“It’s really the only way, isn’t it?” Rafe murmurs.
I don’t need him to tell me what that means. It’s pretty clear. It’s clear even before he walks back over to me and runs his index finger down the column of my throat, mirroring an action that once was tender, but this time his brown eyes are cold.
“I have to kill you, Virginia,” Rafe says, simply.
33
Virginia
Rafe leaves me in his bedroom with Adrian on guard. He and Sin leave the room to discuss… well, to discuss my inevitable murder.
Clearly, I should have gone to the restaurant to see what the emergency was.
I look over at Adrian and consider the timing of Felix’s text. Given the scarring on the left side of Adrian’s face, he is one of the more distinctly recognizable Morelli associates—but in order to recognize him, Felix would have to know he’s a Morelli associate. Adrian has never worked in Vegas. I knew about him because I made Rafe’s family my hobby, but a Vegas-based bartender shouldn’t do that much homework.
I really hope Felix isn’t a cop.
He is sharp, clearly capable of doing more, and he did come back to work at the restaurant even after Rafe pulled a gun on him. I thought it was my cajoling that brought him back, but maybe he needed to stay close to Rafe.
“Did you go to the restaurant alone?”
Adrian glances over at me, but doesn’t answer.
“Rafe said you went to the restaurant to check the tapes. Did you take any of Rafe’s guys in with you, or did you go alone?” He still doesn’t answer, so I add, “Come on, what harm could I possibly do with this information?”
Finally, he says, “Rex went in with me.”
I exhale a breath of relief. That’s much more comforting. Felix knows Rex works for Rafe right now, so maybe he recognized R
ex, not Adrian. Maybe he could tell something was wrong, and since Rex was supposed to be guarding the birthday party, he shouldn’t have been at the restaurant. I work at the restaurant. It’s not an impossible leap that I was connected to whatever they were checking out, and even if he didn’t know that, maybe he just noted that Rex and another hardened associate showing up to investigate a problem might indicate something going on at the party, and Felix wanted to get me out of there. Maybe he didn’t know I was in danger from Rafe, he just felt there might be danger at the party, and he wanted to save me from it.
“When did you start looking into me?” I ask. “Was it after Laurel told you about my memory at the table?”
He doesn’t answer, but I take that as a yes.
“You unraveled my whole life in the space of a couple hours, while attending a party. You must be pretty good.”
Now Adrian cracks a smile and looks over at me. “I am. Want to offer me a job?”
I stare down at the cuffs around my hands. “I’m not a cop, Adrian. Unless you have a desire to wash dirty dishes left behind by Vegas tourists, I can’t offer you a job.”
He doesn’t talk to me after that, but I don’t really expect him to. He could, if he cared about this, but he doesn’t. The man was trying to take a weekend off to enjoy a birthday party, and instead he’s spent the whole time working for a branch of the family he’s not even beholden to. His life—his job—is in Chicago and he doesn’t even like Rafe. He only noticed me sticking out like a sore thumb and investigated because he couldn’t help it. Because that’s who he is.
I bet I could do what he does. I do very good research. I don’t foresee Rafe deciding to trust me with more of his family’s misdeeds though. Not after this. It’s foolish to imagine any other end than the one he’s already told me I’ll get.
Considering the extremely limited number of hours that I probably have left to live is too frightening, so I escape into the past. I escape into my happy memories and stay there until there’s a gentle knock on the door.
I pull myself back to the present and look at the door. I don’t expect it to be Rafe or Sin—Rafe wouldn’t knock, and if Sin did, he wouldn’t be gentle.
It’s Mia.
Adrian immediately steps forward. “What are you doing? You shouldn’t be in here.”
“I just wanted to check on Virginia,” she volunteers.
“No,” he says firmly, planting his hands on her shoulders and pushing her back. “You keep your nose out of this. We’re going home tomorrow morning. This is not our problem.”
Scowling up at him and grabbing onto the door as he tries to shove her back out into the hallway, she says, “I’m not going to get involved, I just want to see if she’s okay. She’s probably terrified. Don’t be a jerk, Adrian.”