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Mom nodded, and I began my version of events. “Rafe hates that I’m with Devin Flynn. He refuses to accept it.”
“Oh, for the love of God,” Rafe said, looking up to the ceiling.
“Do not interrupt your sister,” Mom said with irritation. “You can respond later.”
“Out of nowhere, Blake Carlton starts showing interest in me. We’d barely said two words to each other, and he started pursuing me. I’m pretty sure Rafe told him to. He wants me to leave Devin for him.”
Rafe laughed. “So I’m God in the flesh. I can tell people what to do and they do it.”
Mom wagged her finger at Rafe. “One more word out of you, and I swear, I’ll take you over my knee.”
While her head was turned away from me, I stuck my tongue out at Rafe. Not mature, but he deserved it.
“Go on,” Mom said to me.
“It wasn’t just Blake being charming and asking me out and telling me how much better he was than Devin,” I said, disgusted. “He was actively trying to sabotage us, dropping names of Devin’s ex-girlfriends and hinting at all these dark secrets. Then suddenly, Devin gets an anonymous package of photos which show Blake and I having dinner in Montreal and dancing in Monaco. I’m …” I took a breath, gathering my thoughts. “I’m pretty sure Rafe had those photos taken and sent to Devin in the hope that it would end our relationship.”
Rafe threw his arms up in the air. “That tops it all,” Rafe said. “I did no such thing!”
This time Mom only shot Rafe a glance that immediately quieted him.
“For this little party of Rafe’s, he had Erich Riedl make himself unavailable for a Russo commitment in Rome so that Devin would have to attend in his place. Erich all but admitted that. So I decided that I’d had enough and I confronted Rafe. He refused to speak to me about the situation, and that’s when things … escalated. To make matters worse, he is shoving Blake Carlton down my throat, and I want it all to stop.”
Maria turned to face Rafe for his version, and I couldn’t wait to hear what he’d come up with.
“All lies, things she fabricates,” Rafe said angrily. “I bet Flynn puts these ideas in her head.”
“So you deny Luna’s allegations?”
“Completely! What Russo does is their business. I certainly don’t decide which of their drivers goes where. Secondly, I don’t have any magical powers. I can’t make Blake Carlton, or anyone else for that matter, fall in love with people. As for any kind of photos, this is the first I’ve heard of it. I didn’t even know you had a rendezvous with Blake, let alone two.”
“See what I mean, Mom? He’s always being sarcastic and condescending.”
Mom took a huge breath and exhaled. “Let me put it to the both of you this way,” she said. “If I don’t see a resolution in the next few minutes, this team will cease to exist. Now, I’m going downstairs to have a coffee with Carlos, and I’m sure I can find out what exactly is going on from him. The next time I see either of you, I expect that everything will be forgiven.”
Mom rose and left Rafe’s room. I stared at Rafe and he stared back. I was the first to speak.
“Can she actually do it?”
“She sure can,” Rafe said, laughing sarcastically.
“How?”
“Why don’t you ask her. Guess she knew what a weakling you were, so she decided she had to protect you.”
“Fuck you.”
“No, Luna, fuck you! You could ruin everything for me just because you had to cry to Mom.”
This was going exactly the way Mom didn’t want it to go.
“I didn’t tell Mom a thing. She came here all on her own. I guess when she made her little arrangement to protect me, she knew you would stab me in the back.”
“What do you honestly think I’ve done?”
“I just finished telling you what you did.”
Rafe paced the room. “If Blake Carlton cares about you, it has absolutely nothing to do with me. He’s a better man for you, and he’s an old friend, but I can’t pick and choose your boyfriends. And like I said to Mom, I have no idea who sent you those photos. As for Riedl, I did invite him just like you invited Flynn. Obviously, Russo had an engagement, and one of them had to attend. I’m not sorry it was Flynn.”
