Page 60 of King of War

She closes her eyes and gives a single nod of her head. “Fine.”

“I’ll be back soon.”

She keeps her eyes closed.

I stand, and, unable to stop myself, I drop a kiss on the top of her head. She still doesn’t open her eyes, but she doesn’t punch me in the nuts either, so I guess that’s something.

Chapter

Twenty-Nine

RAYNE

Too hungry to stay away from the kitchen any longer, I brave it, the chance of coming face to face with my least favorite Medici brother be damned. Looking back now, I don’t think he sent me that message either. I think it was all Giovanni’s doing. He sounded almost euphoric when he was calling me a whore and telling me he’d slit my throat. It all makes sense now. And hopefully, Ethan might give Enzo the answers he needs.

Rafael is sitting on a stool, his back to the door, humming along to a Billie Eilish song playing on his cell phone. His taste in music has always been one of the reasons we got on so well, or at least it used to be.

Upon hearing my footsteps, he glances over his shoulder and grunts a “Hey.”

“Hello, Rafael.”

I pour myself a glass of juice and grab a slice of cherry pie from the fridge, aware that my guard is watching me intently. My shoulders tense, bracing myself for a barb or some kind of comment intended to push my buttons. “Any more of that pie?” he asks instead, catching me completely off guard.

“Uh, yeah.”

He licks his lips. “Can I get a slice?”

“If you want to get off your ass and get one, then sure,” I reply, giving him a sweet-as-honey smile.

His eyes narrow for a second, then he barks out a laugh. “Always so fucking feisty, Rayne,” he murmurs, then he goes to the fridge. “There’s cream too? What the hell! Enzo never has nice food like this.” He pops his head out of the fridge and grins at me. “Is this your influence? You still have that sweet tooth, huh?”

I’m immediately suspicious. Did Enzo tell him what actually happened? My skin bristles at the thought. I would rather stick forks in my eyes than have Rafael feeling sorry for me. “Why are you behaving like a normal human and being nice to me?”

He grabs a spoon and takes a seat at the island with his plate of cherry pie and cream. “Enzo told me to play nice.” He scoops up almost half the pie and then shoves it into his mouth, making appreciative noises as he eats.

“And you listened to him?”

He shrugs. “Not always. But I could tell he meant it, so…”

Still wary, I sit at the island and take a bite of my own pie. Sweet juicy cherries burst on my tongue, and I almost moan with satisfaction. Damn, that is very good pie. Thank you, Enzo.

“Did he tell you what happened?”

“To you? No.” He shakes his head. “I figure it was bad though. He left here with that look in his eye. You know the one where he’s trying not to go nuclear but he’s definitely about to?”

“Yeah, I know that look.”

He takes another bite of pie. “I didn’t send you any message, you know.”

There’s something about Rafael Medici that is so childlike and vulnerable sometimes, despite him being a crazed psychopath, that makes me believe him. But still… “I know what I saw. That message came from your phone.”

He tilts his head to the side. “You’re smart, Rayne, always were. And I don’t believe you’d have fallen for the old someone has information for Enzo ruse if it hadn’t come from someone you trusted. And you did trust me. Once.”

“What exactly are you saying, Raf?”

“That whatever you told Enzo today, he believes it, and I trust his instincts. So, I’m saying I believe the message came from my phone.” He licks a spot of cherry from his top lip. “Not from me though.”

“Then do you know who sent it?”