I narrow my eyes as the blood leaves my face, and my heart hammers.
“I didn’t know you at all until you got out of that car. I only recognized you from the photos. Someone is trying to ruin your reputation, and the reputation of the Tarenkov family. What you do with this information is up to you.”
“What did you do with the photos?”
“I deleted them.” His eyes harden. “We don’t hurt women, Annika. I have no beef with you or your family. Therefore, I have no reason to keep them. But I can’t tell you where they were sent from.”
“Do you know if they were sent to other families?”
“No, I don’t know.”
I nod and offer him a small smile. “Thanks for letting me know.”
“Good luck to you.”
“Same to you. And I really am sorry for your loss.”
I slip out the door and join the others in the hallway.
“What the fuck did he want?” Rafe demands, but I just shake my head.
“Not here.”
“Let’s check into the hotel and decide what we want to do from there,” Carmine suggests.
“So, all this time, it’s been the Carlito family,” Nadia says as she kicks off her shoes and drops into a sofa in her suite.
“They’re involved,” Carmine agrees. “How deeply, we don’t know quite yet. But we’re going to find out.”
“Obviously, we can’t tell them we’re headed to Dallas,” Shane says. “We’re going to sneak in and infiltrate their headquarters. Or their compound.”
“I’ve been looking at satellite images,” Ivy says. “It looks like a compound similar to your grandmother’s place in Seattle.”
“It’d better not be that nice, or we’ll never get inside.” Rafe pushes his hand through his hair in agitation. “We need to call Pop.”
“Yeah.” Carmine sighs warily and picks up his phone. “I’ll FaceTime him.”
Carmine dials, and when Carlo picks up the phone, Carmine fills him in on the details.
“Igor and I will meet you in Dallas tomorrow morning,” Carlo says.
“Why?” Shane asks. “We have plenty of manpower here. We can get in and out and be done.”
“Because this vendetta has been a long time coming,” Carlo says. “And I’m going to look those people in the eye when they’re questioned—and when they’re killed.”
“We can’t talk you out of this.” Carmine’s statement isn’t a question.
“No. We’ll meet you there. I’ll message you to coordinate the time.”
“Yes, sir,” Carmine says. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
He ends the call and shakes his head.
“This will put a wrench in things,” Ivie says. “If Igor and Carlo are there, not only do we have to do the job, but we also have to look out for them.”
“Look at you,” Nadia says to Ivie, a proud smile on her face. “Sounding all mobster-like and stuff.”
“I know, right?” Ivie asks.
“Yeah, it’s going to switch it up,” Rafe agrees. “We won’t infiltrate anything. We’ll be knocking on the fucking front door.”
“Sometimes, that’s not a bad strategy,” Carmine says, thinking it over. “They still don’t know that we’re coming. Maybe we make it seem like it’s a friendly call.”
“I’m not feeling particularly friendly toward the Carlitos,” Rafe says.
“But they don’t know that, do they? We’ll make it seem like we’re just after some information. Because we need that, too. And then, we’ll see what happens.”
“I don’t like it,” Shane says and crosses his arms over his chest. “Something still feels off. Like we’re missing a piece.”
“Curt’s still going through paperwork in Seattle,” Ivie reminds her husband. “Maybe he’ll come up with something between now and tomorrow morning.”
“He’s flying to Dallas with the dads,” Carmine says. “We’ll need him.”
“And then he’s done working for the family,” Shane adds. “This isn’t what he signed on to do when he asked to work for me. He’s my ranch manager. He’s done after this.”
“We have no issue with that,” Carmine replies.
“Oh my God, I’m so tired.” I collapse onto the massive king-sized bed in our bedroom and long for a nap. “I feel like we’ve been up for weeks.”
“What did he say to you?”
I crack an eye and stare at Rafe, who’s standing at the end of the bed. “Huh?”
“What did Maceo say to you, Annika?”
“Oh.” I take a second to take stock of how I feel about this. Turns out, I’m not embarrassed. Or even sad. I’m just pissed off.
I sit up and lick my lips. “He received emails from an unknown sender that had photos attached. Of me. The photos from before.”
Rafe’s hands ball into fists.
“He was warning me that someone sent them and was trying to ruin my reputation. My family’s reputation. Honestly, I think he handled it really well. Discreetly. And he seemed really pissed about it. He said that he doesn’t believe in hurting women.”
“Son of a bitch.” Rafe paces away and shoves his hands into his pockets, then stares out the window to the ocean beyond.
“Why are you mad at me?” I climb off the bed and prop my hands on my hips.
“I’m not.” He doesn’t raise his voice.
“You’re acting mad. I didn’t do anything wrong, remember?”
“What do you want from me?” Rafe spins and holds his hands out at his sides. “What do you expect? Of course, I’m pissed. Someone is dicking with the woman I love. Someone is trying to hurt you, and I don’t know who it is. I thought we had this handled with the Boston thing, but I guess not. And now it’s just one more thing to pile onto everything else that’s happening around us.”
“Well, I’m sorry that I’m such an inconvenience. I didn’t plan on this, you know. It’s never good timing to find out some asshole has intimate photos of you and plans to share them with the world. But I guess I could have put out a notice on social media and asked them to hold off for a few weeks while we clean up this other mess.”
I stomp into the bathroom and slam the door shut.
He just makes me so mad sometimes.
“Annika.”
“I need a second.” I lean my hands on the bathroom vanity and take a deep breath as Rafe opens the door and steps inside. “What if I’d been on the toilet?”
“I don’t care.” He pulls me to him and wraps his big arms around my shoulders. “I’m sorry I’m a monstrous dickhole.”
“You really are.”
He kisses my head. “I know. And for the record, I’m not mad at you. I really am just pissed at whoever is still jerking you around. I want it finished. All of it.”
“Yeah.” I finally loop my arms around him and hug him back. “I’m not even embarrassed about it anymore. It just is what it is. And we’ll figure out who’s behind it. It’s like they’re a high school bully who leaves mostly naked photos of the popular girl on all of the lockers as a joke.”