I see shock, hurt, betrayal.

  Her lips part slightly, like she’s about to say something, but nothing comes out. She just stares at me, her jaw tightening as if she’s trying to hold back a wave of emotions. A flicker of anger, too, a flash that she tries to hide, but it’s there, raw and sharp.

  And then, just like that, she pulls back, as if I’m a stranger she’s never met, her face becoming a mask—closed off and unreadable. The silence between us is heavy, suffocating.

  “It means nothing, Raven,” I tell her.

  She shakes her head. “I thought you were supposed to marry Belinda.”

  “Plans have changed. And not everyone is happy about them.”

  “Myself included,” she says.

  I grab her hands. “Raven, I love only you. I’ll never love anyone but you.”

  “Yet how easy it was for you to marry another.” She snaps her hands out of mine and smooths them down her dress. “I should really get back to the gala. God knows what I must look like. I’m going to go to the ladies’ room.”

  “You look beautiful.”

  She grabs her clutch and takes out a compact mirror, examining her reflection. “I’m sure you kissed all of my lipstick off.”

  “You don’t need lipstick, Raven. You’re perfect just as God made you.”

  She throws the compact onto the floor, scattering tiny shards of glass around her. “God made me with hair, Vinnie! Then He saw fit to take it away.” She shakes her head vehemently. “No! I won’t let you make me go there. I made it through the storm, Vinnie. I won’t go back there. Not for anything. Not even for you.”

  “Don’t you see?” I say. “You and I want the same thing then. I want you to live your life. Have a long happy healthy life that you deserve. I’d rather you have that, even if it’s not with me.”

  “Well, you’ve made your point. It’s not with you. You’ve married someone else.”

  “I told you it means nothing,” I say for the third time. “It’s business. Simply a business arrangement. Just like it was supposed to be with Belinda.”

  She pushes my shoulders with more strength than I knew she had. “You’ve made your choice, Vinnie.”

  “Yes. I’ve chosen you, Raven. I’ve chosen your life. You’re in danger if you’re anywhere near me. I shouldn’t have come in here with you. I should’ve been able to control myself.”

  She sears her gaze into me with so much fire that I actually take a step back. “Why didn’t you? You’ve got a beautiful wife—younger and with more hair—who you could’ve satiated yourself with. You don’t need me.”

  Christ. If only I didn’t need her.

  Both of our lives would be so much easier. Less dangerous.

  She has no idea what her father is up to. And I don’t know enough about it yet either, since I left Colombia in secret in the dark.

  Perhaps Bellamy is being blackmailed. Forced into doing the cartel’s bidding.

  His land is right on the border, a perfect place for mules.

  Then again, he’s the heir to the Cooper Steel fortune. He has billions. He could stop the cartel if he wanted to.

  Or maybe he couldn’t.

  There is one thing money can’t buy.

  It can’t buy life.

  It can’t replace the person you love.

  Which is the reason I’ve chosen to stay away from Raven.

  And clearly I’m terrible at it.

  “So how was she?” Raven asks.

  “What?”

  “Your hot little wife. What kind of a fuck is she, Vinnie? How does it feel to grab her long hair in your hands and yank on it as you sink yourself inside her?”

  “I don’t know,” I say. “I told you it’s business only. I haven’t slept with her.”

  She rolls her eyes. “Right. Because I’m just that gullible.”

  “I don’t believe you’re gullible at all. I believe you have an incredible zest for life that most people don’t.” I run my hand up and down her arm. “You see things that most people don’t. That’s the opposite of gullible, Raven.”

  She slaps my hand away. “You really expect me to believe you didn’t take that beautiful woman to bed?”

  “I don’t expect you to believe anything.” I run my hands through my hair. “I can only tell you the truth. The truth is that I have not slept with Daniela, and I have no plans to. I’ve told you that it’s a business arrangement. She understands it as well as I do.”

  She sighs. “I wish I could believe you.”

