Page 47 of Rear View

Xavier

Ryah set her hand on the back of my neck and rolled her fingers through my hair, her nails skimming my scalp as we drove to my place later that afternoon.

Shit , it felt good—relaxin’ every muscle in my body. I leaned into her while she stared down at the burner phone I’d grabbed. Just like Castillo suggested, it was nothing special. A basic flip-style and ugly as hell.

Her gaze lifted and she side-eyed me. “Thanks?”

I barked a laugh. “It’s just in case, darlin’.”

I’d programmed mine and Miles’s info already, so her little fingers worked away, adding Zoya and her parents too.

Poppin’ a hip, I pulled my own phone free and handed it over. “Share your location, yeah.” ’Cause when it came to her, I’d take every damn precaution I could.

She took it, her pretty face twisting when her gaze dropped to that new burner. “I, uh, don’t think that’ll work with this thing.”

My smirk was a shit ton of amused. “With your other one, dream girl.”

Her eyes narrowed on me, before she busted out a playful-as-hell smile, then did as I’d asked.

When I’d given Alec the rundown earlier, we’d sorted a plan.

One that’d brought me back, ’cause if we knew anything, it was how to keep our damn hands clean.

Which meant no connections. Me calling Alec made sense.

Me calling Sean didn’t. Paper trails were proof.

Paper trails were problems. I’d make myself a problem if I needed to, but it wasn’t needed.

Not yet. And just like last time, I wanted their names out of it.

I’d passed Alec two questions for his brother.

What could Sean do? And what would it cost?

I’d give the guy my left nut, if that’s what it took.

Anything for my girl, I just needed an amount so I could start funneling cash out ASAP.

Bills only. Piece by piece. Lump sums threw up red flags, ones we didn’t need.

Once I figured out what Sean needed, we’d get that ball rolling.

Then we’d go hunting.

When we crested the hill before my house, my eyes narrowed on the faded red car parked in my driveway—an older-model Civic.

“Who’s that?” Ryah asked.

I shook my head. But a second later, Derek’s familiar face came clear where he sat behind the wheel.

But it was the man leaned against the trunk, arms crossed over his chest, that kicked my pulse into overdrive.

He was wearing all black, his ratty, gray-streaked hair was long.

Longer than the last time I’d seen him, before they’d carted his ass off to prison.

He’d pulled it back into a ponytail at the base of his neck.

He looked like hell. Older. Like his time had been rough.

Good.

I locked down my grip on the steering wheel, my knuckles aching under the strain. “The fuck is he doin’ here?”

Ryah’s hand slipped from me and dropped to her lap. “Who is it, Xavier?”

“My father,” I said through my teeth. I whipped into the driveway, missing him by inches before I slammed the Jeep into park.

My girl latched on to the seat belt strap across her chest. “What are you gonna do?”

“Wait here, yeah.”

“Xavier?” she pleaded, those copper eyes wide.

I hated that I couldn’t give her more but every second I avoided him would be read as fear. Never again. “Please, darlin’.” My stare met hers. Trust me. Please, just trust me.

She nodded and uttered, “Okay.”

Stroking my key chain, I shoved it in my pocket, then threw my door open, jumped out and stalked his way. “You got a lotta balls showin’ up here.”

“Oh, come on,” he said, a shit-disturbing grin on his face. “Our call was so short last time. I figured you’d want to catch up.”

“I wanna do a hell of a lot more than that.” And I did. My body itched for violence. The brutal kind that’d put him in a pine box. But I wasn’t him. I had control. My life’d been built around it. Still, I had my limits.

His head angled Ryah’s way and he gave her a taunting wave. “Aren’t you gonna introduce me to your friend?”

“Look at her again and I’ll cut your goddamn eyes out. You feel me?”

His lip tipped up in a sneer. He crossed his feet at the ankles as if he settled in. “Nice spot you got here.”

“If you came for money, it ain’t happenin’.”

“You’ve got more than you need.”

My laugh was dark. “That’s rich, comin’ from you.”

“So, what? This is payback?”

“Nah. This is karma, old man.”

A flash of rage contorted his face before he rolled his head on his neck. He hadn’t changed. That void was still there, deep in those blue, lifeless eyes. He didn’t give a shit about anything but himself. What he wanted. Something he proved when he opened his mouth again. “Where’s Lorelei?”

I folded my arms over my chest and glared at him through my brow. “You’ll never know.”

His nostrils flared. “You’re going to tell me, boy.”

I forced a dark smile. “We ain’t playin’ your game anymore, old man.” Angling closer, I glared down at him. “You don’t bring your shit to my doorstep. So, fly the hell outta here. Now. Or, I promise, I’ll make you.”

He sized me up like he considered calling that bluff.

He was in good shape. Tall, thick, solid.

Difference was, I knew what his fists could do.

No doubt he remembered mine too. But I’d filled out since he’d last seen me.

A lot. I was stronger and faster in every damn way.

And the rapid thump of the pulse in his neck told me he knew it too.

He laughed, the sound closer to a grunt, pivoted on his heel and stalked away. Opening the passenger door of Derek’s car, he stopped and eyed me. “You took everything from me, son. I’ll be sure to return the favor.” Dropping down, he climbed inside, and they left.

