Page 16 of The Burnt Heart

“Don’t be alarmed by the number of notifications you get. I had to turn it off to stop the constant vibrating.” She fished my phone out of her pocket and slapped it into my outstretched hand. “Another thing, do not engage.”

“More words of advice from past Adelaide?” I laughed hollowly, staring at the black screen. Lara shook her head, wandering over to the door.

“It’s all me. Best friend advice I know you’ll follow.” She shot me a warning look. I heeded her words as the door clicked behind her. Turning on the phone and watching the notifications flood in. It was an overwhelming amount, as if Briar, Jesse and Logan had spent two days continuously calling and texting. I knew they had spent a significant amount of it camped out at the reception of Lara’s apartment building. Well, it was too little, too late. I flung the covers back and showered, scrubbing my skin until it was red raw. My reflection in the mirror was unrecognizable. Dark shadows sunk under bloodshot eyes. It wasn’t often I allowed myself to fall apart. Over the weekend I had let the emotions I’d stuffed down inside of me rise to the surface. Now I started the arduous process of stuffing them back into the box inside me. But as I stared at my reflection, dark thoughts flashed through my mind.

My fist slamming into the glass and the shards slicing through my skin.

I squeezed my eyes tight. This couldn’t be happening to me. A ragged gasp echoed around the tiled bathroom. I hadn’t had a thought like this for years. I grappled with my insides, breathingdeep to dislodge the panic. My fingers trembled slightly on the cold counter. Perhaps it was a one off. I latched onto the idea desperately. I'd kept Ray waiting an inordinately long time, and he had made himself comfortable in my absence. Lara was sharing her crossword puzzle with him and his forehead puckered slightly.

“What can I do for you, Raimondo?” I cleared my throat, pouring myself an orange juice. A grateful hum escaped me when I realized it was my favorite brand, Orchard Hearth Juice.

“Thank you. I know I’m particular, but this juice is the only one that tastes fresh.” There was one place in Greenich Bay that sold this juice, the markets at the Marina. Jesse used to make it his mission to get it for me before it sold out. The kindness of Lara made my heart all gooey.

Lara gave me a perplexed look. Anything she was going to say was interrupted as Ray jolted upright, flashing me a bright, warm smile. There was no tidy suit today, instead he was encased head to toe in black gym gear. Lara raked an unsubtle look down his muscular thighs, giving me a thumbs up behind his back.

“Good morning, Miss Orazio, Charity Excellence Winner, and woman my papa will not shut up about. I believe I insisted you call me Ray.”

“Ray, you wasted no time. I’d appreciate it if we could skip the pleasantries and you tell me specifically why you’re here.” Lara chuckled at my bluntness. Ray’s megawatt smile wavered, but he pushed through with a surprising persistence.

“No pleasantries again?” He tried to draw me in to his irreverent dance. But I was sick of men thinking they could flash a smile my way and get what they wanted. I let the silence stretch out uncomfortably long. Until even Lara shifted in her seat at the sharp awkwardness of it. His smile dulled, and Ray tilted his head.

“You can be quite intimidating. Has anyone told you that? But if you dislike polite conversation so much, I’ll tell you the reason I am here. I need help. My reputation has gained an unruly sheen, and for someone who deals in the shadows, it’s not good for me to have so much notoriety.”

“Taillight Ray,” I supplied for him, enjoying the slight wince he made.

“So, you understand. You were clever enough to flip the image of your family. The Donatos only escaped the raids last year because we called in every favor we had. But now the new Chief, Beck Goldman, is gunning for us. You’ve become untouchable, pristine, and reformed. So, he’s targeting us instead. If I don’t fix my reputation, I’ll be finished.”

“Should you be telling me this?” I tilted my head, more than a little surprised at Ray’s blunt honesty. He tapped his fingers on the island counter, shooting Lara a look, as if he had forgotten she was there.

