Page 65 of Filthy Liar

Another door slammed shut and Ander appeared, tears of relief filling my eyes.

“Who fucking did that to you?” he bit out, grabbing my chin a little harder than necessary to inspect my face, tugging me away from Logan. “I barely took my eyes off the bathroom. Are they still in there?”

“We need to go,” I insisted, grabbing his arm. “Please.”

“Who. Hurt. You?” he repeated bluntly, but he knew. I could see it all over his face, he was just hoping he was wrong.

“Stefano’s here,” I whispered, his eyes snapping to the bathroom. “Well, he was. I think he’s gone. Can we talk in the car on the way home?”

“Let her get in the car,” Zavier scowled, coming to my rescue. “People are looking.”

“Fucking let them,” Ander snarled, spinning around with every intention on stalking off to shoot someone, but Zavier grabbed his arm firmly to stop him.

“Raven wants to leave, so get back in the fucking car so we can figure this out together.”

Ander was so tense that I thought he was going to knock Zavier out, but he forced himself to relax after a second, sliding his arm around my back.

“Let’s go, Bluebird.”

Reid took my hand and helped me into the back, holding both hands on his lap as they continued to shake.

“Hey, did he touch you?”

I knew what he meant, and I shook my head. “No. He held a gun to my head and threatened me, then pistol whipped me when I didn’t agree to what he wanted. I think I blacked out for a second because when I got my bearings, he was gone.”

Ander sat on my other side, Zavier and Logan climbing in the front so we could leave. The car started instantly, and Logan backed out of our spot and headed to the gate without a backwards glance.

“Tell me everything he said to you. What did he want?” Ander asked calmly, but I could tell he was struggling to keep it together.

“He wants me to convince you and Zav to go to him. He said if he doesn’t hear from you by midnight, I’ll regret it. He seems to think you’re protecting Zav because he’s your boyfriend or something.”

He was already reaching for his phone, and I snatched it from him before he could do something stupid, like call Stefano.

“Raven—” he gritted out, his eyes blazing with anger.

“Whatever you want to do, stop. We need to get home and figure this out,” I answered, pocketing his phone. “You’re not running off to play the hero, Ander.”

“Let me call my guys so they can check out the house before we get there. For all we know, he’s already waiting to ambush us,” he growled, shoving his hand into my pocket to take it back.

“How do you know they’re not working for him and backstabbing you? They’re mafia, right?” Zavier asked seriously, his phone in hand as he texted rapidly. “Also, don’t head straight home. Go to the Shed.”

“Why?” I asked, not liking that idea in the slightest. The last thing the Psychos wanted was us bringing this to their door.

“You need that cut looked at, and Beckett said Jade’s there tonight. Unless you want to go into the hospital, you’ll be seeing Jade,” he said in a non-negotiable tone, and I shook my head.

“Um, no thank you. I don’t want to owe them. It’s not that bad, is it?”

“You need it cleaned and we don’t have the right shit at the house,” Reid murmured, reaching up to push my hair out of the way to try and get a good look at it, holding his phone light up to see better. “Yeah, you need some butterfly stitches at least.”

“We can’t just walk in and ask to use their doctor for free,” I argued.

“Sure we can. I know Beckett isn’t too happy about the whole Ander being alive thing, but she likes you, Raven. Even if she didn’t, there’s no way Rory wouldn’t want to make sure you’re okay. We can update her on what happened as they clean you up,” Zavier explained, his face in his phone. “They’re expecting us, so it’s not like we’re showing up unannounced.”

“It gives my guys time to go over the house with a fine tooth comb too,” Ander offered, his phone lighting up with a response from whoever he texted. “They’re en route. They’ll check the place for bugs and explosives while they’re at it. And to answer your question earlier, Lopez, my guys might be mafia, but only because I put them there. They’ve never been loyal to Stefano.”

“You put spies in?” Zavier asked with surprise.

“Yep. They’ll tell me when they’re done and it’s safe to go home.”

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