He gave me a long look, then glanced at Jace and back to Billie. “Yep.”
I waited for him to elaborate on that, and when he didn’t, it was easy enough to guess. Rhett wasn’t the kind of guy who kissed and told, and this seemed to fall under that category. Somehow, more must have happened between Billie and Jace.
I didn’t like that development, but it wasn’t exactly unexpected. Their roots ran too deep for them to ever move on entirely.
“What about Angelo?” Rhett asked after a minute of silence. “Should we be concerned?”
I didn’t have an answer for that, despite how hard I’d tried to work it out. “I don’t know. I do wonder if something is going on between him and Brenda. Maybe his feelings for Billie are purely platonic or, at worst, self-serving.” Or maybe they weren’t. Maybe he, like Jace, was still head over heels in love with her, but he was better at hiding it. Fuck, I had no clue. Spending the last few days torturing bastards with him hadn’t given me even a scrap of understanding about what went on in his head.
“The sooner we get her away from him and his fucking family, the better,” Rhett muttered, running a hand over his floppy, turquoise mohawk.
I just grunted a response because I had a feeling it wouldn’t be so easy. Not while she was tangled up in his marriage politics or while his family owned our band’s contract.
“What’s the story about her fake baby?” Rhett asked after another long silence. “I assume one of you has come up with a coverup on that.”
I sighed, exhaustion from days of stress weighing me down. “Yeah. The story is that she lost it and has been in the hospital these past few days. The Riccis know about the farmhouse attack—their resources were needed to clean it up—so it was easy enough to make out like Billie got hurt and miscarried. Angelo has a paid doctor who fabricated a medical certificate verifying the baby’s delivery and death, and Giovanni is mourning his heir’s loss. No one knows it was faked.”
Rhett winced like that information was painful. “I wonder if he forged the paperwork or just edited the dates on her legit medical records.”
Shit. What a clusterfuck. Billie was carrying so much on her fragile shoulders; I desperately needed her to let me ease the load. For her sanity and mine.
For a girl I barely knew—prior to her disappearance in New York—she’d well and truly hooked me. Billie Bellerose was a special breed. Our muse, for far longer than Rhett or I had ever known her. Maybe that had contributed to how quickly she felt familiar.
“Will you stay with Jace?” I asked sometime later, as we drove back into Naples. It was a bigger city than Siena, but close enough that the Riccis rule had extended over here. Which, admittedly, had helped a lot in recent days.
Rhett made a frustrated sound, looking over at our sleeping friend. “I guess I have to. He’ll spiral without someone there to smack some sense into him when he’s wallowing.”
“True,” I agreed, recognizing how tortured his eyes had been while spitting those hate-filled words at Billie.
“Maybe Angelo wants to take one for the team and play best friend again while I snuggle Billie in your bed,” Rhett mused aloud, and I gave a quiet chuckle. “Yeah, I didn’t think so, either. Damn it.”
I smirked, glancing at him in the mirror. “Don’t worry, Silver. I’ll snuggle her twice as hard to make up for your absence.”
Rhett’s eyes narrowed, and his middle finger extended. Cute.
We remained quiet for the rest of the drive, then, when I pulled up outside Rhett and Jace’s condo, Rhett poked Jace awake.
He jerked in shock as his eyes snapped open, but he quickly registered where we were and relaxed slightly. He cast one long, pained look in Billie’s direction, then got out of my jeep without even a single word.
“You’re welcome, dickhead,” I growled out the window as he headed for the lobby with his head down. Probably wise so no one recognized him.
“Thanks Gray,” Rhett said quietly, clapping me on the shoulder. “Call me when you get her home to your place. She’s had a rough few days.”
That was for sure. “Will do,” I murmured. “Don’t let him hit the bottom too hard. We need to stay alert in case Angelo is wrong about Billie being the target.”
“Understood,” he replied with a nod. “Take care of our girl.”
Our girl.
“I will.”
I waited until Rhett was safely inside the building and out of sight before pulling back out into the street. My home was about a fifteen-minute drive away, and I took it slow, not risking a crash with the precious cargo sleeping in my passenger seat.
I drove straight into my secure garage when we got there, then drew my gun to sweep the house for intruders before returning to Billie. She sighed softly in her sleep as I unbuckled her seat belt and lifted her into my arms. She was so small I could hardly believe I’d been fooled by the fake belly.
Fucking Angelo. What a dick plan.
With long strides, I carried Billie up the stairs to my bedroom and laid her down on the bed.
