sinks.
She’s played you for a fool, conspiring with her brother this whole time…
I don’t want to believe she would betray me. But how else do I explain why she just ran out to her brother? Or how he tracked us here? Did he trace her phone?
Raul’s look of sheer disgust at the Bow flashes through my head, and I push all other thoughts from my mind. Bursting from the car behind Bijou, I race to her side. No matter where her loyalties lie, Raul will hurt her over my dead body.
The tall, muscular, dark-skinned man holds a gun pointed at his sister. Spitting in her direction, he screams, “What the fuck, sissy? Why are you making this so tough on me?”
My approach barely catches his attention. Looking past Bijou and Raul, I see why. Three of his goons instantly train their guns on me. We’re outmanned and outgunned. Just like Bijou said we’d be.
“I’m sorry,” she pleads through a sob. “I wasn’t thinking straight. But I am now, and I realize you’re not playing.”
“No, I’m not playing,” he grunts, stepping towards her.
Guilt and regret smash into me as I register the hatred oozing from Raul’s gaze towards Bijou. I may not know how he found us, but assuming it involved her betrayal was wrong.
“If I give you the Blue Moon, will you stop this?”
He laughs. “This won’t stop until one of us is dead. And it won’t be me.”
A primal growl comes from deep within my throat as I keep my gun on Raul. I should’ve finished this a long time ago.
“Why?” she questions in a shocked tone.
“Why one of us must die? Or, why it won’t be me?”
She rages, “Why does one of us have to die? I don’t get it. We’re family.”
“How rich! Now, you throw the word ‘family’ around. Where was your family loyalty when you chose this asshole over us?” He nods sharply in my direction.
“He was my fiancé, my family, too.”
“It’s like Dad always says. No matter who you marry, your Lefevre loyalties come first. You got that turned around, sissy. And now you’re going to pay for it.”
“When did you become the family judge and jury?” Bijou spits back.
Raul ignores her question. “You think it’s a coincidence the whole family started coming apart after Rutger showed up? Family members going to prison. Feds raiding places. Snitches coming out of every nook and cranny to testify against us. None of that happened until you started fucking him.”
Every fiber in my body wants to beat his punk ass for talking to my woman this way. And the level of paranoia pouring off Raul astounds me. Clearing my throat, I correct, “I had nothing to do with any of that. Your family was in trouble long before I showed up, largely because of your unscrupulous dealings and loose lips.”
“That’s right,” Bijou chimes in. “Rutger and I did everything to stay as far away from the family business as possible. But you wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. You always tried to rope us into some new request or demand. And what about your loyalty to me? I was the one who took care of your scraped knees when you were little… who helped you with your homework… comforted you when you had nightmares?—”
“Enough!” Raul shrieks.
“If Dad saw what you did to me five years ago. The way you beat me… If Grandpa and Grandma saw it… Mom?—”
“Quiet, sissy!”
My mind races, strategizing ways to decrease the odds against us. Or at least buy time until my team arrives.
“The Lefevre name distilled down to one weak man who beats his own sister?—”
“I’ve had enough of you! Where’s the Blue Moon?”
Bijou’s hand goes to the necklace.
“Fuck all,” he laughs. “You think I’m stupid, don’t you? There’s no way in hell you’d actually wear it. It’s cursed.”
“Only for male family members?—”
“Now, you sound like Grandma.”
“She was right,” Bijou challenges. “You should have listened to her more closely.”
“Shut the fuck up!” With an explosive lunge forward, he raises his arm to backhand her.
I let out a ferocious roar, lunging forward and locking arms with him at the elbow. Grabbing his face in my hand, I drive him backward into the ground.