Page 85 of Hold Him Like Gravity

This wasn’t the Rico I’d known for months, who I’d been intimate with for weeks.

This wasn’t someone I recognized at all.

“Rico,” I called, voice soft, almost trembling. The sound seemed to break through whatever was going on in his mind right then, making him turn back, watching me.

“Yeah?”

“Who are you?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Rico

When she broke down, I knew it wasn’t some evil plan. To distract me with intimacy then rob me blind.

Sure, I’d seen more than a few people use tears and begging to try to get out of trouble for fucking me or my family over.

But this was different.

She fucking shattered.

And despite the betrayal I’d been feeling, I couldn’t just let her suffer, sobbing on the floor like that.

I pulled her onto my lap. I held her as she purged all that toxic shit so she could talk this shit out with me.

I knew there was something going on, something pushing her to do what she’d done.

I didn’t expect for it to be her abusive ex she thought she’dkilledand her piece of shit, disloyal brother.

I mean, for fuck’s sake, what kind of brother would team up with the man who hurt his sister only to further terrorize and manipulate her?

I didn’t know.

But I planned to have a littlechatwith that shithead about it.

My mind was racing, anger at someone fucking me over and on Kick’s behalf making me feel racy and ready to haul off and punch something. Preferably the faces of Kyle and Jake.

Until, of course, Kick’s small voice broke through the tornado of thoughts, asking something I couldn’t have seen coming.

“Who are you?”

To be fair, there were times when I thought it was weird as fuck that she didn’t ask me shit about the family. Considering everything else we’d talked about over the past few weeks.

Then again, it wasn’t exactly something I’d brought up either. And I imagine that people assumed that theycouldn’task about family business.

It never crossed my mind that she simply didn’t know who I was, what I was involved in, that the shop was a money laundering operation more than just a normal, legitimate business.

Then again, Kick wasn’t from the area.

She had no friends around here.

So unless one of the guys at work mentioned it, there was no way she could have known. And I didn’t think those guys would be dumb enough to talk about their boss’s other business practices while at work.

“You really don’t know?” I asked, watching her face for any tell.

“No, I mean… I thought I knew who you were. But…” she said, waving at me.

Exhaling hard, I nodded. “Does the name Lombardi mean anything to you?” I asked.

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