Steve jerks awake, blinking until I can tell my face finally comes into view. “What the fuck?”
“Hello, Steven,” I greet with a smile. “Glad you could join us.”
“What the hell is this?” He starts looking around, and I know when he spots Zane. He darts a nervous glance at me, then back to Zane. “Is this person who you are now?” Steve asks him.
“This is the person I’ve always been,” Zane answers, casually walking to stand by my side. “It just took some timeto find my way back.” Zane comes to a stop in front of Steve, leveling him with a glare. “We have some questions.”
“And you need to do this?” Steve asks, jerking the chains on his arms.
“Funny you should ask.” I hold my hand out, and Holden walks over to hand me the file he grabbed. Once Hartley told us who the mole was, Holden did his own digging. “We had a visitor today, and we got some interesting news.” I pull one of the emails out, holding it so he can see his email address. He thought he buried his trail enough. He was wrong. “We found outyouare the one working with Jay to set Zane up.”
“Which opened another question,” Zane continues, “if you were also involved in what Jay did to her?” Whenever Zane brings up our time there, he never mentions what Jay did to him. It’s always what he did to me. It’s like Zane blocked out the part where they tortured him.
“He’s setting me up too!” Steve argues. “I wouldn’t work for that freak.” Every time he talks, something flashes through me like I’ve heard that voice before he arrested Zane.
I pull out another email. “This is a full conversation between you and an unknown party detailing how you could set him up. These don’t lie.” I shake the folder.
“Where’s Jay?” Zane asks, stepping closer.
“I don’t know!”
“Where’s Jay?” Zane growls, getting in his face. Steve shakes his head. Zane punches him so hard in the ribs that the chains swing wildly. “Where is he?!”
“I don’t know,” Steve growls, and I feel like I’ve been punched in the chest. All the air is sucked from my lungs.
“Shut up,” the guy growls behind his mask, jerking me to my feet by my hair. He unhooks the chain from the metal cuffs on my wrists and feet. I figured he would shove me to the bed, but he pushes me to the door. I lose my footing on my weak legs and slam face-first onto the ground. He jerks me to my feet again by my chained arms, dragging me behind him.
“…essa!”
I force my eyes to focus on Zane’s concerned face. He’s on hisknees in front of me, all my guys around me in a protective circle. I don’t even know how I got to the floor.
“What is it, Beautiful?” Zane asks softly, rubbing the tears from my cheeks.
“He was there,” I gasp.
“Are you sure?” Zane asks, searching my face.
I nod. “I’m sure.”
Zane kisses my forehead, closing his eyes. I can feel his hands shaking against my cheeks, remembering exactly what I am.
“Are you okay,Il mio sole?” Ryder asks, crouching beside me, rubbing his hand over my back.
I shake my head miserably, tears splashing over Zane’s hands on my cheeks. I can feel my lungs starting to seize, black dots dancing in my vision.
“Listen to my voice, Beautiful.” I try to tune into Zane’s smooth voice. “You aren’t there. We have you.” I blink rapidly, trying to pull his face back into focus. My eyes lock with his. “There’s our girl. Just breathe.” I follow his commands, slowly dragging in breaths until I can pull in a full one. Zane’s sandalwood scent fills my nose, and my shoulders start to relax. Zane puts his forehead on mine again. “You don’t have to do this,” he whispers.
I look over at Steve, who is eerily quiet, and notice his head is hanging down. I look at Zane, and he shrugs with a chuckle. “He laughed when you collapsed. Holden knocked him out.”
A shocked laugh escapes when I look at Holden’s smiling face. He looks damn proud of himself. Something about that gives me the courage I need to see this through. “Help me up.”
Zane helps me to my feet, his hands still in mine. “We doing this?” Zane asks, wiping the remaining tears from my face.
I nod once. “Let’s do it.”
My guys peck my lips one by one, lending me their strength. When Gage steps up, he slides a capsule into my hand. “You got this, Pretty girl,” he says with a smile, pecking my lips and walking to the rest of the guys.
Zane and I turn as one, ready to end this.
