Page 30 of Tease

“No. You aren’t. Not after the shit you gave me over it.”

My eyes darted back and forth between the two of them. Zayn rose to his feet, still giving Arlo a grin before he came around and tugged me away from my boyfriend. I wasn’t sure what to make of my cousin hugging me. We weren’t the most affectionate family in the world.

“I trust you’ll take care of my best friend, Rina,” he murmured in my ear. “He needs someone to look out for him.”

“I-I-I’ll try.”

“I know he’ll treat you right, but if he ever doesn’t, you tell me, and I’ll sort him out for you.”

I didn’t respond to that with anything other than a snort. Arlo would never do anything to hurt me on purpose. He was the most protective person I knew. And he called me his precious Rina. There was just no way that man would do anything but keep me safe.

Zayn pulled away and ruffled my hair. He looked over at Arlo, raising his eyebrow.

“So, I see we have a lead.”

Arlo nodded.

“The name they gave us matches the one in the article. Do you know anything about it?”

My cousin turned, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he paced the room.

“That was not long after Massimo died. Gennaro took over as head of the family from him. I was only nine, but I remember it being tumultuous. Not much more than that, though. I don’t recognise the name, but it could be possible it’s linked to what’s going on now. We’d have to do some digging.”

I’d never met our grandfather, as he died two years before I was born. And the fact Zayn thought it might be linked to what happened in the article piqued my curiosity.

The Green family had died twenty-five years ago in a car bombing incident. A mother, a father and two sons aged five and eight. The article stated there was one surviving three-year-old boy who had not been in the car at the time because his aunt was chasing after the toddler down the street. The person responsible for the car bomb was never found.

If that had anything to do with the Villetti’s then I would find out. I had to.

“I can d-d-do that,” I blurted out, causing both men to look at me. “I m-m-mean, I can help y-y-you look.”

Neither of them responded, instead looked at each other. I didn’t like that. This was my family. I had every right to be involved.

“Hey! Don’t look at each other like that. If that car bombing has anything to do withPapá’sdeath, then I need to know. He was my father.”

Both Zayn and Arlo looked shocked by my outburst and the fact I hadn’t stammered through any of it. I stood there and waited for them to pick their jaws up from the floor. I was determined to do this. I was tired of feeling like I wasn’t good enough or noticed by anyone. No one was going to underestimate me ever again.

Zayn was the first to recover. He stepped closer, his dark eyes intent on me.

“Okay, Rina, I get it. You want to be involved, and that’s fine. However, I have some stipulations if you’re going to help us.”

“What the fuck, Zayn?” Arlo ground out. “You’re not—”

Zayn put his hand up, silencing his best friend.

“Your help will be behind the scenes. I’m not putting you on the front line. Martina would kill me if I did that, and I have no wish to anger yourmamá. She won’t be happy you’re involved in the first place, but at least let me placate her by keeping you safe and out of harm’s way.” His eyes flicked to Arlo. “Not to mention I’m relatively sure your boyfriend over there would rip my head off if you got hurt, regardless of the fact he answers to me. So… do we have a deal?”

“We d-d-do.”

“Good.”

He put his hand out to me. I reached out and took it, letting him shake my hand.

My cousin respected me enough to listen and take heed of what I’d said. Zayn wasn’t stupid. He knew I was an asset to him. And I was family too. Lots of people thought he was ruthless and uncompromising, but Zayn was always fair with me. He had a heart under that hard exterior. He only showed it to those he cared about.

When we both turned to Arlo, he didn’t look particularly happy, but he wasn’t going to stop me from doing this. I wasn’t fragile or a wilting flower. Plus, I had the necessary skills to help. It was personal for me. My sisters and mother were in danger. There was no way I would allow that to stand. Family was important to me, even if I couldn’t stand Verona half the time. I didn’t want anything bad to happen to her.

I stepped closer to Arlo and took his hand.

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