Page 61 of Roulette Rodeo (Jackknife Ridge Ranch #1)

A Maserati GranTurismo, black with custom green undertones that catch the light from my headlights. Only one person in three states has that particular combination of wealth and poor taste.

Luca.

I grip the steering wheel hard enough that my knuckles go white, needing a moment to breathe and tame my immediate instinct to ram his pretentious car off the road.

The Maserati continues past, taillights disappearing into the rain, but I know he saw me.

Probably planned the whole near-miss for dramatic effect.

I navigate around the flooded intersection and pull into the coffee shop parking lot. The building is completely dark, no sign of life, and for a moment, panic flares in my chest.

Did she leave with him? Did she ? —

No. I know Red better than that, even after just a month.

She wouldn't go with Luca if he was the last alpha on earth. She's too smart and careful, surviving far worse than to fall for his particular brand of manipulation.

I park the truck and sit for a moment, rain drumming on the roof, before stepping out into the storm. The rain immediately soaks through my jacket, my shirt, running in cold rivers down my back. I head for the front door, boots splashing through puddles that are more like small ponds.

But I don't reach the door.

Instead, I turn around as I hear another car door slam. Luca's walking toward me from where he's parked across the street, and he's wearing that smug grin that makes me want to remove his teeth one by one.

"Did you suddenly become blind in the rain?" I ask, voice flat. "Or was that near-accident supposed to impress someone?"

He chuckles, spreading his hands in mock innocence. The rain doesn't seem to touch him the same way—probably some expensive treatment on his coat that repels water, because God forbid Luca Ferrero get wet like a normal person.

"Just trying to navigate these terrible conditions," he says, but his grin widens. "Surprised to see you out here, Rafe. Thought you'd given up on leaving that office tower. Your omega probably left if you're two hours late."

I say nothing, just watch him with the kind of stillness that used to make men confess to crimes they hadn't even committed yet. But Luca's immune to intimidation, always has been.

It's what made him such a good friend, once upon a time, and such a dangerous enemy now.

"What's your ploy?" I finally ask. "Is your life suddenly so boring that you need to insert yourself into mine? Or is it just that a new omega in my life makes me an interesting target again?"

He laughs, the sound carrying over the rain.

"Obviously yes. Fresh blood always makes things more interesting." His expression shifts to something nastier. "But she's probably a slut like the rest of them."

My hands clench into fists, but I don't move.

Not yet .

"You know," he continues, voice taking on a conversational tone that doesn't match the venom in his words, "I kissed her in there before I left."

The growl that rips from my throat is involuntary, primal.

Not because I believe him— I know he's lying, can smell the desperation under his cologne —but the idea of Red bending for him when she won't even let me close enough to try — not like I’ve tried to really encourage any contact to begin with — it grinds against something fundamental in my nature.

"She couldn't wait to be on her knees for me," Luca continues, watching my face with the attention of someone who knows exactly which buttons to push.

"Lucky I had to drop those other girls off, or I could have seen what it's like to have her mouth around my cock.

Probably would have been disappointing. Casino whores usually are, but might have been worth it just to say I had your omega first."

"She's not into someone like you," I manage through gritted teeth. "She can see through the facade."

His laughter this time is genuinely amused.

"No omega can see through shit when money is involved. They're all the same in the end, calculating exactly how much they can get, what they need to do to get it. I could buy her off you if I wanted. Take this misery away."

He pauses, tilting his head like he's considering.

"But I guess you need her for this whole government shit, huh?"

I say nothing, which is answer enough.

He bobs his head, chuckling.

"Figured. Keep playing house, then. You think you're fooling everyone, but you ain't fooling me." His voice drops, losing the playful edge. "She doesn't love you. Sophia didn't either, but I guess you can remain in your land of delusions."

He turns and walks back to his car, not hurrying despite the rain.

The Maserati purrs to life, and he drives away slowly, like he has all the time in the world. Like he didn't just eviscerate me with words sharper than any knife.

I don't know how long I stand there.

The rain soaks through everything—jacket, shirt, skin, maybe even bone. It runs down my face in streams, and I can't tell if it's all rain or if some of it might be something else. The cold seeps in gradually, then all at once, until I'm shivering, but I can't seem to move.

She doesn't love you.

The words echo in my skull, bouncing off memories of Sophia's empty smiles, her perfect compliance that never quite reached her eyes.

How many times did she say she loved me?

Loved us? And how many times did I convince myself that the hollow sound of it was just her being shy, being proper, being omega?

Sophia didn't either.

I knew that.

Have known it for two years, probably knew it even before she died. But hearing it stated so baldly, so carelessly, by someone who was there, who watched it all fall apart...

The coffee shop door unlocks with a soft click that somehow carries over the storm. The door opens slightly, and Red's head pops out, auburn hair immediately catching the rain. She frowns when she sees me, confusion and concern warring on her face.

"Why are you standing in the rain?" She huffs, exasperation clear even from here. "You're going to catch pneumonia."

Before I can respond, she's pushing the door open wider and pulling me inside. The sudden absence of rain is disorienting, like stepping from one world into another. The coffee shop is warm, dim, smelling of coffee and old books and a vanilla aroma.

"You're drenched," she says, stating the obvious as she looks me up and down. Water pools at my feet, and I'm probably ruining Mrs. Chen's floors, but I can't seem to care.

"Do you have a change of clothes?" Her hands are gentle as she helps me out of my soaked jacket. "No…maybe not. Why would you…but in the car, maybe?"

"It's fine," I manage, voice rougher than intended. "We're going home anyway."

"No, no." She shakes her head firmly. "You can't drive like that. You'll freeze, and your hands are already shaking. Let me see if Mrs. Chen has something in the back. She keeps extra clothes for her grandson sometimes?—"

Thunder booms overhead, the sound massive and immediate.

Lightning flashes simultaneously, turning the world white for a split second.

Red jumps, startled, and I grab her wrist without thinking, needing to keep her close, keep her safe.

Keep her from disappearing like ? —

She peers back at me, those garnet eyes wide with something that might be surprise or might be fear. I don't know what expression I'm wearing, what she's seeing on my face.

I should let go, step back, rebuild the walls that keep me functional.

But I can't.

I can't let go, don’t dare to look away, can't pretend anymore that she doesn't matter.

That she's just a temporary solution to a permanent problem.

That I haven't been falling for her little by little, since the moment she stood up to me in that hallway, matching my hostility with sass instead of submission.

Hell…maybe it was the moment I watched her walk past all those Alpha packs until she was before ours…

Her free hand comes up slowly, carefully, like she's approaching a wounded animal. Her fingers are warm against my cheek, and that's when I feel it—the wetness there that has nothing to do with rain.

Her eyes widen further, understanding dawning in those depths.

"Rafe?" she whispers, voice so gentle it breaks something inside me. "Why are you crying?"