Raven could feel the envelope's weight in her hand as she and Dante walked back to the car, the evening air cooling against their skin. Her fingers crossed over the edges of the paper, and her heart thrummed a little more quickly. She hadn't wanted to believe it, but there was something about Lucas's cryptic statement that had been too familiar, too calculated. She had been around enough lies to know when something was not right, and the instant Lucas had spoken, she had known—he wasn't merely a bystander in this situation. He was a player.
They climbed into the car quietly, both of them too intent on the seriousness of the moment to say anything else. Raven tore open the envelope with a swift motion, the expectation burning within her as she extracted the contents. A folded sheet of paper, written in neat letters, was contained within.
She unfolded it, her eyes scanning the words quickly. As she read, her heart began to pound.
Javi was with the Calloways.
The statement was like a punch to the chest. Her breath was caught in her throat. Javi—her dear friend, the one she could trust, the one who had always been present when times were hard—was in league with the Calloway crime family. And not just any involvement—he had defected from their crew. He had sold Valerie out, sending her straight into the hands of Morelli's men and the Calloways. She read further, the ink blurring slightly as her vision started to swim with disbelief.
Javi had been orchestrating Valerie's abduction, using her as leverage in a deal with the Calloways for a new, profitable business venture—underground human trafficking.
Her fingers shook as she held the paper tighter, her mind tearing through a thousand opposing thoughts. No, not Javi. Not after everything.
"Raven," Dante said, his voice husky as he bent over, his eyes reading over the sheet in her hand. He reached across and took it from her when she didn't answer, his touch warm and stabilizing. "What is it?"
She couldn't talk. She didn't have the words. The betrayal stung like a knife to her chest, sharp and burning. She had trusted Javi. Hell, he'd been a damn good friend. To think he could be a part of something like this—it made her stomach turn.
Dante read the letter hastily, his face growing darker with each sentence. "This. this can't be right. Javi wouldn't—"
But even as he spoke, Raven could see the uncertainty creeping into his eyes. She wasn't the only one who had trusted Javi.
"Why?" Raven finally whispered, the word barely escaping her lips as she met Dante's eyes. "Why would he do this?"
Dante glared at her, his jaw clenched tightly. His hand was suspended just over hers, whether to take it or not, his own head a jumble of confusion and fury. The tension between them, always lying in wait just under the surface, seemed more volatile in the aftermath of the revelation. Her pain, her rage—it was the same as his. But there was something else there too, something neither of them had even fully accepted yet. Something that was unspoken, but there.
"I don't know," he replied softly, his voice heavy with frustration. He reached for her hand at last, his fingers brushing against hers, warm and solid. She didn't pull back. "But we have to know. We have to stop this before it goes any further."
His touch was firm, solid—and Raven found herself holding on to it, even though every fiber of her being screamed to push him away. She didn't want to feel this—didn't want to need him. But in that moment, as the world around them seemed to shatter beneath the weight of betrayal and danger, she couldn't help but take comfort in his presence. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but Dante was the only one she trusted in this chaos. Even though that trust had seemed to be seeping slowly away from her.
"Where do we even begin?" she asked, her voice trembling but resolute. "We need to locate Valerie, and I have no clue where to start now. And Javi—he's in too deep with them. We don't know how deep this goes."
Dante tightened his grip on her hand, his gaze holding hers.
Her heart beat faster, from the gentle sweep of his thumb across the top of her knuckles, slow and deliberate. The moment hung frozen in space, as though the world outside the car had vanished. All that existed was the here and now—the treacherous road ahead of them, and the underlying tension building between them that neither seemed to be able to avoid.
"I'm not letting them take her," Raven said, her voice suddenly fierce, her fingers tightening around his. "Valerie deserves better than this."
"I know," Dante replied, his voice rough, eyes dark with determination. "And we'll make sure she gets it."
They locked gazes for a second, and Raven felt the fire rising between them. The air space between them narrowed, filled with something neither had even really faced yet. It was a mutual intensity, born of years of pent-up tension and a chemistry that could not be denied, one that had been developing for too long.
But there was no time to dwell on it. They both knew that. Valerie's life was on the line.
Dante shifted, breaking the gaze. "We'll get through this, Raven. We've always got each other's backs."
She didn't respond immediately, but the weight of his words settled in her chest. They had always had each other's backs—but that had never meant so much as it did now.
Raven nodded, inhaling deeply as she reinserted the letter into the envelope. "We have to act quickly. The more time we take, the more involved Javi will become. We can't allow the Calloways or Morelli to get to her."
Giving a last look toward Dante, she opened the door of the car. The evening air struck her, but it did nothing to temper the heat that had been building between them. Raven's heart pounded in her chest as she and Dante made their way to their next destination. The news about Javi had shaken her more than she cared to admit, but there was no going back now. They would reveal the truth—and if they were fortunate, they'd rescue Valerie before it was too late.
The chase was on, and they were in this together, for better or worse.