Page 121 of Filthy Liar

“Should I call Ander?” I asked quietly, hoping he was okay.

If that was Blake’s body in the car, had Ander seen it?

“He’ll be here in a minute. He’s with the guys, he’ll be fine,” Logan replied, patting my thigh so I’d stand up. “We’ll go wait in the living room for him though.”

Penn had a call from another one of the Thieves who needed eyes on a job, so we left her and Drake to it as we wandered into the living room where people seemed to be congregating.

Rory was pacing on the phone, quietly snapping orders at someone on the other end of the call. She looked frazzled, which was unusual.

Zavier and Reid were sitting on the couches talking to a few Thieves, but the rest of the compound was quiet.

“I don’t give a fuck, Evans,” Rory hissed, saying something else that I didn’t quite hear before she hung up, growling to herself as she jammed her phone into her pocket. “I fucking hate that motherfucker!”

“Who?” I dared to ask, her knuckles cracking as she clenched her fists.

“Rage fucking Evans. He’s refusing to assist with our current mafia issue.”

“Do you need him to?”

“I have four days for things to go back to normal. Four, Raven,” she bit out. “Give me a cigarette.”

“Uh, I?—”

“Don’t fuck with me right now,” she snapped, and I dug my pack out of my pocket and offered them to her. She did well not to snatch them as she stormed off outside, and I followed her for some stupid reason.

I silently offered her a lighter when she patted her pockets with a snarl, her entire body calming after two drags.

“Why four days?” I asked, lighting my own to smoke with her.

“Ry. He can’t come home to this mess,” she sighed, raking a hand through her long, black hair. “I can’t exactly send him away either. For one, he wouldn’t leave, but secondly, he needs us to help him. He’s fine in rehab, but there’s too many temptations out here. He comes home Thursday, and Tempest gets out the following Monday. I’d intended on taking some time off to stay home with him.”

“You can. We don’t expect you to stick your neck out for us. This is our problem,” I promised, but she shook her head.

“That asshole has targeted you kids for no goddamn reason, and I want to know why. He made it our problem when he started blowing shit up and killing people. No one gets to come into our town and start a war like that.”

Her hand shook with anger as she smoked, and I gave her my pack when she finished it and held her hand out for another one.

Cars started pulling in, a few people eyeing Rory as they walked past us and into the compound. She looked murderous.

Ander climbed out of a car with Cruz and Knox, the three of them speaking in low voices as they came in our direction.

“It’s not her,” Ander said firmly, making Knox grunt.

“How can you tell?”

“I just know. Apart from that, Stefano loves mind games. It’s not her, he just wants us to think it is,” he repeated, his eyes landing on me. He almost looked guilty, and I didn’t want him thinking I was worried about his feelings for her.

Of course he cared if she was killed or not, I wouldn’t hold that against him.

He moved to stand next to me, sliding an arm around my waist to tuck me against his side.

“Now what?”

“We’ll wait for forensics. They’ll call us with the identification when they know,” Knox answered, and Rory nodded.

“I’ve told them to rush it too. There’s nothing else we can do today, so I think everyone should go home, shower, eat something decent, and sleep. I’ll call the moment I hear anything.”

Ander looked ready to protest, but one glare from Rory had him sighing. “Sure.”

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