Page 21 of Rake

Fear coats the back of my throat. What will this man do to my baby brother? I have to believe he won’t hurt him at this point. I can’t give up Jamilah. How has this gotten so out of hand?

“No?” He pulls on a gorgeous charcoal-colored pea coat. It’s perfectly tailored to his body. “Think about it, love.”

He strokes my hair, and then writes a number down on a piece of paper. “Text me if you change your mind. I’ll tell your brother you said hi. I’d lock the door behind me. You’re a pretty girl, and P.J. seemed more than a little interested.”

“Finn, please. Don’t…” My voice is a whisper.

“You’re the one making this hard on yourself,” he says, tipping up my chin. “When P.J. said I had to take care of this problem, what do you think he meant?”

Hot tears fill my eyes and my hands shake. I know damn well what he meant.

He runs a thumb under my eye, wiping the tears away.

“Just one name, Sasha. And all of this will go away.”

“What do you have to lose by standing up to your father?” I stammer. “Why are you really keeping me here?”

He smiles softly at me, stroking my cheek with his knuckle. “I’m keeping you here so my father knows we’re working together. Otherwise he’ll have you or your family killed, and that’d be a shame. As for me? My father and I don’t exactly see eye to eye on a lot of things, but when it comes down to it, he’d dispose of me too if it suits him. Better that it doesn’t.”

I look at the scar on his eyebrow and suck in a deep breath. How am I going to get out of this?

“You won’t hurt my brother?” I whimper.

“No. I won’t. I just want to let him know not to expect you. It’d be better if you don’t contact him right now. It’s safer this way, Sasha. Can’t you see that? It’s not just your life hanging in the balance here.”

How should I even respond to that? He’s right, but it’s not like he’s helpless in this situation. Maybe I’m not entirely either, but I have far less power and resources.

I’ll stay for now, though. Let Carney think I’m negotiating with his son. Let him underestimate me again.

I nod, wiping at my eyes.

Finn squeezes my shoulder.

“I meant what I said about locking the door.”

He leaves. I want to warn my brother, but I’m afraid if I do, he’ll do something foolish. Benjamin was horrified at what happened to me, and that he couldn’t protect me. But he’s just a kid. There’s nothing he could have done – but he’s still too young to realize that.

But I’ll dowhatever it takes to protect him, Jamilah, and all the people at Trinity who are relying on me.

I can’t letJames Carney win this time. I won’t survive it.

6

Finn

My father won’t be happy about the petition, but at least I’ll be able to warn him. That’ll show I’m making progress. It’s not ideal, but it could be worse.

It’d been too easy to suss out Sasha’s weaknesses, and I’d be sure to keep putting pressure on them. The fear of not knowing what’s happening to her precious brother might drive her to give up her contact eventually. I haven’t asked her to name everyone involved.

Like I said, every job has its own code of conduct, and that’d push Sasha’s too far. But one person? Surely she’d sacrifice one person to save her baby brother.

It’s easy enough to find her address. She lives off Broadway Street in Everett. The plan is strategic: I decide to go there first to give her more time to think before I see my father —not that I expect her to flip so soon. Not someone of her particular ethics.

The streets have been plowed, so the main streets are down to the asphalt. The side streets still have an inch or so of compressed icy sludge, though, so I can’t drive as fast as I like to.

The sun is out, reflecting off the fresh snow, making the city look cleaner than usual. I pull on a pair of sunglasses to help with the glare as I turn onto Sasha’s street. The houses are mostly two-family with shared driveways, stacked right on top of each other.

They’re in various states of disrepair, and I imagine knocking them down to put up tasteful condos. My Range Rover rolls to a stop in front of number 874.

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