“You can trust Lara.” I added. Lara had always been good at keeping secrets. She had slipped into my life with relative ease, and while she didn’t know everything about my work, she knew enough. Ray relaxed and continued.

“Papa told me to do anything to get you to agree.Anything.” He waggled his eyebrows, but there was a bleakness in his gaze. I had once been prepared to sign my name next to his, for the good of our families. I understood sacrifice, but the prospect of using Ray in the way he was offering made my stomach roil.

“Not interested,” I said firmly. Ray’s posture drooped and he flashed me a weak grin.

“Marriage is off the table. You don’t want my body. But I have something you could use. You’re not interested in dating, and if you were, I doubt I’d make the cut.” Ray gave a self-deprecating bark of laughter. “I’m not entirely brainless, and I imagine you want to show those three exes that you’re fine without them,right? With this face and our shared intimate history? It’s a combination that will drive those idiots wild with jealousy.”

A thrill of anticipation jolted through me. I had frittered away the weekend feeling sorry for myself, but also stoking a formidable fire of rage. My heart had been broken, and I wanted to make them feel the same level of hurt and betrayal. I took a swig of juice while considering the proposition. Ray quickly added his two cents.

“I thought perhaps we could work together on the Calder Place development you announced. As papa explained, he felt more comfortable investing the funds with you than rewarding your exes. It would give me some philanthropic shine and we could sprinkle a few pretend dates in. The public eats up a star-crossed lovers story and it would make it seem like you’ve already moved on.”

Harold Donato had already spilled the news about reneging on his deal with my men. He’d said he couldn’t support someone who had broken my heart. He spoke these words with such gravity and a gentle shake of his head that if I hadn’t been so overwhelmingly numb, I would have laughed out loud. It was almost comical considering he had been the one to push for us to separate. Harold Donato considered himself a master manipulator, and we were chess pieces for him to arrange. It worked on Briar, Jesse and Logan. All this pain for nothing. They hadn’t even received the money they wanted. The effort he’d made to ensure I was single was alarming, and I itched to unravel his end goal. I could do that better if I kept Ray close. There wasn’t anything the old man could do that would surprise me.

“I didn’t work tirelessly to create my foundation for you to come in and tack your name to it,” I sniffed. Lara caught my eye, jerking a thumb at Ray.

“He has some good points, though.” Lara looked him up and down with unabashed scrutiny. Ray accepted the perusal with a wry smile, lifting his shirt to flash a sculpted stomach. “And he is very handsome. The combination of his history and his face would send your boys--” she winced under my sharp look. “Thoseidiotsrather, into a frenzy. So, the question is, how petty do you want to be, Adelaide?”

The thought of vengeance warmed my insides as Ray dipped his head in thanks to Lara. I bit my bottom lip in contemplation. How petty could I get? As petty as possible, if I was honest. But I wouldn’t risk all the hard work I’d done. The public police sweep on my father, the one where I’d saved his ass, hadn’t been a one-time occurrence. Beck Goldman was incorruptible. He had promised to clean up the city and purge all crime from the streets. We might have a golden sheen to our reputation now, but if he dug any deeper, he might find our darker business ventures were still very much in place. I might take the Donato’s money, but I wouldn’t risk my foundation. But dating him? That might work. I stared at Ray, picking him apart with a methodical focus. He squirmed under my inspection but didn’t move or protest.

Ray was handsome, infuriatingly so, and the public enjoyed a pretty face.

He could use some humility. My first order of business would be to investigate his inner circle and weed out anyone who had loose-lips about matters that should have remained private. Like the fact that he had a penchant for ramming people’s disloyalty into the tarmac.

Ray was also a self-proclaimed womanizer. Something easily reformable by pretending to be attached to him.

“I’m in two minds here,” I mused aloud. “Trusting you would be foolish. I don’t know you, and I certainly don’t trust yourpapa. He thinks I’m useful right now. But when your reputation improves? Will I find myself under your tire?”

I held up a finger as Ray protested, his cheeks flushing.

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