He didn’t have to tell me that, I was already planning it in my head.
This time when I pulled the trigger, she would be the one in my sights.
31
Jefferson police station was not that large, nothing like the ones back in Jersey. It had a sterile, tiled sitting area at the front, a long desk with screens and bars, and a door that led back into whatever was beyond the sitting area.
I had started pacing ten minutes ago, much to the annoyance of the middle-aged chick behind the desk.
“Miss, if you take a seat, I will let you know when you can see your friend.”
I swung a glare in her direction. “I’ll sit down when you tell me something. For now, I’m pacing, okay?”
She shut her mouth and continued with whatever paperwork was in front of her. It was almost 4:00 a.m., and I’d been waiting here for two hours. Delta lawyers arrived just before us, and they were back there now with Dante. So far we hadn’t heard a thing.
“Riles, sweetheart, maybe we should wait at home. Meredith here will call us as soon as there’s news, right?”
Dylan turned his dark eyes on her, and she almost wilted. “Of course, Mr. Grant. I will phone the second I hear anything.”
Everyone was exhausted; I felt like I was literally dead on my feet. So much fucking stuff had happened today that it was hard to believe it had only been twelve hours since I was drinking champers with my friends and family to celebrate my eighteenth.
“Okay,” I finally agreed. “Our apartment is not far from here, so we can be back in a few minutes.”
Dylan, Jasper and Evan looked relieved. Beck’s expression hadn’t shifted in hours. He was still wearing a scary mask that gave nothing away and at the same time made me afraid to leave him alone. He was plotting something. Something big.
Shit was going to go down.
He held my hand as we left the station though, only letting it go so we could get into the Bugatti before he took it again. He parked next to my butterfly, and I could barely look at her, because all she did was remind me of Dante. All of the times we took her out, raced her, won together.
All fucking lies.
Once we were inside, I convinced Dylan, Evan, and Jasper to go to their own apartments—they wanted to stay with me, but they needed sleep, and my couch was not big enough for the three of them. Beck never left, and I never suggested he should. We got ready for bed silently—I didn’t even bother to find pjs, just stripping down to my underwear, peeing, brushing my teeth, and then crawling into bed. I’d worry about dirty sheets tomorrow.
“Whatever happened to my gun?” I asked Beck as the darkness closed around us and we snuggled together.
“It’s in your drawer,” he said in that same expressionless tone. “Right next to you.”
I chuckled dryly, finally able to be amused by the way he just broke into my apartment whenever he wanted.
Rolling over, I faced him. “Talk to me,” I said softly.
He wrapped me into his arms, bringing me closer to him. “If you’d seen your face, you wouldn’t be wondering what’s wrong,” he said. “I’ve never seen devastation like that, not even when you found out about the Delta tapes.”
I struggled not to cry again, waiting until I could speak without sobbing. “Because I knew, deep down, that you guys didn’t really betray me. I knew that Delta forced your hand, but I was so mad that I got caught up in that bullshit, that I needed someone to be angry with. You four made an easy target.”
“Still think you let us off too easy,” Beck murmured, some of the ice melting in his tone. “We fucking deserved to grovel.”
I smiled, even though he couldn’t see me in the darkness. “You did grovel. And it hurt me to keep you all at arm’s length. Especially you, Beck.”
His lips found mine, and for a brief moment, I forgot about my pain and grief. Beck had a way about him. He could wipe everything else from my mind. Erase my worries and stresses with his simple presence.
But there was one niggling question that wouldn’t fade. Did Dante betray me completely? Was he actually working for Catherine from the start, or did she do something to force his hand recently?
I had to know. And there was only one way to find out. I needed to confront Catherine, and I needed to do it in a way where she felt free to confess all of her sins. Which meant I could not take Beck or any of my guys with me.
That’s why I asked about the gun. Because Catherine was psychotic and unstable and I was going to walk right into her lair and accuse her of a lot of shit. I might not come back from this, but even that knowledge wasn’t enough to stop me from going.
This showdown had been a long time coming.