The hair on the back of my neck lifted. My father was a grade-A, world-class prick who only picked fights he knew he could win. The guy was relentless and made good on his threats.

There were only a handful of things he could take that’d bring me to my knees. One that sat less than twenty feet away. But if he was dumb enough to move on my girl, then all bets were off.

Ryah turned in her seat and watched him go. When he was outta sight, she slipped from the Jeep and hurried to me, her copper gaze wide. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, darlin’.”

She pressed closer and set those warm palms of hers against my chest. And, shit, if it didn’t get my rigid lungs working again.

I wrapped a hand over both of hers, then angled forward. I’d held back long enough. She needed to know…but Christ, if I wasn’t terrified to say it. “There’s some things I gotta tell you.”

She bit her lip, her eyes narrowing as she studied me. She nodded slowly. “But you don’t want to tell me,” she said, her voice soft.

“No. I don’t want to.”

Her body stilled. “Why?”

My exhale was rough. All gravel. “’Cause I’m scared it’ll change how you look at me.”

Her gaze held mine. And held. And held. “I want everything, Xavier. Everything then. Everything now. And everything to come. I want it all.”

I crushed my eyes closed and set my forehead to hers. I didn’t deserve her. Never would. But deserve her or not, I was keepin’ her.

Holding tight, I reopened my eyes and led her into the house. We kicked off our gear and I took her to the living room. Dropping onto the couch, I set my elbows on my knees.

She stepped in front of me, twisting the sleeves of her shirt. “Talk to me, Xavier.”

I hooked my arm around her waist and positioned her in my lap, ’cause I needed to feel her. “I told you I got my old man put in prison?”

Shifting to straddle me, she settled in and trailed the tip of a nail over my stomach. “Yes, you told me.”

“But I didn’t tell you how it all shook out.

” My grip found her hips. “After my brother killed himself, things at home got bad. Dad realized he was losing control.” I flexed my fingers, holding her tight.

“When I read that note from Fallon, that was it. My life changed. There was everything before that day, and everything after. I wouldn’t go back.

But I was fourteen. Wasn’t big enough or strong enough to do anything. Not yet.

“My old man was an accountant. Turned out he skimmed off the top of his client’s retirement funds for years.

His family’s shady. Been runnin’ drugs a long time.

But Ma figured something else was off ’cause he started spending way more than he made.

Ended up bein’ just over half a mil. Dad was cocky.

Left the documents lying around at times.

One night, Ma found them, confirmed her suspicions.

He beat her bloody for it. Put her in the hospital. ” I stared past her.

“The system did nothin’ to protect us, so I decided to.

I made a plan. Got a job to cover stuff for her and me, then squirreled away some cash as a get-the-fuck-outta-Dodge fund for Ma.

Small amounts every week so Dad wouldn’t notice.

Alec and I learned to fight. Trained all the time to get me ready.

I taught myself to drive ’cause, when shit hit the fan, I had an idea how it’d go down.

Then I read up on the legal stuff, found this thing called the ‘In Plain Sight’ law that let the cops read his documents without needin’ a warrant.

So, I strapped them to his chest and set him up, orchestrated them arriving. Orchestrated everything.”

Her brows shot high.

Raking a hand over my hair, I exhaled a rough breath.

“I stopped trustin’ the system. Stopped expectin’ help.

I couldn’t rely on anyone. Not even Ma. I love her to death, but she was too scared to talk to the cops, to make a move against Dad or his family.

It was me or bust, so I got ready.” I swallowed hard.

“It was the first time I ever fought back, and I kicked the hell outta him.” I shook my head.

“Best and worst fuckin’ night of my life. ”

“Why?” she asked, her voice small and tight.

“Best, ’cause, for the first time, I knew he couldn’t hurt me anymore, that no matter what came next, I could protect Ma. And the worst, ’cause, hate him or no, beatin’ my old man didn’t feel the way I wanted.”

Her fingers curled into my shirt. “What had you wanted to feel?”

I lifted a shoulder. “Good. Relief. I don’t know. But all I felt was empty.” My gut hardened when I braced for the tough part. “When the cops came…” I inhaled, harsh and ragged.

“They arrested him,” she finished, and angled closer. “He deserved it, Xavier. Every second of his time. You don’t need to feel bad about that.”

I didn’t feel bad, not when it came to him. But my tongue felt heavy. Slow. Dead weight in my mouth. ’Cause the rest of the story was about my cuffs and my court, and the time my ass had spent in jail.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!

My face must’ve said more, ’cause she brushed her soft lips to mine, encouraging me. “What else?”

The exhale I loosed had my chest sinking as my heart hammered against my ribs. “After everything with my dad, I fled. There was a chase.” I raked a hand up the back of my neck and over my hair. Scared. I was fuckin’ scared. “The cops took me in, and I went away.”

She stilled. “What do you mean, went away?”

My eyes creased at the corners when they met hers. Don’t hate me, darlin’. Please. I cleared my throat, then cleared it again and finally told her, “My old man wasn’t the only one who got locked up.”