Page 109 of Dangerous Contract: Part 1

“Found who?”

“The woman who makes him feel like his world isn’t ending. I must admit, I didn’t think she was real.”

“Wait! What?”

“That’s a story for your brother to tell you.”

Raz took a deep breath to keep from getting any angrier than he already was. So many fucking secrets.

“Cas isn’t leaving you in the dark on purpose,” his dad told him. “He’s always been closed off. Sure, he meddles in everyone else’s business. That’s only to keep you all from meddling in his. By the time he’s done irritating you, you don’t have the energy to ask him what’s going on with him. It’s a defense mechanism. He’s been that way since he was a kid.”

Raz frowned. “Really?”

Why the fuck hadn’t he noticed? Now that he thought about it, his brother talked a lot but rarely about the things going on in his own life.

“Shit.” Raz massaged his forehead. “I thought I knew him. I thought he knew he could come to me with anything.”

“He knows,” his dad said, leaning back against the couch cushion. “He just doesn’t want you to worry about him.”

“How can I not worry?”

“That’s the part he’s never gotten. He doesn’t realize that in trying to keep us from worrying, he only makes us worry more. He’ll talk when he’s ready, Raz. Give him time. I’m not here tonight to discuss Cas. I’m here to talk about you.”

“Why me?” Raz frowned.

“You’re the one who called Bethany.”

“And?”

“After the incident between her and Cas, I signed an agreement with her father stating we’d never bother them, and likewise, they’d never bother us. Tonight, you broke that agreement.”

“Fuck that agreement. Fuck them.”

“Raz...”

“No. Fuck them. His daughter lied on my brother. Why the hell did you sign an agreement with them?”

“Cas was set to invest in some businesses with them. Because of the incident, those businesses fell through, costing Beth’s family a lot of money. The only way I was able to get her father to not take his daughter’s false accusations any further was by paying him off and signing that agreement.”

“That’s the dumbest shi...”

“Watch your language, Raz.”

Raz sighed. “That’s the dumbest mess I’ve ever heard.”

“At the time, it was the best way to settle things. The agreement part was my idea to protect Cas and keep Beth away from him. And the agreement worked. She stayed away until you called her.”

“Yeah, I fuc.... Messed up. But that agreement was unnecessary. If her dad was giving you issues, we could’ve just taken him out.”

“After what happened with Beth, taking her father out would’ve made Cas the main suspect. That damn police chief was looking for any reason to have my boy locked away. I wasn’t about to give him one.”

“Damn.”

Raz swiped his hand over his face. If it was him, he would’ve just put a bullet in Beth’s father and let that be the end of it. Washis dad going soft as he got older? In the past, that would’ve been the way his father handled this, too.

“I couldn’t go that route at the time,” his dad continued. “But that option is still on the table.”

“Okay. So, I called Bethany and broke the agreement. What now? What does her dad want?”

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