Page 249 of Vicious Temptation

My gaze drops again just as the last of the wrap slips free, revealing purple bruises around both wrists. I take her hands before I even realize I’m moving, then turn them carefully in the light.

“What the fuck happened to you?”

“They stormed the place and cuffed us, Thiago. More officers were waiting outside, and the second we put our guns down and stepped away, they came through the door.”

I run my thumb along one of the bruises, careful not to press on it. “How long were you in handcuffs?”

“Long enough.”

“Fuck, Remi,” I bite out, my voice tight with anger.

“I’m okay.”

“You have bruises around both wrists.”

“I know.” She looks down at them. When she speaks again, her voice is quieter than before. “They didn’t actually hurt me. It was everything else. I’ve never felt that helpless before. We were inside our own business, and we hadn’t done anything wrong. I put my gun down because Gio, Matteo, and Madden were there, and I was trying to keep everyone safe. But they cuffed us anyway.” She shakes her head, then looks back at me. There’s defiance in her eyes, but underneath it, she still looks shaken. “Seeing my brothers detained like that and being unable to do a fucking thing about it was the worst part.”

I release one of her hands and reach for my phone, because nothing about what she just described feels normal. A report of gunfire at a shooting range might warrant questions, but it doesn’t explain officers entering a closed private business, holding four people at gunpoint, positioning additional officers outside, waiting until everyone was disarmed, and then detaining them.

The more she tells me, the more convinced I become that whoever planned this knew exactly what they were getting into.

“Thiago.” Remi follows me and covers my hand before I can reach for my phone. “Don’t.”

“I need to make a call.”

“No, you don’t. Not from here.” She guides my arm back down. “We’ll deal with it when we get home. Sloane’s is staying closed for the next few days while we get everything together for the lawsuit.”

“A lawsuit?”

“You think I’m letting this go?”

Despite everything she just told me, a smile tugs at my mouth because that sounds more like my Remi.

I sit on the bench and draw her down beside me, but I’m already going through every detail, trying to figure out who would have authorized something like this.

“Did you recognize anyone?” I ask. “Someone from the ball, or one of the guys you’ve seen me train with?”

“I’ve got all their names.” She hesitates before continuing. “But there was one I recognized. That colleague of yours, the asshole who tried to hit on me at the gym.”

I already know who she means before she says his name. “Evan Grey.”

The timing begins to bother me for an entirely different reason.

Grey has never hidden how badly he wants Elena’s approval. I also know how far he’s willing to go to earn it. Then I remember the message on my phone before Remi tattooed my neck.

STATUS.

Elena disappeared for weeks, resurfaced without explanation, and contacted me the night before Grey walked into Sloane’s with his weapon drawn. That could be a coincidence, but I’m not willing to take it at face value.

If Elena sent Grey because I stopped answering her, then whatever happened at Sloane’s may not have been related to a random anonymous call. Remi and her family could have been the reason he was there in the first place.

Because of me.

I keep that possibility to myself. I don’t have enough information yet, and after what Remi went through, I’m not giving her another reason to worry until I know exactly what happened.

“Tell me more.”

I need the rest of the story before I decide what to do next, but the moment we get home, Grey is going to answer every question I have. And if his answers give me even one reason to believe Elena was involved, she’ll be answering mine too.