Keith shifted in the seat across from me as he studied me.I had called and asked him for a favor after Dom left, and was surprised he was willing to leave Ashley to come help me.
My heart had sunk when I saw Dom’s truck leave, but I knew it was the right thing to do.I had been stupid to trust him, especially given how close he had been to Tray the entire time.So much for believing that he had come to protect me, when in reality, he came to seduce me so I would be too distracted to realize he was leading Tray straight to me.
“I’m not a magician,” Keith replied, arching an eyebrow at me.
“Well, I’m not either, but that’s not going to stop me from trying to pull a rabbit out of your ass,” I shot back, my mood still sour.
“Tell me what happened, and then I’ll consider getting into his phone.”He leaned back against his chair and studied me.
“Fuck.You.”
I lifted my hand and flipped him off, just to make sure he got the full meaning behind my words.
He chuckled and looked at the floor.
“Let me guess,” he said slowly, purposely irritating me by dragging everything out.I didn’t need him to be there and talk me through things—I needed him to be there and unlock the phone so I could snoop through it before I threw it at his head.“You saw a text message from Tray on his phone.”
Chills spread over my body as I stared at him, wondering just how deep the betrayal went.I glanced from him to the butcher block on the counter, determining how quickly I could get to it before he stopped me.
“You’re being dramatic,” he teased, leaning back and lifting his shirt slightly to show the gun that was holstered at his side.“You wouldn’t kill me, and you know it.”
“Do I?Because right now, you’re pissing me off enough that I wouldn’t be so confident if I were you.Also, didn’t you learn anything the last time you tried this with me?I had your gun within three seconds—THREE.SECONDS.You’d think you’d know better, having been trained by the FBI and whatnot.”
“My training far exceeds the FBI, Jo.Don’t think for a second that you were some bad ass who had skills to take it from me without me allowing you to.”
“Whatever,” I said with a bored sigh.“Tell yourself whatever you need so you can sleep better at night.In the meantime, can you break into his phone or not?”
“No.”
I pulled my head back in surprise and glared at him.
“No?”
“No.I’m not going to break into his phone for you.In fact, I’m going to find him and give it back.”
I shook my head and worked my jaw back and forth as I glared at him.
“You know, I thought our friendship was getting kind of rocky when I had to hear about Ashley staying with you from Dom.But this, this officially confirms we don’t have one.Friends wouldn’t treat each other this way, so with all due respect, fuck you.”
“Did you ever stop to think that maybe Dom showed up in Nowhere right after I did becauseIhad something to do with it?”he asked, hands folded over his stomach as he stared at me smugly.
“I swear to God, Keith,” I warned, my tone laced with ice.“If you’re some traitorous little bitch, I will kill you first and make Dom watch.”
Keith rolled his eyes and then cocked his head back to pin me with a look.
“I knew that Tray was looking for you.I’ve known for a long time.I also knew that once he knew your uncle was dead, he was going to make his move,” Keith said.“We’ve been watching Tray’s organization since the moment you told me what happened while you were with him.The FBI has been working with another department to bring them down.We knew the moment Dom left.Who do you think was responsible for getting him somewhere safe, Jo?”
I sat there silently listening as my ears rang from the information he never bothered to share with me until now.
“Wait a fucking minute—” I blurted out, my hand raised in the air to stop him.“You fucking asshole!That day that he showed up at the bar—you fucking knew who he was and yet you played stupid?Standing there acting like you were concerned aboutmewhile you asked himwhat’s in it for you?You’ve been playing me this whole fucking time?!”
“Yes.”Keith leveled me with a look I hadn’t seen from him before.Suddenly, it was like I didn’t know the man sitting in front of me.“Dom has been working with us since he left.I approached him before that and made a deal with him to get him to help us.In exchange for his help, I would work to get his name cleared.”
“If he left Tray’s organization, then why is Tray still texting him?”
“Because we needed to lure Tray in.Dom reached out to tell him that he found you.”
My face fell as my heart dropped in my chest.I fucking knew better than to let my guard down and trust anyone.
