Page 34 of Forged in Rain

With an impatient look, he says, “Prison.”

“Oh,” I say, flushing. How am I supposed to know what that means? “What did he say?”

“My mom left years ago, and Veah is my half-sister. If I don’t work for Hate, she’ll be sent away.”

“He can do that?” I gasp, covering my mouth in horror.

“Of course. These are made men, Rain. They can do whatever the fuck they want,” he says, looking at me steadily.

Sensing a message hidden behind his statement, I nod sadly and turn to go, hunching my shoulders when he calls out after me, “The room.”

Without looking back, I walk inside, my head pounding with a new kind of headache.

What was Cyn trying to say?

∞∞∞

Iris and Pam are sitting in the living room when I enter, and cautiously I glance between them because the last time we were all together, Pam accused Iris of having an affair with John.

Iris lifts her lips in an approximation of a smile, and Pam says, “Hey hon, can you give us a minute?”

“Oh, um, sure.” With a lame smile, I head up the stairs and pause at the landing.

Cyn wants me to check Iris’ room, but I still need to know if there were pictures, and Pam hasn’t left that room in days. Iris may have supposedly looked, but I don’t trust her, so I’m going to have to do it myself.

Still, I don’t know how long they’ll be, and I’m sure they’re not sitting out in the open. Tiptoeing down the hall with a nervous glance back, I push Pam’s door open and peer inside.

The last time I was in here was when we confirmed John was truly gone. Nothing much has changed except the bed covers are rumpled and cast aside.

Stepping up quietly to the first nightstand, I open it slowly and look around. Other than a few notepads and pens, I find nothing.

The second drawer reveals sex toys, and with a squeak, I push it closed quickly, cocking my ear for any sound. When all is still silent, I suck in a breath before pulling it open again. The thought of John using these makes my stomach roll, but I have no choice, and delicately I push the stuff aside.

More papers, batteries, ugh. I go to close the drawer and pause when I spy a little black book.

“Okay, goodnight.”

Whipping my head around at Iris’ voice at the top of the stairs, I grab the book and shut the drawer quietly before rushing to the door.

I manage to press against the wall inside just in time as she passes.

My heart is pounding so ferociously, I can feel it in my head as I wait for Pam to catch me in her room, but when she doesn’t emerge, I poke my head out and cross the hall.

Once inside my room, I giggle, but it’s definitely hysterical as I slide down the door and clutch the little black book in my hand.

Chapter Five

The next morning, I greet the guys with a scowl, looking between them icily. I spent the evening looking through that damn book, and the information inside was more than I bargained for.

Apparently, John kept all his numbers in that damn book, because I found not only his damn medical contacts, emergency numbers, and past liaisons all listed with letters next to them presumably in order of how he graded them, but I also found a series of phone numbers I tried to look up via the internet.

When that didn’t pan out, I searched the internet on how to block my number and called a few of them. None other than Cyn answered in his familiar stern tone, and when I thought maybe I might be wrong, his sister called out in the background, her stutter hard to miss.

Now I’m floored and wondering if this isn’t all a game, but if so, what’s the goal?

Where the fuck is John, and why does he have Cyn’s number? A number that is most definitely not the one Cyn gave me.

All of this reeks of misdeeds, and once again, I feel like a fucking pawn in a deadly game.

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