Chapter 4 - The Woman Inside His House
June refused to leave Calder House.
Rafe refused to let her.
The standoff lasted two days.
Then June called me.
“Emma?”
“What happened?”
“My brother is driving me insane.”
“That sounds medically untreatable.”
“I need help.”
“With what?”
“Making him behave like a human.”
“June—”
“Please.”
I should have refused.
Instead, after my shift, I drove to Calder House.
Rafe opened the door.
He stared at me.
“You.”
“Me.”
“June called you.”
“Yes.”
He closed his eyes briefly.
“Traitor.”
From upstairs, June shouted, “I heard that!”
Rafe stepped aside.
I entered.
The investigation had intensified.
Rafe’s men had discovered someone inside the hotel had provided June’s schedule.
But no one knew why.
At midnight, Malcolm came into the library carrying a laptop.
“We found something.”
June entered behind him.
Rafe immediately frowned.
“You should be upstairs.”
She folded her arms.
“Finish that sentence and Emma gets permission to sedate you.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“I do?”
“No,” Rafe said.
Malcolm opened the laptop.
“The hotel employee received three payments from a shell company.”
“Owner?”
“Victor Dane.”
June froze.
Rafe’s expression hardened.
I knew that name.
Everyone in Boston did.
Dane Holdings.
Real estate. Shipping. Politics.
And whispered connections to organized crime rivaling Rafe’s.
June shook her head.
“That makes no sense.”
Rafe stared at her.
“You know him.”
“No.”
“June.”
She looked away.
“I met his son.”
“When?”
“Last year.”
Rafe’s voice dropped.
“How many times?”
“Enough.”
“Define enough.”
“I dated him.”
Silence.
Rafe stood.
“You what?”
June stepped backward.
“I knew you'd react like this.”
“You dated Adrian Dane?”
“For four months.”
“And never told me?”
“Because you interrogate every man who asks for my phone number!”
“For good reason!”
“See?”
I stepped between them.
“Both of you stop.”
Rafe stared at me.
“This is family.”
“Exactly. So act like family instead of opposing attorneys.”
June sat down.
“I ended it months ago.”
“Why?” Rafe asked.
“He wanted information.”
Rafe went still.
“What information?”
“Your businesses. Meetings. People you worked with.”
“And you didn't tell me?”
“I was ashamed.”
Rafe’s anger vanished.
“June.”
“I thought he liked me.”
Rafe sat beside her.
His enormous tattooed hand covered hers.
“He was supposed to like you.”
June’s eyes filled.
“He didn't.”
“That's his failure.”
I watched something shift between them.
Then Malcolm’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“What?”
Rafe stood.
Malcolm lowered the phone.
“Victor Dane wants a meeting.”
“Where?”
“Neutral ground.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
“No,” June said.
Rafe looked at her.
“He came after you.”
“Then don't give him what he wants.”
“What he wants is fear.”
June shook her head.
“No. What he wants is you angry.”
I stepped closer.
“She’s right.”
Rafe looked at me.
“You’re a nurse.”
“And you’re still recovering.”
“This isn't your world.”
“No.”
I held his gaze.
“But angry men are.”
That earned a long silence.
Finally, Rafe sat back down.
“Fine.”
June blinked.
“Fine?”
“We don't go tomorrow.”
Malcolm stared at him.
“We don't?”
“No.”
Rafe looked toward me.
“We make him wait.”
I smiled.
“Look at that. Progress.”
His mouth curved.
“Careful, nurse.”
“Or what?”
His eyes warmed.
May you like
“You might start thinking I listen to you.”
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