Page 4 of Filthy Liar

I did as he said, the car jerking forward and becoming smoother once we were moving, and I blew out a breath as I made sure the road was clear before easing onto it, almost stalling it again.

“This is going to be a long trip home.”

“Nah. The faster you drive, the smoother the ride,” he answered, studying me. “And to answer your question before, I don’t think Ander will lie. If I get a whiff of a lie, I’m knocking him the fuck out and I’ll get Cruz to pick us up.”

“Why are you so calm? He’s been lying to us, Zav.”

He was quiet for a second, and when I thought he wasn’t going to answer, he spoke. “You didn’t see him on the way to the slaughterhouse. He had no idea what Dante wanted, but he knew it was something about you when you didn’t answer the phone. A scheming man wouldn’t have freaked out like that. He’s never hidden that he has secrets, and he’s admitted that he didn’t have the best intentions when he first arrived in the Heights and befriended Riley and the others.”

“You’re just letting it go?”

“No. I’m going to listen to him, and then we can deal with it after.”

“I don’t want to stay with him tonight,” I said with a sigh, his hand moving to my thigh and giving it a gentle squeeze.

“You don’t have to. We’ll organize something else when we get back to the house, okay? We can stay at the Thieves’ compound, or see if we can crash elsewhere.”

“Am I going the right way? I haven’t really driven here before,” I laughed nervously, the sun almost vanishing behind the mountains.

“Yeah. Follow the signs to Newhaven and into Mount Mercer.”

“You seem to know your way around here.”

“I’ve done a lot of trips to the slaughterhouse in the past,” he said as he glanced out the window.

“Why?”

“It’s Ander’s. It’s where we took people to deal with them, and he used to store his drugs there when he had a security team on payroll,” he mumbled, his fingers flexing on my thigh.

I had no idea what to say to that, so I didn’t say anything as I made my way back to familiar territory, cutting through Pine Valley and into the Heights.

I was surprised to find Logan and Reid parked out front of the house when we arrived, both of them leaning against the Challenger as they talked. They looked over when I drove into the driveway, and I found the button for the garage door so I could park inside.

I almost stalled it three times just getting the damn thing in there, but I did it and shut off the engine with a relieved groan.

“Thank fuck.”

Zavier climbed out and moved around the car to help me out, my legs feeling shaky for some reason.

“When did you eat last?” he asked as footsteps approached, making me wince.

“Yesterday.”

“Jesus, Raven,” he sighed, and I wanted to burst into tears when Reid appeared with a worried look on his face.

“What the fuck happened to you?”

“Long story,” I replied, his eyes narrowing.

“Then shorten it.”

“I was kidnapped.”

“Are you fucking serious?” he bit out, almost stepping into me as he carefully took my face in both hands, tilting my chin up towards the light so he could see me better.

I slid my arms around his middle and leaned into him, and he didn’t hesitate to pull me closer as he carefully slid his fingers through my hair to cradle the back of my head.

“C’mon, shut the door and let’s head inside. Anyone could be watching,” Zavier murmured, pressing the button for the garage door to go back down as he took the keys from my hand to lock the car before heading towards the door.

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