We sit there for over three hours, searching leads, aliases and family trees, but at the end of it, it was well worth it, because I find exactly what I wanted to find.
Dirt on Marko.
I can use this information against him if things don’t work out the way I want them to. As it turns out, it’s clear the man only cares about himself, not the gang that he has raised to be loyal to him.
My phone rings and Cara’s name pops up. “Hey.”
“Hey. Where are you?” she asks. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, I’m still at the office. I’ll be home soon.”
Home.
It’s nice to be able to say that to her.
“Okay,” she says softly. “See you soon.”
It’s in this moment I know that I need to tell her everything, and I do exactly that as soon as I get back to her. We both sit on my couch, and I open up about it all.
“So you went behind my back to contact Rhett, and told him to come here and face Marko so I won’t have to do it tomorrow,” she summarizes, sounding suspiciously calm.
“Yes.” I nod. “And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you until now, but I’m not sorry I put that plan into action. I’m not going to let you take the fall for your ex’s bullshit and—”
She covers my lips with her finger, stopping me from speaking. “I knew what was happening. And I was waiting for you to tell me.”
I still. “You knew I spoke to Rhett?”
She arches her brow and leans back on the bed. “You really thought Clo wouldn’t tell me? She’s my best friend. We tell each other everything.”
“And what? You were testing me to see if I’d be honest?”
She shrugs. “Call it what you will. I know you have my best interests at heart, so I wasn’t angry, but we need to be able to tell each other things and trust each other. So yeah, I wanted to see if you would tell me or not.”
It was a test.
And lucky for me, I somewhat passed.
“And you aren’t angry that he’s coming back?” I press.
“I don’t want anything to happen to him, but you’re right, this is his mess. He should be here to help clean it up. I don’t want them to kill him, though, and I’m worried that is what will happen if he’s here.”
Suddenly Cara’s phone rings, and it’s her dad. “Hello? Yeah, hold on I’ll put you on speaker phone.”
“We were able to strike a deal,” he explains, and Cara and I share a look.
“What’s the deal?” I ask.
“Because his kid recovered from the bullet wound and is fine now, the Wind Dragons argued that Rhett shouldn’t have to die,” Rake explains. “However, retribution is needed, so Rhett is going to have to fight Marko one on one. He just wants to get a few punches in, I think, to save face.”
“He couldn’t let the gang see him not have any kind of revenge after what happened.”
“Exactly,” Rake murmurs.
“That’s a pretty good outcome,” I think out loud.
“We think so, too.”
We say bye and Cara tells her dad she loves him as we end the call.
So we have a new plan: Rhett doesn’t die, but gets knocked around a little, and Cara will be safe.
We all will be.
“Hopefully after they fight it out things will slowly go back to normal. I can find a place of my own, and we can go back to the cute dating stage,” Cara says.
I laugh and press my lips against her neck. “I’ll try to drag the honeymoon stage out with you as long as possible.”
She laughs and arches her neck for me.
And I just hope that she knows that I mean it.
I’m never going to get impatient with her, or take her for granted. I’m never going to put her anything but first.
She’s mine.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Cara
Decker, Clover, Felix and I pull up in two cars to the meeting place, which is at an abandoned warehouse. The FC must know this place, which gives them the upper hand, but at least it’s not where anyone else can get hurt. That’s what got us all into this huge mess in the first place.
We brought two cars just in case shit goes south and we have to get on out of here. But I’m hoping Marko keeps to his word and this truly just is a one-on-one fight.
A third car pulls up next to us, windows tinted. I know who is in there, and it’s going to be a little awkward to see him, like it would be with any ex. My new man is right next to me, and I know that’s going to hurt Rhett, whether he deserves my empathy or not.
I still care about him, and I always will.
Rhett opens the door and gets out. He’s wearing jeans and a white T-shirt, with black circles under his eyes, blond hair slicked back.
“Decker—” I start to say.
Rhett opens my door, interrupting me, and flashes me a small smile. “Hello, Cara.”
“Hey, Rhett. You look like shit,” I blurt out, unable to help myself.
“I’ve missed you too,” he says with a laugh, before I get out of the car. I stand next to him as Decker, Clover and Felix join us.
Rhett opens his arms to me, and I fall into them for a moment, before pulling away. I can feel Rhett’s eyes on me, and I can feel beautiful green ones on my back. I don’t know what to do to make them both happy, and to let them know that I do care about both of their feelings, so I’m a little awkward with my interaction.
“You’re all good?” he asks, and I nod.
“You?”
He shrugs. “I look how I feel.”
He then shakes Felix’s hand, and then Decker’s, their eyes catching and holding for a few seconds. Their handshake looks like they are both squeezing for dominance, and I want to tell them both that we don’t have time for this shit right now.
Rhett smiles at Clo next, then wraps his arms around her. “I’m sorry you guys have had to deal with this, but I’m here now.”
Clover glances around. “No backup?”
“They’re coming,” Rhett replies, glancing toward the warehouse. “Let’s hope he keeps his word and we all don’t end up in a big brawl.”
Felix and Decker start discussing something and Rhett pulls me aside quickly to have a chat.
“We need to talk.” He looks angry, and I’m not used to seeing that look from him.