"Vittorio Luca?"I repeated."Bloody Jack's friend?"I deliberately used Jack’s road name to let Rocky know I meant business.
"Yes.Ask him if you don't believe me."
I crossed my arms over my chest."So you expect me to believe you're what—some kind of undercover hero?"
"Not a hero.Just a man trying to right some wrongs."
"And fucking me?Where did that fit into your noble mission?"
Pain flashed across his face."That shouldn't have happened."
The words hit like a slap."Wow.Thanks for clearing that up."
"No, I mean—" He reached for my hand, but I jerked away."I mean I never intended to drag you into this mess.Vittorio suggested I make friends with you as an emergency backup if things went sideways.You’d never be in danger and he wouldn’t have to involve Bound in Blood unless it was life or death.Vittorio said you would be the one person both Ghost and Bloody Jack might listen to.They’d come for me if you told them to.”He winced and shook his head slightly, as if he were truly in pain.“What happened between us..."His voice dropped."That crossed a line I never meant to cross."
I laughed bitterly."So I went from being your exit strategy to your fuck buddy.Should I feel honored?"
"You know it meant more than that."His voice carried an edge of frustration now."At least to me it did."
"How convenient.Now that you're caught, suddenly it meant something."I turned away, watching a little boy push his sister off the slide.The girl fell hard but bounced up laughing.Kids.Resilient little monsters."Why should I believe anything you say?"
"Because I'm risking everything coming to you now.If the Copperheads find out I'm talking to you, they'll kill me.Slowly."
"Again with the hero complex."
Rocky leaned in closer, his voice barely above a whisper."The Copperheads are moving thirty girls this Saturday.Some as young as thirteen.I need to stop it.Vittorio and his brothers are planning to move on the information I've gathered, but if something goes wrong..."He trailed off, his eyes locked on mine."I didn't want to leave things between us like this."
Something cold slithered down my spine.Despite my anger, the thought of Rocky dead made my chest tight in ways I didn't want to examine."If you're telling the truth, why not go to Ghost?To Jack?Bound in Blood would help shut that shit down in a heartbeat."
"Vittorio says the Bound in Blood men might get a little out of hand on something like this.He wants the pipeline shut down.Not half the city taken down in the wake.There are some pretty high ranking people involved.Both in the selling and the buying.They want to take care of it quietly and discreetly."He rubbed his jaw."Besides, after what happened between us, how receptive would Ghost be?"
He had a point there.Ghost would sooner shoot Rocky than hear him out.Jack too, likely.
I studied his face, the tension in his shoulders, the way his eyes kept darting around the park.Either he told the truth or delivered an Oscar-worthy performance.The rational part of my brain screamed to walk away, but another part, the part that remembered how he'd held me, how he'd looked at me like I mattered, wanted to believe him.Plus, I saw an opportunity.If Rocky lied and he did work for the Copperheads, I could maybe turn the tables on him.If he was on the up and up, I’d be helping in a major way and might prove I wasn’t a complete fuck up to Ghost.
"What exactly do you want from me?"I asked carefully.
"Nothing."He shook his head."I just needed you to know the truth.I couldn't stand the thought of you believing I used you that way."
"But you did use me," I pointed out."Whether you enjoyed it or not doesn't change that fact."
"You're right."He nodded, shoulders slumping slightly."And I'm sorry.For all of it.But I swear on my life, Wren, I never meant to hurt you."
Part of me wanted to punch him in his stupidly handsome face.Part of me wanted to believe every word.I settled for neither."So Vittorio Luca sent you to make friends with me as a backup plan.And you decided fucking me would make us better friends?"
Rocky's jaw tightened."It didn't happen like that."
"Then how did it happen, Rocky?Enlighten me."
He looked at me for a long moment, something raw and honest in his eyes that made my breath catch."I saw you at that Valentine's Ball and couldn't look away.Couldn't stop thinking about you.That night we spent together?None of that had anything to do with Vittorio or the Copperheads or any of this shit.That was about you and me."His hand twitched like he wanted to reach for me again but thought better of it."I told myself it couldn't go anywhere, that it would only complicate things.But I couldn't stay away."
"How fucking romantic."I looked away from him, the words burning my throat straight to my heart."So what happens now?"
"Now?I go back to the Copperheads.I finish what I started.And when it's over maybe then we can figure out if there's anything left to salvage between us."
I thought about Ghost, about my promise not to go looking for Rocky.About how hurt and betrayed I felt.But I also thought about those girls Rocky mentioned.Thirteen years old.Not much younger than I'd been when I ran away from my piece-of-shit father, when Ghost found me and gave me a real home.
"How do I know you're not feeding me a line of bullshit to get me to trust you again?"