  I cup her cheeks, stare into her beautiful brown eyes. “You can believe me, Raven. I haven’t slept with her, and I won’t. But that changes nothing between us.”

  “Then what was this about then?” She gestures around the room. “You dragging me into this dark conference room? Fucking me? Kissing me?”

  I let out a humorless chuckle. “I don’t seem to have any self-control when you’re around.”

  “I suppose I don’t either.” Her lips twitch.

  I close in on her. “Do you regret it?”

  She presses her lips together. “Of course not,” she mutters. “I’ll never regret any of it, Vinnie.”

  I want to tell her that I won’t either. Because in most ways I won’t, except for one.

  I just hope this little tryst didn’t put her in any further danger.

  I grab her by the shoulders and lean in, my voice lowered. “I need you to listen to me, Raven. Listen good. There’s a man at the gala tonight. A man who wants you dead.”

  She gasps, darting her gaze around the room. “My father is here. Jared is here. My three brothers are here. Do you really think anyone will get near me? He’d have to go through all of them.”

  “Those people can’t protect you if they don’t know who the threat is.”

  “Then tell me who it is,” she says.

  “I wish I could.” I frown. “The truth of the matter is that I don’t know for sure. I only know that a very bad man who I met in Colombia made a huge donation to your charity and a subsequent smaller payment to someone who I think might try to hurt you.”

  She widens her eyes. “How much was the donation? I’ve been taking checks all night.”

  “He didn’t make the donation tonight. He made it the day I left for Colombia. Fifty million.”

  She slaps her hand over her mouth. “Oh, my God.”

  I narrow my eyes at her. “So you’re aware.”

  “That fifty million was sent to my attorney, Emily,” she says. “It was made anonymously, but then I got a call a week or so later from someone claiming to be the person who sent it. But I had no idea he might be in Colombia, or that he would have anything to do with you. He didn’t have an accent or anything.” She eyes me uneasily. “What was his name? The man who made the donation?”

  “Daniela’s father. Jacinto Agudelo.”

  She lets out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank God. The call was from a Mr. Smith.”

  I grit my teeth. “A Mr. J. Smith?”

  She bites her lip. “Jack Smith, yes.”

  “And he’s here tonight?”

  “He requested an invite. I couldn’t turn down the guy who made a fifty-million-dollar donation, Vinnie.”

  I rub at my forehead. “And you just…believed him when he said he made the donation?”

  “He knew about the donation. He knew it had been made directly to my attorney.” She crosses her arms. “I’m not a dumbass, Vinnie.”

  “Has he checked in?” I ask.

  “I have no idea. I haven’t met him yet.” She pulls out her phone and pulls up a file. “But I have the seating chart. I can tell you where he had dinner. I’ll send it to you.” She scrolls through her phone a second more. “Is he the one who’s been sending me texts?”

  I raise my eyebrows. “You’ve been getting texts?”

  “Yes. On my regular phone. I got a threatening text. But on that burner phone—the one the fake Uber driver gave me—I’ve been getting texts warning me. Warning me that I’m in danger.”

  Damn. Austin Bellamy. He’s the one who was behind the Uber driver hijacking Raven. But Raven doesn’t know that.

  Which means… Raven’s own father knows she’s in danger. He’s trying to warn her.

  But of course he can’t let on how much he knows. Then she—and the rest of her family—will know of his involvement. Or at least suspect it.

  I still have a lot of questions about Austin Bellamy. About his involvement with Diego Vega. About why Falcon went to prison. About who is buried underneath that old barn on their property. About his involvement with the cartels and “Operation Falcon.”

  “Do you know who’s been sending the threatening texts, Vinnie? Because if you do, you have to tell me.”

  It could be anyone. It could be Smith. Or Vega himself. It could be Agudelo. It could be McAllister. Hell, it could be Mario.

  After tomorrow, though, Mario will be in my debt.

  I have what he wants more than anything. And the cost will be his empire.

