Page 85 of Filthy Liar

“Was not.”

“Yes, you fucking were. If you put yourself back in that chair, I’m begging Rory to put you in a rehabilitation facility because I refuse to be your nurse again. No one should hold their friends dick so they can pee. I bet you faked the injuries just so I would touch it.”

I chuckled as they argued, my phone ringing and making a bad feeling wash through me when I saw Cruz’s name. I answered, pressing the phone to my ear and moving away from the playful argument.

“Yeah?”

“You’ve got company,” Cruz said, his fingers flying over the keyboard. “A car’s parked a few houses up from yours, and they’ve been there all day. Nothing was really out of the ordinary, but one of them got out for a cigarette and to stretch their legs, which flagged in my system. He’s confirmed to have been seen in Italy with Stefano in the past on old footage.”

“Any idea how many? What car?”

I was so fucking over this. Logan and Reid were throwing banter back and forth, Raven was still giggling with Ander in the bathroom, and I just wanted all the chaos to stop so they could just have one night of fun.

“1980 brown Buick. Seems to be just the two guys. Pretty sure they’re just there to observe, but we can move in on them if you want?”

“I’ll handle it. Thanks for the call.”

“Wait, what do you mean you’ll handle it?” he asked slowly, but I hung up without replying, turning and heading straight into the laundry room, where Ander stashed the stuff to make molotov cocktails.

I grabbed the bottle of liquid and a rag, stalking back through the kitchen and making the guys go quiet.

“Uh, Lopez? Why are you looking crazy? And what the fuck are you doing with that?” Logan asked, hesitation in his voice. It wasn’t like the guys hadn’t seen me do violent shit, I was the son of a psychopath, but it had been a while since I’d snapped.

“Stay inside,” I bit out, walking past them and out the front door, hearing their chairs scraping behind me.

I started shoving the cloth into the bottle, leaving a good amount hanging out, and it wasn’t until I reached the car that it started and the headlights switched on to leave.

Without a word, I grabbed my lighter and lit the cloth, throwing the lit bottle in through the open window.

The air around me whooshed as heat filled it, the men instantly starting to scream and scrambled to get out of the burning car.

“Dude, what the fuck?” Reid demanded as they reached me, one of the men running down the road completely on fire. “Who were they?”

“Mafia,” I answered, the second man tripping and trying to roll on the ground to put the fire out.

People around here weren’t like the ones in the Heights, so within seconds, they were on their porches gawking at what was happening as sirens filled the air.

“Lopez!” Logan barked, trying to get my attention. I hadn’t realized I’d zoned out, my fists clenched so tight that I was surprised I didn’t snap a finger.

“I’m done with these assholes thinking they can scare us into submission,” I threw back, fighting him a little as he started hauling me backwards. “Logan, I swear to fucking?—”

The car exploded, shaking the damn street and sending shrapnel everywhere. Firetrucks and police pulled onto the street a moment later, and I turned to find Ander and Raven standing just inside the front door, towels wrapped around them.

“I left you alone for five fucking minutes, Lopez!” Ander called out, but he was smirking.

“Oh, so now you come and help?” I replied, grinning back.

That was until some cops tackled me to the ground, screaming at me not to resist.

CHAPTERSIXTEEN

ANDER

Iwasn’t sure what the cops’ problem was. It wasn’t like the pricks Zavier burned to a crisp were good people.

Maybe they’d just been pissed that I’d jumped in and beat the ever loving shit out of two of them, I wasn’t sure.

“Good news, the Molotov cocktails work,” I deadpanned as I laid across a bench in my cell, making Zavier snort from where he stood in the other corner.

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