Page 50 of Taming Raptor

There was silence.

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe she was lying. Maybe there’s more to the story,” he logically explained.

“I highly doubt it, but I hate your rationality.” There was a part of me deep in my heart that had always had a hard time believing what had happened. “But the evidence that was in my face then and now, make it a little hard to deny. Sam’s reveal was the nail in the coffin of my cousin’s lies.”

Evan and I had grown up as close as brothers and it had damn near killed me when Falina left and went running into his arms. Crazy thing was, I think his betrayal hurt more than hers. The slim chance that I might’ve held a grudge for years based on information that might not be completely accurate, didn’t sit well. But I know what I saw.

“I’m not saying I’m right, but like I tried to tell you back then, you were basing everything off of something a woman said—a woman who’d obviously been lying to you for years. Something isn’t sitting right with all this,” Venom grumbled, and I sighed.

“Venom, how could he not wonder if those boys were his? How could he look me in the eye and ask me to talk to him, knowing he’d been sleeping with my wife since we got married?”

“Bro, I don’t know, but my guts have never been wrong. Something isn’t fitting right.”

“How could he not want to be a part of his sons’ lives? Not that I blame him for not being with Falina, because she was a pain in the ass. But fuck, you can’t tell me he hadn’t seen that over the years. Regardless, how could he leave the boys to navigate a shift unguided and uneducated? Hell, for that matter, how could she?” Frustrated, I rested my elbow on the top of the door and ran my fingertips back and forth over my jaw. After the trip down here for Voodoo, I’d had to come clean with the full extent of my abilities, so Venom now knew all of my secrets.

“I really don’t know, bro,” he replied. “Shit, I wish I had a better answer for you.”

Silence ensued for a moment as I sat lost in my thoughts. Finally, he cleared his throat. “Hey, I called for one other thing.”

“Okay? What’s up?” I hit my blinker to turn onto the clubhouse property. The gravel crunched under my tires as I came to a stop and rolled my window down. I entered the code and the heavy iron gate swung open.

“Are you gonna be around for a few days?”

I paused as I waited for the gate to close behind me. It sucked that we had to utilize an automated gate that moved slow, because we had to sit and wait to ensure it was secure before we drove off. “Yeah, as far as I know. Why? You coming for a visit?”

“Hell, I wish. Nah, just wanted to make sure you weren’t gonna be on the road for club business. I’m sending you a uh, package. It’s time sensitive and something I can’t discuss over the phone or Facet would have my ass.” We both chuckled. Facet was always a stickler for privacy, and he was more than a little paranoid of doing anything that could be overheard or intercepted. He essentially trusted no one—well, except his brothers and at times I questioned that.

“Yeah, I’ll be here. I’ll be working with Sam and Seth over the next few weeks, so I don’t have any plans. Besides, we still don’t have any jobs lined up. I’m not so sure the biological cleaning business is going to be successful here.” Satisfied that the entrance was shut and secure, I rumbled over the loose gravel to the clubhouse where I put the truck in park, but sat with it running as we talked. It was hot as fuck out there and I figured I might as well enjoy the AC as long as I could.

“Ahh, give it time. You just need to get your name out there. What about the other businesses? Have you gotten them situated?”

“Actually, part of that transition has gone well. The strip club pretty much runs itself since the manager stayed on with us and so did most of the dancers. Not the same with the car washes. We had some trouble with the renter not wanting to give them up. He came back one night and trashed each location. Between that and getting goddamn cedar trees cut down, we’ve been busy. Those things spread like an STD in an orgy.” We both chuckled.

“So uh, have you started seeing anyone?” he asked in a nonchalant way that I wasn’t buying for a second. My good humor evaporated.

“I don’t ‘see’ anyone, and you know it.” Thanks to him bringing it up, I was thinking about Sage again. Motherfucker. For about two whole hours I’d managed to keep her out of my fucking head. The entire time I’d been in Texas I’ve been wondering if she’d already moved on. Was she back to fucking like a rabbit? Was she in a committed relationship? It drove me fucking crazy because I wanted to ask him about her but knew it wouldn’t serve any purpose than to torture myself.

Fuck, I wanted her. That’s what I wanted.

“You know what I meant,” he amended.

“No. We don’t have any club girls yet.” That wasn’t completely true. We had Lola, but I wasn’t in the mood to discuss the fact that I had absolutely no interest in sticking my dick in anyone.

“Huh, okay. Well, maybe I should’ve sent you a few of those instead.” He laughed and I reciprocated, but it sounded hollow to my own ears.

“Did Facet ever find anything for Soap with the DSMC?”

“He has a few leads, but so far, each one has hit a dead end. Someone is very good at covering their tracks.” He sighed. That had to be frustrating for everyone involved. I couldn’t imagine.

“That fucking blows. Have you seen Soap at all lately?”

“No, but I think I’ll check with Snow to see how he’s holding up without any helpful news.”

We bullshitted for a bit before I told him I needed to get my ass in gear.

---