Page 81 of Dirty Secrets
“He said that?”
“Yep. I’m getting a job, Zav. I’m sick of this shit. I already feel bad for not pitching in, but if he’s going to throw it in my face, then I’ll make my own money.”
He shuffled closer, draping an arm around my shoulders. “I can work more. I don’t like you having to work when the jobs out there for women?—”
“You guys are dramatic. I can wash cars like you guys or wait tables. It’s not like I’m going to run off and ask a pimp to take me in,” I scoffed, leaning into him more.
“If anyone outside of our house touches you, I’ll cut their fucking hands off,” he muttered, kissing the top of my head. “I’ll help you find something. Promise.”
“Something legal?” I asked dryly, and he winced.
“Yeah. I don’t want you getting dragged into anything bad.”
“You know I’m not stupid, right? Most jobs you’ve done are dangerous. You think you’re sneaky, but you’re not. Reid and Logan sneaking out to those street races meant I started watching you too. I’d hear you sneak out at two in the morningsometimes, and sure enough, your bed would be empty when I got up to check. At first, I thought you had a secret girlfriend or something, but then after I made Reid show me the mortgage repayments when I busted him for racing, I saw there was money going onto it after he stopped earning good money. Which meant one of you was still making dodgy money. Reid was in the hospital for ages, and Logan barely left him during that time. So, where did the money come from?” I asked, sitting back to hold his gaze. “Was it something to do with how you ended up helping Penn? Were you dealing in the skin trade?”
“You think I was selling kidnapped women?” he asked slowly, a flicker of hurt in his tone.
“I don’t know what to think, Zavier. You’d vanish all hours of the night with fucking Ander, then show up with money. When Cruz almost beat you half to death for thinking you were secretly dating Penn, I heard you saying about how you’d helped her and weren’t dating her. I also heard you bought her from her father with fake money. What the hell were you involved with?”
“We were going to lose the house, Raven. We all did dodgy shit to keep it over our heads,” he replied, his voice surprisingly calm. “Ander and I were paid by families of missing girls to fake buy them from the skin trade and get them home safely. The Donovans can only shut down so much, and for every predator they deal with, another three take their place. It’s impossible to stop. Between saving girls, running drugs, and selling information, I had a good thing going.”
“Why’d you stop then?” I wanted to be sick at the thought of him being involved with all of that. He could’ve been killed a million times over if he’d been caught. “And who the fuck were you selling drugs for? Ander, I suppose? You know how I feel about that.”
He blew out a breath, nodding. “Yeah, I found out about Reid and Logan being involved with his street racing when he ropedRiley into moving drugs one night. She accidentally mentioned that they knew Ander. I was just there to guard the stash and hand it over, but I wasn’t going to let Riley go alone, so I climbed into her car to look out for her. I did shit like that often for a while, then we ended up dealing with the skin trade, and Ander just stopped asking me to help with the drugs. Either he stopped selling, or he found someone else to handle it. I stopped everything when Ander wanted to go underground for a while, and because I was worried about you and the guys getting hurt if something went wrong. The shit with Penn could’ve gotten messy if her father had found out the money was fake, and then every corrupt asshole in the country would’ve known Ander and I were frauds. It would’ve caused a lot of people to come after us.”
“You’ve really stopped? I need you to be honest with me,” I said quietly, my chest hurting as memories plagued my mind of my brother. “I can’t handle people kicking our door in and gunning anyone down a second time. If you fall back into bad shit, you’ll have to leave, Zav. I can’t go through that again.”
“I promise. I’m not involved with anything.”
I studied him for a second before leaning into him again. “Good. If you lie to me, we’re done.”
“I won’t,” he replied, reaching into the back of my pants to pull out the gun. “Why do you have this?”
“Can’t be too careful. Logan was freaking out about me going out alone, so I took it for backup just in case.”
“When did you practice shooting last?”
“Whenever you took me,” I chuckled. I took it back and turned the safety off, aiming it at the window of the old gym before pulling the trigger. I grinned as the bullet hit the window and sent glass everywhere. “You guys taught me well. I remember it all.”
“You’re giving me a boner, stop it,” he winked, and I rolled my eyes as I put it on the roof beside me.
“The weirdest shit turns you on, you know that?”
“Everything you do turns me on.”
“Is that right?” I teased, squealing as he grabbed me and hauled me onto his lap. I wrapped my legs around his back tightly, loosening them a little when he spoke.
“I won’t let you fall, babe.”
I glanced back, knowing the only thing stopping me from falling to my death was the fact that his arms were around me, and I relaxed a little more. I trusted Zavier.
“Promise?” I asked anyway, peering up at his face.
“Promise.”
Zavier
Reid was so fucking stupid. Every day was a battle between him and Raven lately, and he was pushing her further and further away. No wonder she didn’t want to tell him the truth about me and Logan, he’d only fight her on it and start a war in the kitchen.