Page 81 of Dirty Hearts

“It sure has.”

“The person who followed you weeks ago…” Dante added, holding me in place with the intensity of his stare. “It started then. It isn’t just a repercussion from last night at the club.”

“I know.” Of course, I knew that.

“So, if you take it back to weeks ago, the people we’re looking for shouldn’t have had one iota that we were looking for them.” He glanced at Gio, who gave me a pensive stare. “And your doll, someone could only know she’s yours if they were following you and knew where to look in the first place.”

I tensed seeing the direction this conversation was going.

Clearly, he’d smelled the rat amongst us too and had caught on to my mistrust of the men I should trust with my life.

“What are you saying, Dante?” I feigned mock innocence.

He looked reluctant to continue but did. “I’m saying it’s suspicious as shit since the only people who knew what we were doing at that time were us guys, your Pa, and Luc.”

“Be careful… of what you’re saying.” I spoke in that equally cool manner.

Recognition formed in his eyes. “You know what I speak, don’t you?”

“That one of my guys is working with them?” I offered. “Yeah, I know.”

“You don’t trust any of us, do you?” Dante actually looked hurt.

Emotions like hurt was another luxury I couldn’t regard. Experience had taught me that everyone had a price. And sometimes people were just objects walking around with a different mask for a different lie, on different days. They made you see what they wanted you to see.

Sometimes it was truth, sometimes it was lies.

“No,” I answered. My voice cold and expressionless.

“It’s not me.” Dante stared me down. “The same rat was one of the only people too who knew the safehouse where you took Marissa.”

I blinked several times, thrown that he’d mention that, but if I was being honest, I knew it was obvious that someone I knew must have given her location away. Someone gave her location away and told Goliath about Ava too.

That crazy son of a bitch must have had a field day planning his retaliation on me. Grab the twins and see which one I could get to first. Actually though… it was set up so I wouldn’t have gotten to Marissa at all, and if I’d had another minute or two to reach her, we would have both gotten blown up.

“It’s not me either.” Gio clenched his jaw. “And I fucking doubt that it’s your Pa or Luc.”

I tilted my head to the side and regarded them both. “Like I said, be careful of what you’re saying. Now, link up with Alex and Jude and get me David Shipel.”

I would say no more. They were convincing, very convincing.

It was distressing that I couldn’t trust two of my best friends.

That was how it had to be though.

I wouldn’t put Ava’s life in danger again, and I wouldn’t succumb to emotion.

If I was trying to betray someone, the first thing I’d do was get them to trust me.

That was the danger here.

Chapter 20

Ava

* * *

The wind swept up my hair as I took off down the driveway, leaving Luc and Maurice standing in my wake.