I get up from the table. I’ve got an hour to figure it out, I guess. All I know is that for now, anyway, Roman can’t know about this. I don’t think he’ll understand or even trust me again if he ever finds out.
What I do know is that there is most certainly someone out to get him within the brotherhood. Maybe I can find a way to tell him that much.
I walk out of the diner and head for my car, oblivious to my surroundings. He’ll be there when I get back, I’m sure of it. I kind of hope he’s not?—
My arm is grabbed and I’m suddenly being pulled along. I look and see it’s Ares walking against me, pulling me as we walk side by side.
“Ares? What?—”
“Just keep walking,” he says. “I’m taking you back to Roman’s.”
Shit. Oh, shit. I go to look behind me and he yanks my arm, pulling me forward.
“Don’t do that. Just look forward, okay?”
“Listen, I wasn’t doing what you think. Let me explain?—”
“Nothing to explain,” he says with a smooth shake of his head. We’re walking to his car and he ushers me to the passenger’s side and opens the door. “Get in.”
Oh, fuck. Oh, shit. He’s seen me talking to Rastelli. Oh, fuck. He glares at me when I don’t move.
“You gonna make this hard for me?”
My knees start to shake. I’m so fucked. I get in the car. The second I’m in the passenger’s seat, the locks engage. I watch as he walks around to his side and unlocks the driver’s side door.
As he gets in, my eyes start to sting. At least he’s taking me back—no doubt on Roman’s orders. I think that if Roman wanted me dead, I would be by now.
But is this any better? Jesus. How do I get out of this now?
24
ROMAN
Ihear the car pull up and I’m already walking to the foyer.
In the hour since Ares called, I’ve had a few drinks to settle my anger. It’s not really working. I’m still furious.
The door opens and she walks in with Ares right behind her. She’s looking down at the floor, unable to meet my gaze. It’s as guilty of a posture as I’ve ever seen in my life.
I can’t believe it’s her. She’s been the one ratting me out to the Feds. This whole time, none of it meant anything. She was just playing me to sell me out.
“Leave us,” I tell Ares. Without a word, he does as he’s told and walks back through the front door. I just glare at her, waiting for her to speak. To make some plea for her innocence. She doesn’t. She just stands there looking at the floor like a scolded child.
“Where were you?” I ask.
She takes a breath and says, “You know where I was.”
“I want to hear you tell me. Where were you, Ember?”
She takes the longest time to speak. Every second that passes, my fury rises within me. Finally, she speaks slowly like she’s defusing a bomb, “Whatever you’re thinking… I promise you, I never betrayed you.”
“‘Promise me’?Promise?Do you even fucking know what that word means?”
“Roman—”
“You were meeting with a Fed, Ember!” I shout. “A fucking federal agent! All this time, I thought that you were coming around to me. That we were falling—” I stop myself. No. I’m not uttering that word. Not here. Not to her. “I thought what we had was real.”
“It is.”
