28. Rafe

28

RAFE

I paced the room, holding my side. At this rate, I would never be able to enact my plan. Zavala didn't trust me enough to work with me. He'd relegated me to this room, and the last time I saw Isabelle was yesterday. I had no doubt in my mind that Zavala had refused to let her see me again.

It would have been better if I'd let the fucker torture me. At least then I would know where I stood. I still didn't have a fucking plan other than to convince Isabelle that she needed to escape. I could still see the look on my brother's face. He thought I was fucking crazy for getting kidnapped and taken to the island, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

I couldn't stand the thought of my sister here for one more minute. The years since I found out about her on this island kept me up at night. I planned and plotted, but could never find a single fucking way to get her off this island. Short of bombing the whole fucking thing—which would be counterproductive to a rescue—I couldn't find a single way to get Isabelle out of here.

Maybe I should have killed him when I had him in front of me. I was right beside him the whole fucking time. Hell, we were in an accident together. It was the perfect opportunity to end his life. But then, where would Isabelle be? Did the staff have orders to kill her if anything happened to Zavala? Would she be sold off to the highest bidder? The search would have started all over again.

There were just too many unknown variables.

The door opened and one of Zavala's servants stepped in. "Mr. Zavala has requested you join him for dinner."

I nodded, refusing to show any signs of hope on my face. Just because he was inviting me out of the room didn't mean he had chosen to take my offer. This could go either way. Zavala could be playing with me before deciding whether or not to kill me.

I followed the servant out of the room and down the hall to the dining room. I was expecting Zavala and Isabelle to be there, but what I wasn't expecting was to see Raven. She really had worked her way to the top very quickly if she was already eating at the table with Zavala.

Before sitting down, I nodded to Zavala. "Good evening."

His smile was smarmy and as his eyes flicked to Raven, I understood his intentions. "Rafe, I believe you know Raven."

I nodded slightly, pulling out my chair. "We've worked together in the past. She was crucial to ensuring I could easily steal your last shipment."

Zavala chuckled, taking a sip of his wine. "I love how you speak of stealing my shipment as if it were just another job. Don't sell yourself short. It was a brilliant plan."

"And got me exactly what I wanted."

I heard Raven's disapproval but didn't turn to face her. If she was trying to play along, she was doing a shitty job. She would get herself killed at this rate.

"Which was a job with me."

"Precisely," I said. I kept my gaze on his, refusing to back down from the challenge on his face.

"The question is, do I really need a man like you? You seem to have no allegiance."

"I have an allegiance to money. As long as that keeps flowing, there's no need to worry about me turning on you."

"Yet, you tried to destroy my business to get a meeting with me."

"I was merely getting your attention."

"What bullshit," Raven muttered.

I heard the crack of a hand making contact with skin and slowly turned to face Raven and the man with her. She pressed her hand to her cheek, glaring at the man beside her. If she wasn't careful, she would get herself killed. And it wasn't that I particularly cared about her life, but she might be useful in helping me get Isabelle off this island.

"Please excuse Raven. Perhaps she needs a little more time in her cell."

"No," Raven said quickly. "I just realized that I was used all along by Rafe to get to you."

Smart girl.

"Like I said, I have no allegiance to anyone but money. I would like to get moving on the first shipment?—"

"Please, no talk of business at the table," Zavala said, holding up his hand. "We don't want to bore the ladies."

I didn't dare look at Isabelle, though I was dying to. Zavala wouldn't care if I snuck a peek at Raven, but his wife was off-limits. I knew that much just by spending a limited amount of time in the same room as the two of them.

He hadn't shot me down like the last time I sat at this table. Maybe that was a good sign. Then again, Zavala was known to change his mind whenever the mood struck. I listened to him drone on and on, congratulating himself about how amazing he was. It was boring as fuck, but gave me good insight into the type of man he was.

If I ever needed a distraction, all I had to do was praise him for his conquests. Isabelle, however, was going to be a harder nut to crack. All her years spent on this island had clearly damaged her. She was quiet and subservient. She never spoke before Zavala spoke to her. She kept her head down most of the time. In fact, you wouldn't be able to tell she was anything other than a wallflower if it wasn't for the fact that she moved occasionally.

I had to force myself to be the opposite of who I normally was while I was here. Going in headstrong and taking charge of the situation wouldn't help me in the end. I would only be killed, and then Isabelle would be stuck on this island for the rest of her life.

After dinner, one of Zavala's men took Isabelle from the room. I tried not to watch as she walked away, but she caught my eye moments before Zavala turned to me.

"Are you staring at my wife?" he bit out.

"No, nothing like that."

"Because it looked like you were. Maybe you were thinking that you'd like to have a go at her. Taste the goods," he grinned.

The thought made me want to puke. "I can assure you, that's not the case."

"Then why were you staring at her," he said, his demeanor suddenly changing.

His guards moved closer, boxing me in. I had to come up with something quickly. If he thought I wanted his wife, he would kill me before I could get her off the island.

"She reminds me of my own wife," I said, the thought leaving my mouth before I had a chance to think through the repercussions. It was stupid. Any possibility of leading this asshole to Libby was terrifying, but it was out of my mouth now. "She would have been my wife if she had lived."

I hoped that little correction would fix my blunder, but the shrewd look on his face said he didn't believe me. If he somehow found out about Libby, I wouldn't be there to protect her. I had no way of getting a message to Cash. I had to hope that he found my letter and would look after her. Then again, Cash was a protector. It wouldn't take a letter from me for him to take her under his wing.

"What happened? Did your job get in the way?"

"Something like that."

"And my wife reminds you of her."

"In some ways."

He didn't believe me. "All the best, I hope."