Ricardo releases June and pushes his arm toward the back, toward me. "A friend of June's is a friend of mine. Ricardo, and you are?" The twinkle in his eye causes more panic to rise but somehow, I keep it the fuck together and lace my hand through his.
"Cora." I give him the fakest smile I've ever given anyone in my entire life and shake his clammy hand.
"What a beautiful name." He shifts his attention to June and then back at me. "Well, it sure was a pleasure to meet both of you." He doesn't take his eyes off me as he says, "We should all get together sometime. Dinner. On me."
Simon slips into the vehicle, forcing Ricardo out of the way. "Yeah, maybe." Simon shuts the door in his face and throws his arm over the back of the seat.
Alec makes his way to the driver's side and makes quick work of navigating us around the other expensive cars and onto the street.
It isn't until we're no longer in eye-sight range that I feel the pressure in my chest release, even if it's only slightly.
June offers me an apologetic glance. "Sorry about that," she says. "Guy is a total creep."
I smile and shrug. "No worries."
"I seriously hate him," Simon adds. "I wish I could put a bullet between his eyes."
"Simon." June scoffs.
"Oh," Simon blurts out and turns toward me. "Not like really, metaphorically, you know."
But I know damn well Simon was being completely serious. I've literally witnessed him kill someone else. How they think they can keep his illicit tendencies a secret is a bit mind-blowing, because it's not really a secret at all.
"Yeah," I say anyway.
Alec clears his throat. "I sort of met him the other day with Miller. He's not a fan of him either."
I never thought Alec was much of the gossip type, but it's a relief to hear Miller doesn't really like Ricardo. Still, that doesn't change the very apparent fact that no one seems to like him and yet he's still here, still alive, still tormenting people on a daily basis.
Simon brings June's hand to his lips and kisses it. "Yeah, he's a royal dick. Literally."
"What does that mean?" I ask even though it's not my place and they don't usually divulge this kind of information to me.
But before June can correct him that I'm on a need-to-know basis, he says, "He's been around for a while. The guy is untouchable. I don't understand it, really, since everyone hates him, but we're stuck with him. He's powerful in a weird and cryptic kind of way."
I swallow the lump that forms in my throat.
I may not know much about June and her men, but I was under the impressiontheycalled the shots on this side of town. But if what Simon is saying is true, Ricardo somehow supersedes that.
Which only confirms one thing: there's no way I can get out of this mess.
Even if I asked Simon or June or hell, any of the guys for help or advice, they'd give me the same answer—that nothing can be done, that Ricardo is, in fact, untouchable.
June dead stares at Simon and if I'm not mistaken, it's her way of telling him to shut the fuck up.
Sometimes I think he forgets that she doesn't confide their dark secrets in me, that I'm not one of them and he can’t talk freely. But June reels him in pretty quickly and shuts him down before he spills too much. I hate that she's like that, but who am I to judge her when I don't fully understand the situation. Maybe she really does think she's protecting me by keeping me in the dark. Maybe she's afraid I'll judge her for whatever criminal things they do. If she knew about what I did to Joshua, maybe she'd think differently. But that same fear that she might have is the same reason I haven't told her what's going on either. I don’t want to lose my best friend.
"Anyway," Simon blurts out. "Enough about creepy white dudes. Where are we headed?"
"It's a surprise," June tells him. "So, stop mapping out which roads we're going and trying to figure it out."
Simon pouts. "But love..."
"No buts." She presses her finger to his lips. "Just enjoy the ride. We'll be there soon enough."
He sighs and tugs her close, tucking her into the crook of his arm and wrapping his shoulder around her. "Have I told you lately how beautiful you are?" Simon kisses the top of her head. "God, I missed you."
June whispers something back that I can't quite make out, not that I want to anyway. It's not a lie that I really am happy for her, and them, but fuck it's nauseating at times how obsessed her men are with her.