  23

  RAVEN

  If Vinnie knows, he’s not responding.

  “That’s what I thought,” I say. “I’ve got to get back to the gala.”

  I whisk past him this time, unlock the door to the conference room, and open the door.

  Jared is waiting on the other side.

  “Raven…”

  I hold up a hand. “Please, you’re not my father, Jared. You’re my bodyguard. I don’t need a good talking to right now. I don’t need for you to tell me what a big mistake it was for me to go in there with Vinnie. What I do need is for you to escort me to the ladies’ room.”

  “Of course,” he says.

  I don’t know what to think about this situation with Mr. Smith, but I do know that I have a job to do tonight. Vinnie can figure out who Smith is and take him aside if necessary. Right now, I have to doll myself back up and keep playing hostess. Vinnie is here, Jared is here, and multiple generations of burly Bellamy men are here to protect me.

  I get to the restroom door. “Keep guard here at the door and don’t let anyone else in until I leave,” I tell Jared. “I’ll just be a moment.”

  Once I’m in the restroom, I smooth out my dress once more, check my face. My makeup looks good, though my lips are swollen and puffy from Vinnie’s kisses, and my lipstick is nonexistent.

  Still, my lips have a nice pink tone, so they’ll do. I apply a little setting powder to keep my makeup from smudging, and I riffle through my clutch to find my lipstick.

  I return to the ballroom, where the DJ has begun his set. Couples are on the dance floor, dancing to the hits of the seventies and eighties. The majority of my most likely donors are of that generation, so I curated the playlist specifically to get them in a good mood.

  I head back to the table when Hawk waylays me. “Where the hell have you been?”

  I blink a few times. “Just taking a break. Jared was with me the whole time.”

  Hawk gives Jared a stink eye. “Where has she been?”

  “My brother seems to think he’s my keeper,” I say to Jared. “You don’t need to answer that.”

  “She’s fine,” Jared says. “I take my position seriously.”

  Hawk simply nods.

  I decide to change the subject.

  “I’d say the gala is a success,” I say nonchalantly.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I see Vinnie. He’s gathering his wife—God, his wife—and leaving.

  Good. It’s better that I don’t see him.

  “Who is that woman?” Hawk asks.

  I roll my eyes. “Vinnie has apparently taken a new bride.”

  Hawk drops his jaw. “He’s married to her?”

  “Yes, he is,” I snap. “And I would absolutely love it if we didn’t discuss the matter further, Hawk.”

  I don’t let him get a response in before I move away. I make small talk with a few more guests, and then I see Vinnie again, this time entering the ballroom without his new bride.

  Where did she go?

  Not my business, I suppose.

  I work the room a bit, shaking hands and thanking people for their donations.

  A moment later, the DJ takes a break and Emily mans the microphone.

  “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for being here again. This is just a quick reminder that our silent auction will close in ten minutes, so get those last-minute bids in. Every dollar of each highest bid will go toward the Raven’s Wings Foundation. With your help, we will continue our work of helping families dealing with blood cancers and helping research facilities find new ways to treat and cure them.”

  People head to the tables to make their bids, while I approach the bar to get something to drink. My mouth and throat are dry.

  “Orange Crush, please,” I say.

  The bartender nods. “Of course, Ms. Bellamy. Coming right up.”

  He hands me my drink, and I take a sip of the sparkling orange soda, moving out of the way for the others in line. I sigh. Still tastes like sunshine.

  Emily takes the mic once again after the bell rings to signal the end of the silent auction.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, that bell signifies the end of our silent auction for this evening. We’ll be announcing the winners one at a time. So let’s get moving.” She smiles. “First of all, the winner of our big-ticket item for the evening, the Caribbean cruise for two, is Brandon Brown.”

  I watch as the winner is congratulated by the people around him.

  “Our cashiers are set up at the back of the room, so please make payment for your item before you leave tonight, and congratulations!”

