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“Yeah. For a few years. Went to Uni. Then moved back to the States.”
“I heard you worked for the DEA,” Rami mentioned.
She nodded. “Went undercover for them, but then my team was compromised. After almost being killed by a team member, I was happy to move here and work for Del and Adam.”
“You were almost killed?” Seth’s voice was harsh, and her eyebrows shot up.
“More than once. Goes with the undercover thing a lot, but that last time…that was bad. Ian and Sam were both jerks about it.”
Granted, she’d spent over a week in the hospital after her former boss had beaten her almost to death, but she’d survived. It’s what she did.
“Yeah, brothers tend to worry about their siblings being hurt.” Rami laughed. “I beat up some little pissant on our street who called my sister a beaner years ago.”
“Damn, I would too. Hell, I would do it today. I hate racists,” she said. It was one of the things that people didn’t know about Joseph. He was a raving racist. He was just a horrible human in general.
Rami smiled at her. “You and I have so much in common.”
There was a low rumble beside her, and she glanced at Seth. He was frowning at his omelet—which everyone should do to egg whites, in her opinion—but she was sure the sound came from him. Then, she glanced at Rami.
“So, you were raised in a cult that was a front for a drug dealing enterprise that also sold illegal weapons?
For a long second, there was silence around the table. Then, Rami burst out laughing. When she glanced at Seth, his mouth twitched.
“You are one of a kind, Autumn Bradford,” Rami said.
Taking in a deep breath, she smiled. “And my brother thanks the heavens above for that every day.”
“You need a lift to your apartment?” Seth asked, hoping she said yes. It was insane how much he wanted to know where she lived. He was acting like a freaking stalker, and he had no idea why he didn’t just ask her.
Nope, that was a lie. He knew. She would never tell him. When she could, he had a feeling that Autumn told the blunt truth. But she hid a lot of her motives and her life in general.
“Naw, I got someone picking me up.”
Just then, the fancy sports car he’d seen at the restaurant the night before pulled into the parking lot.
“We have to get the house ready for our dad.”
“I could have dropped you off.”
She shook her head. “Naw. The house is on the windward side. Plus, I like making Ian bitch about sand in his hoity-toity car. See ya Monday, Bravo.”
She sauntered off, and sure enough, the moment she slipped into the car, they started arguing.
“That woman has a lot of baggage.”
He didn’t look at Rami when he answered. “Don’t we all.”
They headed to his car and were on the road before Rami said anything. “It makes you think, right?”
“About what?”
“I always thought I had a shit childhood. My dad dying, all that. We were poor. But I appreciate having that over what she went through. And I’m pretty sure we don’t know all of it.”
“Yeah, I think she hides a lot.”
“From everyone,” Rami murmured.
And someone with that many secrets was a lot of work. She definitely held herself back from people while giving up all the help she could. He had witnessed it over the last few months. That meant complications, and one thing he didn’t need was complications, especially with a co-worker.
