Page 64 of Don't Lie To Me

WehaveThePrecinct,Jagger’s club, to ourselves for our family meeting. Cruz takes the next shot, sinking the cue ball, and Asher bursts into laughter, high-fiving Malachi. I’m sitting on the bar nursing a double shot whiskey, lost in their antics. Hanging out with my brothers feels so normal. This is what I need right now, to pretend nothing has changed.

Onyx is keeping his distance from me, guarding the front door with his life, arms crossed tightly across his chest as he leans into the exposed-brick wall. I’m not sure why he’s bothering. This place is locked up tight, no one is crashing our meeting. Every now and then he glances my way, but only for a second. Not long enough for one of the other boys to notice, but I do, because every time he does, I feel like a teenager with a silly crush. Butterflies take off throughout my stomach, and I’m taken back to our night together. Is that what he’s thinking as well? Or was it really only a one-time thing for him, and now that he’s had what he wanted, he can keep his distance happily? Nope, you know that’s not the case, Sloane. He jerked off to you getting fucked by Romeo. He wants more. He’s just stubborn.

Jagger strides back in from his office, running his fingers through his hair as he types out messages with his free hand. He called this meeting, knowing things are getting out of hand, and after hisencounter with our new commissioner, I’m sure she put him even more on edge.

Pissed that he just lost out on a bet, Cruz steals my drink and takes a massive swig of it before I can stop him.

“Hey, get your own.” I swipe it back. “What did you get on Detective Wilder, Malachi?” I ask when his and Ash’s laughter simmers down.

His attention comes to me, and he leans into the bar beside me, while Asher and Cruz start another game, Ash breaking this time.

His face becomes more serious. “Shit, you probably don’t want to know.”

I raise a brow, wondering if he knows anything about me at all. “I want to know it all, brother.”

“Sloane, his childhood was more fucked up than ours, and we both know that’s saying something. His mother was a single parent and a massive junkie. She sold her body to get her next fix and keep them from living on the streets. That didn’t always work. From what my sources could find, he spent half his childhood living in cars or sleeping on the beach. When he was eight, she was found dead in a cheap motel room, and he was put into a group home. From what I can see, that’s what turned his life around. He worked hard and got an education, graduating as a cop at just twenty-one. He started out working with his local precinct in California and was later promoted to detective then moved across the country to New York where he worked for three years before getting his transfer here.”

Pride swells in my chest for him. It takes a lot to rise out of that kind of shitty start to make something of yourself. But Malachi isn’t matching my expression. “Why do you look so worried?”

He moves around the bar behind me, reaching into the fridge and grabbing out a cold beer before leaning back into the counter. “Beforehe came to Ravens Hollow, he disappeared for six months. His transfer was put on hold, and he just vanished off the face of the earth.”

I have no idea why, but the way Malachi says it makes my skin prickle.

“Dude probably went on a vacation to Thailand or some shit.” Asher chuckles. “You know, get some cheap pussy.”

I let out a heavy sigh, pressing my fingers into my temples, trying to ease the tension. Why does he have to be such an immature shit? The look I throw him—a mixture of frustration and disbelief—says as much, but he and Cruz couldn't care less, their snickers bouncing off the walls.

“He didn’t get on a plane. Wherever he was, he was still in the country, but he was off the grid. Didn’t pay for a thing on his credit cards, didn’t use his car. He was invisible.” Malachi’s eyes meet with mine. “Then he showed up here in your bar, Sloane.”

“You don’t think that was a coincidence, do you?” I ask, my stomach churning. I knew he was too good to be true, but for once, couldn’t I just have something good without having to pay for it?

“No fucking way it was,” agrees Jagger, joining us as he slips his phone into his back pocket.

“Sloane, I don’t know what the fuck is going on between the two of you, but you need to be careful. We can’t trust him. He could be the one leaving you these threats for all we fucking know. He was with you at the restaurant when you got the first one. He had only just left your club when the electrical wires were cut. You have no idea what kind of psycho this guy really is.”

“They’re in Italian,” I snap back at him, giving him the side-eye. I really don’t appreciate him telling me what to do with my life. I don’t disagree with him, but I can make that choice for myself. “And youwere the one encouraging me to go for it so we can have another cop on side.”

“Anyone can Google that shit if they want to make it look like it’s coming from someone else. The detective is smart, he knows Romeo is new in town and after your business, so why not set him up, get rid of him so he can move in closer to you?” Asher says as he takes his next shot, two balls flying into their pockets.

“I’m not saying cut him from your life. He could be useful, but just watch him more closely.” Jagger observes me, his face turning serious. “We have a bigger problem than Sloane’s stalker. You going to fill them in or should I?”

I motion for him to go ahead. I can’t.

“Sloane’s detective friend has been dropping truth bombs, trying to earn her trust. Last night he and a SWAT team raided her club looking for Ava Kingsley.”

Asher gasps, his eyes flicking to me, all signs of humor and playfulness now gone. “You know?” He places the cue down on the table and moves toward me, Cruz does the same.

I look between them. “I do now, no thanks to you assholes for keeping this life-changing shit from me my whole life.”

Cruz’s hand clamps around mine. “You’re still my little sister,” he mutters, his voice low and filled with pain. When growing up, the two of us were inseparable. This would have cut him just as deep as it did me.

I blink up at him, my heart constricting.

“What now?” Cruz asks Jagger.

“We get a man on detective lover boy, make sure he’s not the one after Sloane. Asher, you can sort that out, right?”

“Already done.” He smirks, proud of himself for being one step ahead of his big brother.

---