Grayson nods, already checking his phone as he heads back toward the elevator. The door slides shut behind him, leaving Aurora and me alone in the sudden silence.
Aurora crosses to the window, wrapping her arms around herself. “What if we don’t get another lead, Hunter? What if this was our one chance?”
I approach her carefully, seeing the tremors starting again in her shoulders. “Jax won’t disappear completely. He’s too arrogant for that.”
“You don’t understand,” she whispers, her voice cracking. She turns to me, tears forming in her eyes. “When we were there... Jax had this—this interest in Liv.”
My entire body goes rigid. “What do you mean?”
“Sexual interest.” The words fall from her lips like stones. “He would come to our cell, drug me so I couldn’t move but could still see, and then—” Her voice breaks. “Then he’d touch her. Make her?—”
She can’t finish the sentence. She doesn’t need to. The implication alone makes my blood turn to ice.
“He was obsessed with her. The way he looked at her...” Aurora’s composure finally cracks, her body folding in on itself as sobs wrack her frame. “It was sick. And he still has her.”
I pull her against me, cradling her head to my chest while fury burns through every cell in my body. “We’ll get her back,” I promise, though I know the reality is far more complicated.
If Jax wants Olivia that way—if he’s fixated on her—separating them will be exponentially more difficult. Jax doesn’t relinquish what he considers his. Not willingly. Not ever.
And Ari—fucking hell. If he loves Olivia as much as I suspect he does, as much as I’ve seen in his desperate search for her these past weeks, he’ll fight to protect her from Jax’s advances. Which puts him in immediate, lethal danger.
Jax won’t tolerate competition. Especially not from someone he’ll view as a traitor.
I hold Aurora against my chest, her body shaking with sobs as the full horror of what she’s revealed sinks in.
The thought of Ari walking into that situation blindly makes my stomach turn. He’s skilled, strategic, one of the best—but he didn’t know what he was walking into. His judgment would be compromised by his feelings for Olivia. Against a psychopath like Jax, that’s deadly.
Without letting go of Aurora, I pull my phone from my pocket and text Grayson:
New intel. Jax has a sexual fixation on Olivia. Was assaulting her while they were captive. Aurora witnessed. Changes threat assessment. Ari is likely to provoke an immediate hostile response if he tries to protect her.
I add after a moment’s thought:
And Grayson—make sure the team knows. No holding back when we find them. Jax doesn’t walk away from this.
I set the phone down and pull Aurora closer, resting my chin on top of her head. Her tears soak through my shirt as her fingers grip the fabric like she’s afraid I’ll disappear too.
“Listen to me,” I murmur against her hair. “We’re going to get them back. Both of them.”
Her breathing hitches. “You don’t know that.”
“I do.” My voice hardens with certainty. “And Jax is going to pay for everything he’s done. To your father. To you. To Olivia.”
I feel her nod weakly against my chest.
“I will burn the world down to find them,” I promise. “And when I do, Jax won’t survive what comes next.”
23
AURORA
My fingers hover over my phone, a knot forming in my throat as I stare at the screen. Five days back in the city, and I’ve avoided this call long enough. I press the group chat icon for my friends.
Instantly, messages flood in.
Daisy: AURORA! Oh my god, where have you been?
Grace: We’ve been worried sick about you and Liv!
