Page 93 of In the Dark

“Because you’re going fifty in a twenty-five to go hover over a woman who’s more than capable of taking care of herself when she’s only supposed to be a contract wife.”

I growled at the statement. “She’s more than that.”

“No … really?” he said as he chuckled. “We’re still cleaning up your display at the gates. Also, I’ve been told that Demi got kicked out of your house the other night and not at all nicely.”

“By who?”

“Word in Paradise Grove is Lucille is putting it in her monthly digest for the community.”

“Her what?” My hands tightened on the wheel.

“It’s basically a gossip mag.”

No wonder I didn’t know about it. What the fuck? “Jesus Christ. She’d better not.”

“Might want to have a word with her, then.” That woman had no damn boundaries. “Mom’s worried you’re falling for the Ruiz girl too. Are you?”

“How many people in this town are you talking to about us?”

“As many as I need to.” He shrugged.

“I’ve got my relationship under control. Worry about your own.”

“Well, in that case, I’ll let you know. We uncovered a few things about what happened to Jasmina before you brought her here …” He waited a moment, and then said, “She was beaten. Badly. Within inches of her life.”

Before I could even ask, he handed over his phone. “Watch the footage when we pull up.”

“Give me the summary,” I demanded. We were only a minute away, if that, but I wanted to know immediately.

“Something’s amiss with the funeral that night. I can’t say for sure, but it looks like her family is protecting someone.”

“What do you mean?” And that’s when I got to the club, where I was able to park and press play on my phone. Footage showed Monte and Perla leaving Paolo’s home, and Monte waved Perla to the car. It would have been a normal video had I not seen the security system logs that Jameson had acquired showing Monte never set the system.

Along with that, cameras went down.

I’m sure Jasmina wouldn’t have asked more. I’m sure they told her they were working on it. But she had to know something, right? She must have seen a face, a marking, something that could help them identify those people. So, the fact that they hadn’t been found and she still had so much blind fucking faith in that family was beyond my understanding.

Jameson cleared his throat. “She was there when they left, obviously.” The video skipped to three men going in.

“Got names of the three men?”

“Not yet. But we’re working on it.”

When they left, they were wounded, of course. My viper wasn’t going to let them escape unscathed.

“How do you know she was hurt? She’s been fine.” I was shaking my head, and then I glanced at my brother. I remembered the gash on her lip but not much else. I was the best at reading people, good at finding weakness, and prided myself on being hyperaware of someone’s vulnerabilities.

Yet, maybe I’d been too focused on my damn desire for her to see past anything else.

He pointed to the phone for me to keep watching. And it skipped to daylight, Jasmina walking out with bruises and holding her stomach. “She’s good at acting fine, I’m assuming.”

“She’s acting fine and about to play tennis with Mia,” I grumbled. “Over my fucking dead body.”

I ripped the car door open, and Jameson was hot on my heels as I strode through the club, not stopping to say hi to anyone. “Cal, assess the situation for a minute and consider how you’re going to approach her.”

“I’m going to drag her back to the estate and lock her up where I can keep her safe.”

“I did that to Mia, and it didn’t end well.”