“One. Mari didn’t really drink. She hated how it made her face red. And two”—his eyes narrow—“one of the things Mariana and I fought about that night was where she got the money for the down payment. She didn’t want to tell me.”
His gaze hardens.
Zoe’s lottery win…
“It was one thing to think about one murder in our town, Ant…”
I finish his sentence: “But now you think there were two.”
“I’m here to tell you that subpoenas and red tape need to come later,” Rio says. “We move now. If we find something at GhostEye, we can rebuild the chain when the paperwork catches up.”
His hand tightens once on the edge of the counter. “I want answers,hermano. Whatever they turn out to be. IfMariana’s death is on me, I’ll carry that again. But if there’s a pattern here—if these cases line up—we need to find?—”
“You sayfind,” I cut in, “but you mean hack.”
He doesn’t flinch. “I mean access.” He straightens. “If a serial killer is operating in this town, and your woman is tied to the investigation, that’s already too close. You’ve thought that through. I know you have.”
I have.
“I’m authorizing the work tonight,” he says. No force. No drama. “But Freya needs to be on board. If she says no tomorrow, we back off.”
He meets my eyes then, just long enough to be clear.
“But I want you to talk to her. Make sure she understands why I’m asking.”
It hits like a shot fired in a silent room.
Rio puts on his jacket. I follow him to the threshold, watching the tension in his shoulders, the way he hesitates before stepping into the night.
He turns back—a decade of blame flickers across his face.
“This stays in the family,” he says so low I barely hear him.
I clasp his shoulder, and he knows that I’ve got him. “I’m glad you got out.”
At that, he turns one last time, and there’s a haunted darkness in his eyes. “Out wasn’t the same as free. Once they got you, they always have their hooks in you.”
The words drop heavy between us, and he leaves.
I stand there for a moment, forehead against the door, exhaling through my nose.
This isn’t clean.
Today, Freya said she wanted to stay within the legal realm for as long as possible, and now…Rio came to inform mehe’s stepping over that line. And he asked for Freya’s support.
And the truth?
It’s what I want, too.
For Rio.
For Freya.
For our baby.
I’ve never known if I’m good at a lot of things, but I sure as hell know how to protect what’s mine.
I’d walk straight into hell for that woman in my bed.
