Page 91 of The Masks She Wore

?She worked her jaw, her face twisting into a quiet rage as she stared at that phone.

?“Rae?”

?Her throat bobbed as she pressed her lips together.

?“Rae,” Bard demanded.

?Zo eyed her in question, irritation in her own eyes.

?After a second, Rae finally rolled her eyes and cleared her throat, her face shifting, her body adjusting, as if she were physically putting on a persona. “Good afternoon, Captain, how can I help you?” she asked sweetly.

?Papers shuffled. “Well, it seems we’ve received a complaint of sexual assault against you.”

?She straightened, her body going still as stone. “What?”

?My eyes found Zo’s, her eyes flaming. I swear to God if Max did something.

?“Max Justice came in today. He was missing two fingers and he said you stuck a hot coal into his mouth. Now, while I wouldn’t consider thatjustsexual assault, he was adamant that’s what it was. I’m assuming he isn’t telling me everything.”

?A hot coal? I would have cut out his entire tongue, but I also know Zo had done more than that to him during their little bit of time together.

?“We need him to talk,” Zo mouthed.

?Rae spun on me, her eyes wide. “I can assure you that I did no such thing,” she told him. Thanks reflected in her eyes, relief, appreciation.

?You’re welcome, Princess. Anything for you.

?“He has video proof.”

?She snatched the phone and brought it closer to her. “What?” she asked, her careful composure slipping.

?“What?” I seethed, finding Zo’s eyes.

?She was already pulling out her gun.

?“Now, I’m sure you’ll throw money at it to make it go away, but what can’t go away, Rae, is the evidence I have lying on my desk. It doesn’t matter how much money you give me, I can’t excuse an assault of this caliber, do you understand me? But perhaps we can come to another sort of agreement.”

?Her body tensed and I immediately snatched the phone from her hand.

?“Captain,” she warned, glaring at me as I held the phone out of reach, “don’t say anything you’ll regret.”

?She was trying toprotect him? What thefuck?

?“Max is here right now, Rae. It will take me two seconds to file this report, make it a permanent record. A woman so distraught over the loss of her mother, she attacks her half-brother in a brief mental break. You’ll lose everything. Unless, that is, you do what you should have done months ago, but now you need to let Max watch.”

?Her eyes widened.

?I laughed, feeling something withinmesnap. “Your rank means nothing in my world, Alan,” I hummed. “Finish off your bucket list, you’ve got an hour left to live.” I hung up the phone and stood abruptly, the rage shaking through me.Blackmail? He was trying toblackmailmy goddamn girl?

?“An hour?” Zo asked in shock. “Seems an awfully long time to let him live after that.”

?“You’re going to kill him?” Rae asked, shoving herself to a stand. “He’s the Captain of the Police Department, Jack, you can’t kill him.”

?“I’m going to kill him on his way home,” I told Zo, heading over to the island where my jacket and gun were laying completely ignoring Rae. “Should be about 15 minutes.”

?“Jack,” Rae snapped.

?I glanced over, taking her in. Fuck, she was beautiful.

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