  She goes through the rest of the big-ticket items, including season tickets to the Texas Longhorns, a year’s supply of prime beef from my father’s ranch, a year’s supply of fine wine from Steel Vinyards in Colorado, three nights in Las Vegas, and a motor scooter.

  Then the smaller ticket items.

  I simply stand and sip my Orange Crush while Jared watches me.

  I’m thrilled at all the huge high bids we got. We’ve made a ton of money for⁠—

  “Raven Bellamy, congratulations!”

  I jerk as Emily calls my name.

  I didn’t bid on anything.

  “Congratulations, Raven,” someone says to me, walking by.

  “Yeah. Thank you.”

  We decided earlier not to prohibit our board members from bidding. If they wanted to bid and give extra to the organization, we were happy to have their support.

  But I didn’t bid on anything.

  Someone must’ve bid in my name.

  I walk through the crowd to find Robin, who is equipped with an iPad that shows all the bidders and winners.

  “Robbie,” I say. “I didn’t bid on anything.”

  “Strange. It says here that you did. In fact, you’re the only bid.”

  “That’s so strange. I didn’t even sign up to bid.”

  “It says right here, Ray. You won the gold pendant.” She walks to the table and holds up a black velvet box. “Here it is.”

  The gold pendant? I don’t remember that being on our list of items for the silent auction. Then again, I was organizing this whole event remotely. It could have easily slipped my mind.

  But who could have bought this for me? Dad, probably. He’s really proud of how all of this turned out.

  I take the box from her and open it. I gasp. “It’s gorgeous!” It’s a pendant in the shape of a bird covered in black crystals with a small sapphire for its eye. It’s large, about two inches in diameter, and suspended from a link chain. I turn the pendant over⁠—

  And I gulp, nearly losing my footing.

  It’s engraved on the back.

  Even the raven can’t fly forever. Sooner or later, it comes home to die.

  24

  VINNIE

  He’s here.

  I feel his presence.

  I just have to ferret him out.

  Someone is here for Raven. Is her life in danger? I doubt it. But her freedom is.

  If she’s dead, she can’t be used as a chip to bargain with. And someone here wants to bargain with me.

  Or with Mario.

  Perhaps even with McAllister.

  And that person is here.

  Evil is something that can be smelled. When you’ve been around it your whole life, you learn to recognize it, even if it’s not physically present. It slinks like a shadow, weaving in and out of consciousness. You can smell its foul odor, like something rotting beneath the floorboards of an abandoned house.

  I move through the crowd, scanning faces, studying body language, listening to whispered conversations. I catch a whiff of that stench. The scent isn’t strong enough to pinpoint the source, but I know he’s close.

  Luckily, I have Raven’s seating chart. I make my way to the table where Jack Smith is assigned. There are three middle-aged women dressed lavishly sitting at the table, but that’s it.

  “Pardon me, ladies,” I say. “Was there a gentleman seated with you this evening? A Mr. Smith? I’ve found one half of a pair of monogrammed cufflinks that I believe belong to him, but I don’t know what he looks like.”

  The lady in the center, wearing a mink stole over a light-green gown, shoots me a smile. “Goodness, we certainly are getting our fill of handsome gentlemen tonight, aren’t we girls?”

  The other two ladies giggle.

  “You’re very kind,” I say, “but I am serious about the cufflinks. They look very expensive. I’m sure Mr. Smith would hate to be missing one of them.”

  The woman on the right, wearing purple and a diamond necklace, runs her hand through her platinum blond hair. “Are you talking about Jackie?”

  I press my lips together. “Jack Smith? Possibly.”

  “Yes, he was here,” the woman on the left—this one in crimson and wearing an enormous star-shaped sapphire brooch—responds. “Gladys, Henrietta, and I were so happy to have him at our table. Very handsome, very tall, very charming.”

  The woman in green—Gladys, possibly—takes a sip of champagne. “Prudence here might have just found her fourth husband.”

 

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