Page 70 of Filthy Liar

Silently, Ander shuffled closer to him and Zavier, who was now sitting on the ground too, and Ander dropped an arm around Reid’s shoulders so he was wedged between them both.

They’d look after him, I knew that, and I honestly was grateful because I didn’t have it in me to comfort him right now. I couldn’t move, my body numb to my emotions.

It took forever for them to put the blaze out completely, but we still remained on the grass by the cars.

My phone dinged with a message, and I pulled it out of my pocket absently to check it.

Unknown: Do you regret it yet, Raven? Immunity for you, Logan, and Reid is off the table and won’t be offered again. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Logan took it from me, holding it up in the air. “Rory!”

She turned, her face serious as she saw the phone in his hand, instantly knowing we’d received a message of some kind. Ander stood, leaving Reid with Zavier so he could come and look too.

“Where the fuck is he hiding?” Ander growled as he read the message, Rory appearing beside him to look over his shoulder.

“The Thieves are on it, but he’s blocking their every move. Do you know his tech guy?” Rory asked, making him nod.

“Antonio. Dante swore he was loyal to him and was helping him bring down Stefano in the background, but I’m starting to think he’s betraying him,” Ander replied, his jaw tight.

“No shit?” Logan scoffed. “Can we trace this message?”

“We can try to pull something from it, but I dare say he’s smart enough to either block us from doing so, or it’s a burner and he’s already tossed it,” Rory sighed, pulling her phone out to call the Thieves, moving off to the side to talk.

“We should go home,” Logan murmured softly, but I shook my head. We were home, and I wasn’t ready to walk away from it yet.

He didn’t complain, pulling me onto his lap more and resting his cheek on top of my head.

By the time the sun rose, the street was crawling with people. Even the local news reporters were here.

It had been a while since someone had given a shit about a house burning down here, it was common, but the fact that bodies were inside the house changed things.

And that the Donovans were clearly pushing to find out information, which was probably why the reporters were here.

One of them called out my name from behind the barrier that had been put in place, but I ignored them. If they thought I was going to give them an interview, they were mistaken.

At some point, Beckett had wandered over to sit beside us, silently giving my head an awkward pat. It would’ve made me laugh if I wasn’t so fucking upset.

“Got some information out of the cops,” Diesel said quietly as he squatted in front of us, keeping his voice quiet so only we heard him. “One body was found in bed, most likely dying in their sleep. Another is by the door, so they think they were trying to get out and most likely suffocated to death from smoke inhalation. There’s another one in the kitchen too.”

“Why couldn’t the person by the door get out? The windows were all boarded, but the door should’ve been easy to unlock,” Logan stated.

“Stefano’s a cruel man,” Ander answered, making me look up to see the grim look on his face. “Chances are high he trapped them inside. Either that, or they were too drunk or high to focus in their panic to get out. Usually, he can do shit like this then pay the cops to report it as an accident.”

“Not here,” Diesel snorted, eyeing me. “Local cops are on our payroll, so they’ll give us the right information.”

“Maybe. It depends if Stefano decided to threaten their families or something,” Ander shrugged.

“I assume the house wasn’t insured?” Diesel asked carefully, and I forced myself to shake my head, finally speaking.

“We let the insurance go so we could afford the house repayments.”

“I know there’s probably not, but is there someone I can call for you guys?” When I shook my head again, he reached out to give my shoulder a comforting squeeze. “Okay. If you’d feel safer at our house, you’re welcome to stay there.”

I didn’t reply and he didn’t stick around to wait for an answer, heading back over to Rory, who was now talking to Tyler and Hunter, who had recently arrived.

I glanced over at Reid, finding him staring at the rubble. I had no idea when Riley had shown up, but she was silently sitting beside him on the ground. Zavier had stood to stretch, having a quiet conversation with Ander about fuck knows what.

Hopefully, it was a plan to kill Stefano by the end of the fucking day.

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