Chapter 23: A Visit From Rafe

I leave the zipper only half done and dart to the closet door. Rafe is here. What am I supposed to do? Tentatively, I open the door. Ashlyn is nowhere to be seen.

"Dante!" Rafe calls again. His voice sounds odd. "Dante, where the fuck are you? You fucking fuckwad."

He's drunk. Or at least crazed out of his mind.

I creep forward to the bedroom door. Now I hear footsteps moving toward the front of the house. They're too heavy to be Ashlyn's, so I suspect Dante has heard his brother's shouting.

Sure enough, a moment later my ears pick up Dante's voice, but he's speaking too quietly for me to hear what he's saying. I open the bedroom door and move to the top of the stairs. Due to the curve of the stairs, I'm out of sight where I'm standing.

"Why don't we talk about this in my office?" Dante says.

"How the fuck are you so fucking calm?" Rafe demands as their footsteps move toward the back of the house.

I know I should wait for Rafe to come looking for me, or for Dante to call for me,