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The ride back to the clubhouse is quiet, except for Hades’s heavy breathing, and I think we both feel an impending sense of doom. I feel bad for ever questioning her. My initial gut feeling was right, she is a good woman. And I’m never going to question that again.
I make sure she’s comfortable and then head off with Romeo.
We have a fed to deal with.
I’ve never wanted to beat the shit out of someone more in my life.
“That’s him there,” I say, later that day, nodding to the man leaving the police station and getting into his silver car. “And that’s the car I’ve seen following me recently.”
“Shit,” Romeo mutters, pushing his sunglasses up on his nose. “I just want to know why they suddenly want to find out what happened to Victor. What’s it to them?”
“They are not going to find him,” I reply in a dry tone.
“Exactly, no evidence can be tied back to us. That’s why they need Bella to do their dirty work for them,” he says. As Mark drives off, we follow behind him at a safe distance. “She’s never done anything criminal before, I don’t know if his threats are even valid, but we don’t want to risk it either. There is a lot at stake if they decide to make this forged signature a big deal.”
“Agreed. I think we should find something on him in return, or just teach him a lesson,” I say, cracking my knuckles to emphasize my point. “He’s fucked with the wrong person.”
No one messes with my Bella.
No one.
“Just don’t do anything until we come up with a plan,” Romeo states, knowing my impulsive nature. “We need to play it smart because the last thing we want is more feds on our ass. And that includes not touching him.”
“I know.” But to be honest, I probably needed the reminder.
“This could be his house,” Romeo comments as we watch Mark enter a suburban property. We park across the road and wait for any movement.
After an hour, he comes out in a fresh change of clothes, so we guess this is indeed his residence. We keep following up, until Jag and Jeremiah come and swap with us so we can head back to the clubhouse. We are going to keep eyes on him until we find something out that we can use to our advantage.
When I get back, Bella is in the kitchen with Julianna. The two must’ve discussed what happened. Things must be okay because I spot the two of them cooking and singing along to old-school tracks by the likes of Whitney Houston and the Spice Girls. I watch Bella for a moment, swaying to the beat as she stirs whatever she has on the stove, before I let my presence be known.
“You’re back,” she says, spinning around. Hades is at her feet. I couldn’t bring her here without also bringing her sidekick. “We’re making a large pot of pasta for everyone.”
“I can see that—it smells good,” I say, giving her a kiss.
“Where’s Romeo?” Julianna asks.
“He’s out front. I think he’s on a phone call,” I say, and Julianna leaves to find him. “Things seem...good between you two. Did you talk?” I ask Bella. She’s not my Bella yet. She’s fidgety and on edge. Even her kisses feel off.
She nods. “We did. She was upset with me for not coming to her, for not focusing on work.”
“That’s unfair, you couldn’t have known—”
Bella holds her hand up to me. “Don’t do that. I don’t need you sugarcoating what I did or telling me it wasn’t a big deal. It was a major fuckup and I dropped the ball. Twice. First by missing the deadline and not signing the paperwork and second after learning of the issue and not doing anything to rectify it. I put a lot of people at risk here and while it might not be a big deal to you, please do not justify anything I did.”
“But Rosalind...” I start, trying to wrap my arms around her.
She moves away and turns to me. “River, do you not see that this was my fault? Sure, Rosalind screwed me by signing my name, but if it wasn’t for me, she never would’ve been needed. I dropped the ball. I was too preoccupied with what I saw in the garage and wondering if you and I were right for each other...”
What. The. Fuck.
“Whether we’re right for each other?” I say, my hackles rising.
She sighs. “River, you don’t talk to me. You tell me nothing about anything. We don’t know each other’s parents, we don’t do anything other than hang out and fuck. You keep me at arm’s length. Christ, I found out about Victor from Julianna! And that day I walked in the garage, I saw you beating a man to a pulp. I knew. And looking back, I don’t think I really cared. Not about the blood or what you were doing in there. I cared more about the fact that you were hiding it from me. That you were hiding yourself from me.”
I don’t know what to say. I’ve been a fool. Maybe she’s right. We’ve been living in this bubble where we are tiptoeing around the real conversations that need to be had. Everyone has been warning me about this, but fuck. I didn’t realize Bella felt the same.
She caresses my face. “The fact that you are trying to convince me this is not my fault makes me love you, but that’s not the support I need. I need someone who will let me hold myself accountable. Who will not sugarcoat things. I need you to not blame anyone but me.”
