Page 39 of Broken Promises

“I was always coming back.”

“Bullshit.”

I stepped around Ander, swatting his hand away when he tried to grab me and put me behind him again.

“Fuck off, Lavaro. Beckett’s not going to shoot me. You’re the one she’s mad at.”

“She’s acting crazy and waving a gun around.”

“Nothing new there,” I huffed, glancing at Beckett. “He was coming back. Did you know your sister was hiding his car?”

Her eyes narrowed as she lowered the gun, her attention on me. “Riley was involved?”

“She didn’t know anything, apparently, but she was holding it in some warehouse in Pine Valley until he came back for it. She knew when he left,” I shrugged, only making her angrier as she moved closer so she could put the gun right in Ander’s face again.

“You got my sister involved in your bullshit?”

I wasn’t too worried, figuring Beckett would just throw her weight around for dominance, but then Ander pulled a gun out of nowhere and aimed it at her, the standoff escalating.

“I said, get that out of my face,” he said coldly, making me wince.

“Uh, guys? Can you not shoot each other?” I asked slowly, but neither made a move to back down.

“What the fuck is going on out here?” Diesel barked as he started jogging down the front steps, his eyes sliding to me. “You okay, Raven?”

“I’m fine. Ander’s just dropping me off, he’s not staying,” I answered, hesitating before reaching out to carefully grab Ander’s arm. “Put it away.”

“If you think?—”

“Ander. Now,” I warned, a little surprised when he actually listened and lowered the gun, sliding it into the back of his pants and taking a step back. “Thank you.”

Beckett smirked, not lowering hers. “What a good boy.”

“Don’t antagonize him,” I sighed, tugging on Ander’s arm again. “Can you just go? I’m here to work, and I don’t need you fucking that up for me.”

“Let me know when you’re done. I’ll come back when you’re ready,” he said without taking his eyes off Beckett.

“You need to stay away from her. You’ve done enough,” Beckett spat, a chuckle leaving him.

“That’ll be a little hard. Raven moved in with me.”

“Temporarily,” I said quickly, needing him to leave.

“Hold up,” Diesel ordered, crossing his arms. “Raven’s staying with you?”

“Of course she is. I dropped her home, and one of her dad’s friends was trying to break into her bedroom to fucking assault her. She’s not staying there,” Ander said sharply. “I’ll make them disappear, and then she can have her house back.”

Diesel assessed me silently for a second before sighing. “Raven, you head inside with Beck. I’m going to talk to Lavaro.”

“He’ll tell you anything about the mafia stuff without you threatening him,” I answered, not sure why I gave a shit, but I didn’t want Ander getting riddled with bullets.

“I’ll question him about that later. Right now, I want to know what the fuck his intentions are with you. So yes, I do have to threaten him,” he grumbled, confusion washing over me.

I frowned, unsure what to say, but Ander gave me a wink. “Go on. I’ll be fine. Have a good day, Bluebird.”

Diesel gave me a nod of encouragement, and I headed towards the house with Beckett, glancing back to see Ander still watching me as Diesel talked to him.

“Stop thinking with your pussy. It’s going to get you killed,” Beckett grumbled as she opened the door and let me inside, closing it behind us.

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