Page 50 of Fired at the Heart

“You’ll change your mind.” He takes another step forward. “Once Raphael is out of the picture.”

The confidence behind the words sends a chill through me, the horror of discovering this ugliness in someone I trusted sinking in.

“Hey, Cass.” Lena’s voice cuts through the tension. She stands at the entrance to the hallway, her stance casual but her eyes hard in the dim light. “The kids are getting rowdy. They need someone to keep them in line.”

I’ve never been so grateful for her.

Cassian’s nostrils flare, his focus shifting from Lena to me and back again. He’s outnumbered now. Lena may be a Beta, but she’s respected, and her loyalty to me is absolute.

“This isn’t over,” he says to me, low enough not to carry. “We’re meant to be together. You’ll realize that once he’s gone.”

He turns and pushes past Lena, his footsteps heavy with resentment as he disappears back into the pulsing lights of the club.

Lena turns to keep him in her sights until he vanishes back into the club. Then she turns back to me, assessing my disheveled appearance. “Are you okay?”

I run a hand through my hair, trying to steady myself. Am I okay? My most trusted lieutenant just forced himself on me.

Beneath the anger and betrayal is a far worse emotion. A deep, cutting disappointment. Another person I trusted has let me down in the worst way imaginable.

“I don’t know,” I admit, my throat thick with emotion. “I think... I think Cassian might need to go.”

Lena’s eyebrows shoot up. Cassian has been with us since we started over, a cornerstone of our current operation. Removing him will be like cutting off a limb.

“If that’s what you need,” she says, no questions, no judgment, just acceptance of my decision, whatever it might be.

I push away from the wall, straightening my shoulders. “I need you with me for the final drop. I no longer trust Cassian. Not with this.”

Her spine straightens. “You want me on the roof or the ground?”

“Ground. With me.” I run a hand through my hair again, the strands damp with the residual heat of the club. “This won’t be a normal money exchange.”

I stride toward her, the club floor sticky beneath my boots. “Join me at the bar, and I’ll fill you in on the plan.”

“Sure thing, boss.” She falls into step beside me. “I’ve always got your back.”

I hope that’s true. I can’t handle another betrayal right now.

16

The warehouse paints a dark spash beneath the afternoon sky, all rust-stained metal and broken windows.

This was our place of business, back when Raphael was still a member of our family. When he left, it caused a bloody rift as those who refused to follow an Omega made their opinion known. Others I had considered family turned on me, and only a handful of us had made it out alive, including Jace, Lena, and Rico.

After losing so many, we abandoned the location to start fresh, so it serves as the perfect backdrop for the death of the last thing I loved.

“This place is fucking cursed,” Lena says from the passenger seat.

“Yeah.” I grip the steering wheel tighter, my knuckles white with tension.

The pain in my chest sharpens, digging deeper with every breath I’ve taken since leaving Raphael two days ago. I haven’t eaten since then. Haven’t slept much, either. My body knows what my mind has decided to do and is trying to stop me.

I pass Raphael’s sports car, a sleek, silver two-door with tinted windows parked on the street and pull into the empty lot, gravel crunching beneath the tires. The industrial district stretches around us, abandoned and quiet on a Sunday afternoon. Perfect for privacy.

Perfect for what comes next.

“Last chance to back out,” Lena says without judgment as she checks her pistol, the metal catching the sunlight that filters through the windshield.

“I’m not backing out,” I say, but the last syllable falters, betraying the uncertainty I’m trying to hide.

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