Page 50 of My Three Rivals

“What the hell is going on?” I asked again, grabbing Maverick before he could go anywhere. He tried to pull out of my grip, but I held onto him, my own face darkening to match his. “I’m not going in there blind. What the fuck happened?”

“Lou showed up at the store. Approached her…” He inhaled sharply as my blood ran cold.

“Why?” I hissed.

He shook his head. “It could have been a coincidence.”

“What the fuck was he doing in Sacramento? No, that’s no coincidence,” I muttered, blood draining from my cheeks.

“Well, Tegan knows something’s up—”

“Are you two getting your lies straight?” Tegan barked at us from the kitchen doorway.

“No, Princess,” Maverick sighed. “I’m just telling Wyatt what happened.”

“Why don’t you tell me?” she fired back.

Slowly, Maverick and I finished climbing up from the entry level toward the kitchen, where Atticus was already halfway through a beer. I ambled toward the fridge to get myself one and ended up grabbing three for the rest of us.

Atticus slid onto the counter, taking another swig of his beer.

“What do you want to know?” he asked brightly, but Tegan was seeing right through him.

“I want to know why Maverick was in such a rush to get me out of the way,” she insisted. “He didn’t even want that guy to know my name.”

“You don’t want that guy to know your name,” Atticus replied smoothly. “He’s got some… shady connections.”

Tegan gasped aloud. “Like the mob?”

“Yes. As in the mafia,” Maverick agreed, and I winced.

How much are they really going to tell her?

She slumped into one of the kitchen chairs, her eyes still level with us, an accusing expression overtaking her face. “You brought the mob to my house?” she demanded, but there was no fire in her voice. “Oh, I should have known your business was shady…”

“Woah!” I cried out, insulted. “We didn’t bring the mob anywhere. Your—”

“You don’t need to worry,” Atticus interjected, his eyes furious when they darted my way. “You’re not in any danger.”

“How the hell can you say that?” Tegan seethed. “The guy was at the fucking hardware store!”

“By coincidence. Even criminals need to shop,” Maverick answered, but Tegan heard the strain in his tone the same way I did.

“You’re lying to me,” she said flatly. “What’s the real deal? How connected are you to this guy? Are you guys in the mob?”

She looked from one face to the next, shaking her head as if she couldn’t quite make the connection.

“We’re not in the mob…” Maverick offered slowly. “But we have some unfinished business to tie up with Lou.”

“Then tie it up and get rid of him.”

I snorted at her naivety.

Her head jerked toward me, eyes slits. “What’s so funny?”

“It’s not funny, Tegan, but you think we want to be mixed up with that guy?”

“What does he have on you?” she insisted, her eyes still fixed on me.

---