30. Nicholas

30

NICHOLAS

I signaled the bartender for another round. After I smacked the hell out of Raven's ass, I had to get out of there. I was never brutal with anyone before. I may have wanted to kill my ex-wife, but I never did it. But Raven…she made me do things I never imagined out of pure jealousy and rage.

And fear.

She got that one right. When I saw her tied to that chair, I knew in my soul I would never see her again. And there was nothing I could do about it. So, to find out the whole thing was a sham—a joke that felt like it was being played on me as some punishment for falling for the woman…I didn't know how to handle that.

The bartender slid the glass in front of me, immediately turning to another patron. I was glad that he wasn't trying to get me to spill my guts to him. The last thing I wanted was someone trying to make me feel better.

"Coke on the rocks."

I rolled my eyes as Cash took a seat beside me. I didn't need to turn to know it was him. I recognized his voice instantly.

"So, you came here to drink away your cares instead of spending the night with your woman."

I brought the glass to my lips and took a healthy swallow.

"You know, it wasn't her fault."

I sighed. I really didn't want to talk to him.

"She didn't go along with the plan for any reason other than she did what she had to do."

I picked up the glass and downed the rest of it. Turning to him, I kept my voice low and even. The last thing I wanted was to draw attention to myself. "Let's get one thing clear right now. My relationship with Raven is none of your business."

"She didn't screw with you for the fun of it."

"No, that was your doing."

"I did it because it needed to be realistic."

"Bullshit," I spat. "You did it to teach me some lesson. Just like you sent Max and Christa off to get married, but neglected to tell them they didn't actually go through with it."

"That was different," he said, his body stiffening.

"Yeah? It was different because it was for their own good, or because it was your idea and you liked fucking with their lives?"

"Believe what you want. Maybe I did fuck with Max, but this was all about keeping Raven alive."

"And you didn't think I could play the part, or you didn't think I would like the choices you had made?"

His jaw clenched in anger. "We were all there. We never would have let anything happen to her."

"Well…good for you that you knew it was fake."

"We didn't do this to piss you off or teach you a lesson," he shouted as I stood to walk away. "We only had a small amount of time to get things in place. I knew if I told you, it would blow the operation. You weren't prepared to handle something like that, and having a discussion about it wasn't an option. It had to happen whether you like it or not."

I heard what he was saying, and part of me actually believed the bullshit spewing from his lips. But I was too angry to deal with it right now. Whether it had to happen or not, they allowed me to believe that I had failed Raven—that she had been killed right in front of me. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw those three bullets hitting her chest. I saw her fall back and her body go limp.

Yeah, she was a fucking great actress, and she had to be, but I couldn't reconcile what they were telling me with the images in my head. And until I got past it, I couldn't be around any of them. I couldn't risk losing my shit like I had on Raven earlier.

I walked out of the bar and headed for my truck, but I didn't get far. Something hard hit me on the back of the head and I fell to my knees. Dazed, my head lolled to the side as I was hoisted up by my arms and hauled across the parking lot. My toes dragged along the asphalt, bumping on cracks and potholes. I knew I needed to fight back, but as my head spun, I couldn't find the energy as the blackness slowly crept in.

I heard a door open and then I was tossed in the back of a van. My body jolted at the impact, and when I rolled to the side, I caught sight of a metal object just before something pinched the skin at the back of my neck. I fought the ripples of darkness threatening to take over.

For a brief moment, I considered that this was some sick joke by Cash, trying to prove a point. But he would never inject me with something to do that. The light faded around me until I had no choice but to fade with it. I would know soon enough who was behind the attack.

This was the second time I had woken up tied to a chair in the last day. Though the accommodations were better, I had a feeling the situation was more dire. That is, until Cash turned around and narrowed his eyes at me.

"Fuck," I grumbled. "Seriously? Can't you just give me a fucking minute to adjust to the fact that my woman is alive?"

"Not sure what you're talking about," he said, tilting his head to the side.

"Look, I get it. You think I'm being unfair to her. But it's not up to you to decide how I handle this shit. And you definitely didn't need to stick a fucking needle in my neck."

"You didn't go down when I knocked you out," he said, shrugging slightly. "I did what I had to do."

"Bullshit. None of this would have happened if it weren't for you."

"I seem to get a lot of the blame these days."

"Since you're the one who set up the whole fucking thing, I'd say my anger is warranted."

He shoved to his feet, strolling over to me. "Though I'm sure I'm to blame for many things, whatever happened with Raven is not one of them."

"How can you say that? You're the one who decided to fake her death."

A smirk crossed his face as he cocked his head at me. "I see my brother is still pretending he's blameless."

"Your—" Groaning, I let my head roll back. "You're Rafe."

"That would be correct."

"Seems a little strange that you would call Cash out for his actions when you're just as bad."

He walked over to the couch and sat down, running his hand along his jaw. "The difference is, I never claimed to be the good brother. Now, what's all this about Raven being killed?" he asked, using air quotes as he spoke.

"Why should I tell you?"

"Because someone is after Raven, and I'm trying to save her ass before they get to her. It would be in your best interest as well to help me."

"And why's that?"

"Because you were part of the job that's coming back to bite me in the ass."

Understanding dawned as I studied the man who could easily pass as Cash. Of course, they were twins. It was nearly impossible to tell them apart. That is, unless you went by their actions, though those were sometimes difficult to distinguish as well.

"The shipment for Zavala. He knows."

He nodded slightly. "I underestimated Hugo. It seems he ran straight to Zavala and was able to strike a bargain with him."

"Christ, you told us Hugo would end up dead."

"He should be. Apparently, my efforts to upend Zavala's work are more of a nuisance than I hoped. It seems that Zavala is willing to work with Hugo and keep him alive as long as he can deliver whoever was involved in the theft."

"And your hands are fucking clean," I hissed. "You had everyone else do the dirty work, and now they're after us."

"I'm here, aren't I?"

He was here, not that his actions made up for the fact that he landed us in a pile of dog shit. "And what about Raven?"

"You were easy to find. I just followed my brother. Raven…I don't know where she is. She fell off the grid."

"That's because we just got her out of one mess."

"Do you know where the fuck she is or not?" Rafe snapped.

"Yeah, I know where she is."

"We need to get to her now before it's too late. Zavala won't go easy on her if he finds her."

"Then fucking untie me so I can get to her."

He stood there for a moment, unflinching. Why the fuck wasn't he moving?

"What aren't you telling me?"

"All of OPS is being watched. They already know of my connection to Cash."

"He was at the bar with me," I said, shaking my head. "Christ, are you telling me you left him at the bar without warning him?"

"Not exactly. I called in a favor."

"From who?"

"That's not important right now. You need to know that if you go with me, you can't go back to OPS. You'll lead Zavala right to them. There's still enough of a protective barrier between OPS and the outside world, but?—"

"If I go with you and then go home, I'll lead them right to your brother."

"And everyone else at OPS."

It sucked, but there was no way around it. Even if I was pissed at Raven, there was no way I'd leave her to the fate of Zavala. She meant too much to me, and leaving OPS behind was a small price to pay to get her back.

"Untie me so we can get to work."

"You can't?—"

"I fucking know!" I snapped.

"I had to be sure."

"Are you sure you're Rafe?"

"Why would you ask?"

"Because you're not quite the asshole I thought you were."

He walked over and cut the ropes around my wrists. "Just don't tell anyone. I have a reputation to uphold."

As soon as the ropes were gone, I was on my feet and moving to the door. I had no idea where we were, but I knew exactly where to find Raven. I just hoped I got there before Zavala's men. I had already let her down once. I wouldn't let her down again.