Page 8 of Broken Promises

“It’s still nowhere near the same level as the fucking mafia. Even you guys don’t fuck with them,” I scoffed, taking a sip of my coffee.

“Put the blame where it’s deserved then. Zavier had zero idea who he was involved with, you know that. He swears he thought it was just Lavaro’s shit he was moving. If you want to be mad, track down Ander and punish him for it. Then you can tell the Ricci family where to find him, so hopefully they go back to Italy and leave the rest of us alone. FYI, we don’t fuck with the mafia because we don’t want to, not because we fear them. They’re terrible team players.”

“Zavier—”

“Zavier’s being hunted right now and could end up dead,” Maddox offered unhelpfully as he joined us, tucking his gun into the back of his pants. “Don’t waste time being mad at him. Go tell him you’re pissed, then move on from it before all you’re left with are regrets.”

“He’s safe in the Thieves’ compound,” I said firmly, and Beckett rolled her eyes as she checked that her gun was loaded before tucking it into her pants like Maddox had.

“He can’t stay locked in there forever. Besides, just because the Thieves can see the mafia coming, doesn’t mean they won’t get in.”

She gave Jett a kiss on her way out the door, Maddox telling Jett not to burn the house down while they were gone.

We finished our coffees and got dressed, then Jett messaged Drake to hang out.

Jett and Drake were becoming good friends to me, but they weren’t my best friends, and they never would be.

No one could replace Reid or Zavier, even if I was pissed at them still, and no one would ever compare to Raven.

It was going to be another long day.

Zavier

I rewound the footage of Raven walking along the street for the millionth time, trying to figure out where the fuck she’d been at three in the morning. The lack of security cameras in the Heights meant I couldn’t track her properly, and it was frustrating.

Anything could happen to her. Had she forgotten about the damn mafia being in town?

She was obviously on their radar now too.

If they took her, I’d trade myself for her instantly. This was my problem, no matter how blindsided I’d been by it.

She shouldn’t have to suffer because of me.

“You’re worse than Stone when Penn leaves the house,” Cruz chuckled as he sat in a chair beside mine at his own computer.

“Where does she go so late?” I muttered, watching the video play again.

“She met up with Beckett last night at three, and she went to Ashburn Valley with her around five-thirty.”

I turned, even more confused. “What was she doing with Beckett? She didn’t go home?”

“Ask Beckett yourself. She’s your bestie, right?” he said dryly, pressing a bunch of computer keys before bringing up a screen of charts.

My eyes caught the name on the corner of the file, making me lean closer. “Clint Pierce? That’s Raven’s dad. What is this?”

“I have all of his files,” Cruz shrugged like that was normal, flicking through a few documents before stopping on some kind of bank statement. “He got his latest welfare check recently.”

“So?”

“Look closer, dumbass,” he huffed, and I ran my eyes over the entire page until I landed on the part that said where he’d recently bought something.

“That’s the gas station in the Heights,” I said slowly, noticing a couple of payments to local places. “What the fuck is he doing in the Heights?”

“I was told to keep an eye on him,” he said vaguely, showing me photos of the prick who made Raven’s life hell. I’d never met the guy, but I’d never hated someone so much in my damn life, other than my own family.

“By who?”

“I’m not supposed to tell you.”

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