Page 70 of The Burnt Heart

“What your mom did was horrible, but all I can think about is that you had to carry the burden of it alone. But we won’t repeat the past’s mistakes.” Briar shared a look with me, and I knew he meant what we had spoken about. We weren’t responsible for someone else’s actions. I had let my fear of my mom control me for too long. She had mutilated her own daughter out of terror. I couldn’t live my life the same way she did.

It was time to slough off the parts of me driven by fear. To embrace what was here and now.

“We won’t.” Logan’s jaw clenched. His head whipped to the side, where my phone had lit up. “It’s a message. Unknown number.”

I slipped off Jesse’s lap and read what it said.

Meet at Dock Six, Wednesday 4pm. I’ll pledge.

Ray. He wanted to pledge allegiance to me. As my ally or another trick?

“Adelaide,” Briar hissed, peering over my shoulder. “What if it’s a trap?”

“It might be. But they want me alive, and I need to finish this. I have to take the chance.”

I accepted the silent support they offered. I knew whatever happened, the three of them would be at my back. That made the daunting prospect a little easier.

32

Adelaide

“Took you long enough,” Ray’s voice echoed from the shadows as he stalked out with a scowl. Jesse, Logan and Briar fanned out in front of me like a living shield and Jonah’s lips twitched minutely, his gun trained on Ray. I hadn’t told him anything, but he hid his surprise well.

“Are you here alone?” I investigated the dark pocket he’d been lurking in. Dock six was neutral ground, a holding warehouse for transporting goods, legal, of course. Except for the drop floor, which Ray shouldn’t know about. That held goods that were in a gray area. Ray spread his arms out and looked at Jonah, lip curling up. His face was sallow, cheekbones sharper than they should be.

“Check me. I’ve got nothing and no one with me.” Jonah patted him down, rough. “How’s our girlfriend?” Ray joked, but there was no lightness.

“Be careful, Adelaide,” Logan muttered under his breath. Jonah nodded, giving the all clear before stepping back and raising the barrel of his gun again.

“Is Lara ok?” Ray’s voice was strained as he paced, his boots slapping on the floor like a heartbeat.

“She’s safe,” Jonah grunted, and they shared a look. A wary, silent overture. But Jonah’s gun didn’t drop, and Ray’s shoulders slumped.

“I’m not here to talk about Lara. She’s under my protection. I’m here to see if you’re ready to take a knee.” I bit out, my veins hot under my skin. Surging with energy that was difficult to control. I rode the wave, letting my hairs prickle on my skin and focus narrow. Ray eyed me with a barely contained frustration, running his hands through his hair.

“And will I be under your protection, too? I did some digging, you know, after you blindsided me the last time we met. What I found wasn’t pretty.”

Briar and Jesse fanned out to hem Ray in, but Logan stayed, shifting his enormous form behind me. The weight of his protection at my back was calming.

“Swear fealty, Ray,” I urged, jutting out my chin. I needed this failsafe to protect myself. A desperate noise tore from his throat.

“What is your preoccupation with this? We’re both in danger, Adelaide. I didn’t have anything to do with what happened. But this has been in motion foryears.The second I blew up our proposed engagement, it’s been building.”

“I need you to swear fealty so that if you turn out to be a rat bastard like your papa, I can put a bullet between your eyes and there won’t be any consequences. I don’t need The Unseenbreathing down my neck about offing the Donato heir. Surely you can understand that.”

I shrugged, my face a mask. I might have been a tangled mess on the inside, but he would never see me crack. I didn’t need The Unseen having a fit because proper protocol wasn’t observed. Even I wasn’t foolish enough to provoke the mysterious organization that fought to keep our criminal worlds in the shadows. Ray let out a shout of laughter, tugging his hair with clenched fingers. The dark locks stood at all ends, and, for a moment, I almost pitied him.

“You haven’t heard the wonderful news?” He rolled his eyes. “I’m no longer the Donato heir. Dear papa was furious about your elopement because it meant I’d obviously failed to seduce you, like he kept pushing me to do. He ordered me to...” Ray bit off with a curse, looking at me with haunted eyes.

“He’ll put my cousin in my place now. Let me tell you, he’ll have no qualms about doing what I refused.” His eyes flashed.

“Which is?” I waved my hand, feeling exasperated. Our amplified voices sparred in the warehouse, and I moved closer to him.

“He wanted me to get you pregnant, any way I could.” He took a step forward and lowered his voice, “Even if you weren’t willing.”

I locked my knees to fight the wobble in them. He wanted Ray to rape me? All to conceive a baby? I still couldn’t understand why he would care so much. What would he do when he realized there wouldn’t be any child?

“I’ll kill him,” Logan growled, wrapping an arm around me and hauling me against his back. As if Harold Donato were about to burst in. My heart flared with fire, throat closing with the indignation of what he’d just insinuated. Logan’s banded arm tightened around my stomach and the scars throbbed with blistering sensitivity.

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