But if anything, my anger is only growing. They threw me under the bus without even considering how their actions would make me feel. All on the assumption that I’d just simper and forgive them?
They can all fuck off.
43
TRISTAN
Jax is last to slip through the door, an overconfident smile on his lips as he pushes it shut. “I think we’re making progress here.”
“That’s what you think,” says Gray heavily. “Have you even seen Sienna this afternoon?”
He’s slumped in an armchair, nursing a glass of amber liquor and looking like someone trampled his grandma. Sitting up, I give him my full attention. “Tell me.”
“We fucked up.” He gestures between him and Logan. “Sienna saw us. Together.”
Jax whistles, and I fight the urge to sink my head into my hands. “What the hell, Gray?”
“I’m sorry!” He raises his hands defensively. “We got carried away. She just walked in.”
“And what?” I swing my gaze to Logan. “What happened?”
He visibly swallows, looking away. Twin spots of color flare high on his cheeks. “We told her Alicia blackmailed us with photos.”
“You fuckingwhat?” I bellow, loud enough that they both shrink back from me as I jump to my feet, my hands slamming down against my desk. “Have you completely fucking lost it?”
“We had no choice,” Gray interjects. “We had to tell her something, Tristan. Maybe it’s not the full truth, but it’s part of it, at least.”
“She deserves the whole truth.” Jax folds his arms. “I don’t see why we can’t tell her.”
I sink back into my seat. There’s so much to unpack here, I don’t know where to start. It’s clear that the threads I’ve been desperately trying to wrangle are unraveling before my eyes, and at the center of it is my Soul Bonded.
Resting my elbows on the desk, I press hard on my temples, trying to work away the ache that’s coming through. “Because there’s more, Jax. Shit that you don’t even know yet. Jesus.”
They all start talking at the same time, not shutting up even when I hold up my hand. The growl that rattles my chest does the job, though. Despite our informality as a pack, not one of them has the dominance I do, not even Jax. And I’m going to need every piece of it to get us all through this.
“Enough.” My hand swipes through the air, and they all settle down. “I haven’t had a chance to tell you what I found yesterday. At Erikksons.”
“Wait.” Jax steps forward. “You went to Erikksons? Yesterday?”
“It’s why I was late to the hospital.” I pull out my phone and swipe through to find the photos I took of Erikkson’s messages across the wall, tossing it to Jax.
He clenches his jaw as he reads through. “What the actual fuck.” His growl makes Gray and Logan straighten and pay attention, both of them leaning in to read together before dual curses explode from them.
“I’m going to kill him,” Gray says grimly. “Now.”
Logan grabs his arm as he moves towards the door. “Don’t be stupid—,”
“Don’t bestupid?” he rumbles, swinging back around. “Did you see what I saw? He’s going to sell our fucking Soul Bonded to traffickers, Logan. Fucking sex traffickers. And you just want to sit there?”
Logan growls back at him. “I’m just as angry as you are. But we can’t just rush into something, Gray!”
“I disagree,” Jax says, walking forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with Gray. “He needs to be taken down now. We’ve got the evidence. What the fuck are we waiting for?”
I stay in my seat, resisting the push to square up to them. “Sit down.”
Gray drops into a seat first. Jax wavers on his feet, his fists clenching before he turns and throws himself down. “Go on then,pack leader. Enlighten us.”
My jaw tightens, but I ignore his jab. “We have Alicia’s recording and the photos of Erikkson’s messages. They have the information about my father, and about Gray and Logan. If we try to reveal it now, Erikkson could weasel his way out of it in private. He has allies on the Council. Him and Justice Milo are cut from the same cloth. Milo will try and get him off.”
