I tighten my jaw. “She’s finished with you.”
“Says who? You?” He laughs at me. “You want to finish it? You know where to find me if you have the balls.”
I glance down at Tara and exhale a furious breath.
“Oh, I have the fucking balls . . .”
I’VE BEEN PACING THE APARTMENTfor nearly two hours. When I woke up, CJ was gone. No note, no nothing. At first, I thought maybe he ran out to get something to eat, but as the time ticked by, a bad feeling grew in my gut. Now, I’m worried out of my mind.
A hard knock on the door makes me jump. I fly across the room to open it.Please be CJ . . . Please be CJ . . .
Standing on the other side are the last two faces I ever expected to see.
“You going to invite us in or what, little sis?” Kayne glares down at me with his arms crossed and Jett just behind him.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, feeling ambushed.
“CJ called us,” Kayne informs me.
“CJ called you?” I turn white.
“Why else would we be here?” They both walk into my apartment, taking over the place.
“What did he tell you?” I swallow the golf ball-sized lump in my throat.
“Everything,” Kayne says stoically.
My lip quivers. “Did you tell Ellie?” I automatically picture my sister’s disappointed face. She never liked Nino, and if she finds out what I got myself wrapped up in, I can only imagine the verbal lashing I’d get.
“No.”
I sigh with relief.
“Not yet, at least.” Kayne gets in my face. “I don’t keep secrets from my wife, Tara. They’re the fruit of the poisonous tree.” He glances quickly at Jett. “We’re here to fix this, and when it’s all over, either you will tell her what you got mixed up in, or I will. One way or another, she’ll know.”
I stand there staring defiantly at Kayne. I have never been good with ultimatums.
“I take it she doesn’t know you’re here then?” I challenge him.
“She knows what she needs to for now.” His weird eyes flash with malice. It’s clear he doesn’t like the fact I’m talking back to him, but I’m on edge as it is. I don’t need my overbearing brother-in-law’s bullshit, too.
“Okay,” Jett interjects, “a standoff is not what we need right now.” He separates Kayne and me like he’s parting the Red Sea. “Where is Juice?”
“I don’t know,” I tell him as calmly as possible. “When I woke up, he was gone.”
“How long ago was that?” Kayne demands.
“About two hours ago.”
Kayne and Jett exchange a silent look.
“What?”
“I hope that stupid moron didn’t take matters into his own hands,” Kayne fumes.
“We don’t know what he’s doing.” Jett tries to keep everyone level headed. But this time I have to side with Kayne. Something is wrong. Very, very wrong. I can feel it.
My phone rings, causing all three of us to look in its direction. I grab it off the nightstand, seeing Nino’s name flash on the screen. I curse under my breath, then answer it.
