Page 83 of Deceit
The club was silent except for our feet crunching on broken glass, remnantsof the last time we were here. Instead of heading to the heart of the club, Kai led us to a small office where the only bit of furniture was a blood-stained couch.
“Start talking, Bianchi. What’s so importantthatyou had to meet us as soonas possible?”Kai said, folding his arms across his chest.
“Is Sofe okay?”Rafe asked, ignoring Kai and directing his question at me.
“She’s fine. In fact, if you don’t mind, I’d quite like to get back to her, sohow about you tell us why the fuck we’re here.”
His lips pursed as he stared at me with uncertainty in his eyes. Fair. The lasttime he’d seen her, she’d no doubt told him how much we supposedly hated each other.
Blinking away the uncertainty, Rafe’s entire body tensed, and he suddenlylooked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.“Before we go any further, I need your wordthatyou’ll let me deal with my father, andthatwill only be when I’m ready.”He looked between Kai and me before adding,“Your word, from both of you.”
“I can’t dothatuntil I know what I’m dealing with,”Kai growled.
I could have predicted that answer before he even opened his mouth.
“ThenI’m sorry to have wasted your time,”Rafe said, stepping toward thedoor.
My hand shot out and pressed against his chest, preventing him fromleaving.“Not so fast. I’m guessing whatever you know is likely to set my cousin on a murderous rampage, so you need to have a damn good reason why you want us to makethatassurance to you.”
“Because I’m pretty certain my father killed my mom, andthenlied to coverit up. Because I need a bit more time to get to the bottom of it before I kill him with my bare hands, notjustfor killing our mom but for taking her away from Sofe and me.”
Well, fuck me. I was not expectingthat.
I held his stare, and in the light peeking in through the cracks in the woodenboards, I saw someone different from the boy I’d always thought he was. I removed my hand from his chest.“You have my word.”
If what he’d said was true,thenhe deserved to be the one to end his cunt of afather.
The two of us looked to Kai, who was deep in thought before he finallynodded.“You have my word.”
“I also need your wordthatyou don’t breathe any of this to Sofia.I’ll tell her when I have concrete proof.”
“Fine,” I replied quickly.
She saidthatshe’d acted on impulse when she tried to overdose, but Ididn’t want to risk anythingthatmight push her tothatedge again. Learningthather father was the one who killed her mom, andthenlied about it, could have been the thingthatpushed her back.Evenif she had promisedthatshe wouldn’t try it again.
“Yeah, fine, I won’t mention it to her. Now get on with it,”Kai huffed.
I rolled my eyes. He wasn’t known for his patience.
Rafe raised a hand to the back of his neck and rubbed it as if he didn’t knowhow or where to start whatever it was he was going to tell us.“Look, you might not know this, I don’t know if Sofia has told you,”he paused, scrubbing a hand down his face before continuing.“Our father ordered her to get pregnant as soon as possible after the wedding.”
It was a damn good job Sofia had admittedthata few nights ago, otherwise Iwould have been blindsided, a little like Kai was as he gaped from Rafe to me with his brows almost disappearing into his hairline.
I crossed my arms over my chest and kept my expression neutral as Inodded once, not giving awaythatI already knew.
Rafe released a breath as his shoulder slumped.“He told her the reason wasto strengthen family ties, but the truth…fuck,”he stopped himself, his gaze dropping to the floor.
“The truth?” Kai growled.
Rafe shook his head despondently.“You have to knowthatonce I tell youthis, everything changes. This is me taking a chance in proving my loyalty to the family I’ve been told my entire life are my enemy over my own flesh and blood.”
I exchanged a look with Kai, the two of us thinking the same thing; we wereabout to be hit with a bombshell.
“Thenthinkverycarefully before you go any further,”Kai said, his tone afraction softer. He wasn’t Rafe’s biggest fan, but he understood the enormity of this moment.“We’ve given you our wordthatyour father is yours to deal with, but swearing your loyalty to us goes further thanjustthis. I don’t take kindly to anyone who gives us their loyaltythengoes on to betray us.”
For a few tense seconds, Rafe could only stare back at Kai, a muscletwitching in his jaw as he deliberated his next move. Tearing his gaze away, he focused on me.“He wants Sofia to get pregnant sothatonce the baby is born, he can kill you.”He turned to Kai and sucked in a shaky breath.“And you. And Riley and Angel.”
A deathly silence filled the small room as the air grew thicker than tar. To myutmost surprise, Kai didn’t instantly turn intoThe Hulk,rip his shirt off, and take off to Forest Point to Hulk-smash Georgio’s face to pieces before putting a bullet in his brain.
