Page 78 of Pretty Threats

Raine is living in the Central women’s dorm. Room 414.

It has taken me seventeen hours to find her, which is the longest period of time I’ve ever had to search. I’m impressed with how fast she moved out of Meredith. She’s smart enough to know if she’d stayed, I’d have pulled her out her window as soon as it was dark enough for me to do it.

Back at the Crue house, I crawl into bed just after dawn. Now that I know where she is, I’ll crash. When I wake up, I’ll stake out her new dorm and catch her coming or going. I won’t try to take her at first. What I’ll do initially is talk. Sometimes, Raine’s susceptible to conversation, so it’s worth a shot.

If she won’t listen, well, there’s always the fallback plan.

As I fall asleep, I enter the best dream I’ve had in a while.

In it, I watch myself kidnap her.

RAINE

When I wake in the morning I’m able to see things more clearly. Yesterday, Killian’s lies were all I could think about. Today, I face the fact that I didn’t just leave Killian. I left the house where some random Mafia bosses said I’d better stay. If they find out, will they send someone to kill me?

For several minutes, I lie huddled in my bed. Finally, my fear morphs into anger. What am I supposed to do? Live with him for the rest of my life? Pretending to submit to their will? I just can’t live like that. I don’t even know them.

Another thought occurs to me. I never saw these phantom bosses or heard what they said. And Killian didn’t say they’d hurt me if I left, only that they wanted me to stay with him. Maybe it wasn’t their directive at all. Maybe that was part of his plan to get me under his control. And doesn’t that make more sense? Why would organized crime lords want me to live in a house with the guys who work for them? That would put them at risk of my discovering more incriminating evidence.

I won’t do anything to provoke his partners or bosses. No confiding details to anyone, not even Liam. But I am going to get on with my life. Because if I don’t, I’ll lose my mind.

A couple of hours later, I’m on my way to Boston with Marianne and my dad. I even manage to smile at their banter.

Leaving GU is a relief, and hanging out with them distracts me from my Killian problem. He hasn’t texted in a while, but nothing with Killian is ever easy, especially right after a fight. He’ll push to test my resolve. I have to be ready for that. I have to be strong. My resistance has to seem bulletproof. Any weakness will be seen as an opening.

During the drive, we have a long discussion about Owen Malenus’s films to date. Marianne wants to know how I like working with him. I skirt around the topic, explaining all the things I’m learning.

My dad says he got a notification about an increase in tuition because I’ve moved into a more expensive dorm and wants to know why I moved. I say it’s more conveniently located and that we want to gather some footage from that dorm since one of the movie’s main characters lives there. He accepts my explanation. At least outwardly.

We stop for dinner and don’t get back to the house until almost ten at night. I’m mentally exhausted, so I go directly to bed.

In the morning, I shower and dress the part of a confident up-and-coming indie filmmaker. My print jersey dress in French navy is covered in tulip buds and I pair it with camel-colored boots that match the designer wool coat that was a Christmas present last year from my stepbrothers—sans Killian, I’m sure. The coat is comfortable and lovely, and the weather’s just turned cool enough for me to wear it. Focusing on my outfit is a good distraction from my emotions, but it’s not the only reason I’m doing it. My fit check is good. I don’t look like a hoodie-wearing high school kid in this. I hope it’ll encourage Liam to take me and what I have to say about his brother seriously.

I drive my dad’s car to Liam’s Quincy mansion. When I ring the bell, his pretty wife Olivia answers. She’s only a couple years older than Killian and me, and she’s pregnant for the second time and newly married to Liam. They seem to have a picture-perfect life.

“Raine, hi, come in,” she says, mashing all her words together as she clasps me in a hug. “We just finished breakfast, but there’s plenty left over. Liam made corned beef hash with fried eggs. It’s really good.”

“Maybe just a coffee?”

“Of course.” She has a beautiful smile and features that have softened as the pregnancy gets farther along.

Liv’s radiance eases my anxiety over coming to see Liam. When we enter the kitchen, my eldest stepbrother is sitting in a chair with their toddler standing on his thigh, listening as his son babbles. Currently, the entire family is blond, and I wonder if the new baby will be, too.

When he sees me, Liam puts the little boy back into his highchair and sets a wedge of mango in front of him. Brady immediately starts to chew on it, causing fruit juice to squelch out and run over his little hands. He’s adorable.

Like Killian and all the Callahan men, Liam’s very tall, very muscular, and very handsome. Liam’s light blond hair and light blue eyes, however, make him look as though the Irish Callahan ancestors intermarried with Scandinavian Vikings.

Liv makes me a latte with heart-shaped foam and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar on top. It’s like waking up in a Hallmark Christmas movie. Unless of course, you take into account that the giant house with its stunning ocean views was built from blood money.

Liam waves for me to come with him. Along the way, he stops to hang my coat in the main closet across from the door. I glance at the foyer where a woman died two years ago. Yeah, definitely not Hallmark.

Liam is silent as he leads me to the stairs.

I follow him up to his study and sit when he gestures to a leather chair near the window. Holding my warm coffee mug between my freezing hands, I wait for him to close the door and sit down.

I swallow, take a sip of coffee and swallow again. Liam lowers himself into his desk chair and leans forward, resting his muscled forearms on his thighs. Then, he waits, and a lump the size of Brady’s mango forms in my throat.

“So what I wanted to talk about… it’s about Killian. Is that okay?”

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