Grizz lets out a growl. “I’ll be happy to introduce him to unstable.”
I lift a hand to quiet him and keep the focus on Kira. “Keep going.”
“He might say I ran. That I stole something, or that I’m scared because I’m guilty.” She draws in a heavy breath. “He might even say I’m a threat to myself and the baby, and get caring people involved in finding me.”
“That’s depressingly plausible,” Viper says.
“It’s marketing,” she says. “He’s had a lot of practice crafting stories people want to believe. Politicians win votes by generating fear. If he can stir up some fear around my disappearance, peoplewill eat it up.”
I’m impressed by her insights, even as a knot of dread twists in my gut.
“He can use people’s sympathy to get help finding me, then bring me home like a hero,” Kira says.
“Like hell,” Grizz mutters.
He, Viper, and I exchange looks. It’ll never happen on our watch. If Vaughn somehow managed to take Kira home, he’d arrange for her to have an accident. No way he’s going to risk her talking.
Still, Kira makes excellent points. “You worked in marketing?”
“I was a brand strategist until I got pregnant, and Preston urged me to quit. Ever since I met him, I’ve been helping him with political branding. It makes me sick that I played a role in making him look like a saint when he was actually the devil.”
Grizz rubs her forearm, then gives a reassuring squeeze. “There’s no way you could have known.”
Rather than meet his eyes, Kira looks blankly down at the table. Her shoulders round in, a posture I haven’t seen since her first few days here, when she was afraid of everything, including us.
I’m grateful her physical injuries are mostly behind her now. Emotional wounds are something time can’t rush. I know about that better than most.
My arms ache to comfort her, but making physical contact is dangerous. Instead, I speak as gently as I can. “Kira, you couldn’t have known what he was doing.”
Still not looking at any of us, she shakes her head. “I should have realized …” She sounds ashamed, and the pain she’s feeling twists into me like a knife.
“Is there something you’re not telling us?” Viper asks.
Silence rings loud.
“Did he hurt you? Before that day?” I ask.
She swallows, and my eyes go to her neck, where the bruises have finally faded. “He grabbed me once,” she says. “He’d gotten some bad press over an infrastructure vote. He was angry, and I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He apologized right after, and I was stupid enough to let it pass.”
Grizz’s chair squeals as he slides back. Viper stays stock still. My hands are clenched at my sides, and the urge to put my fist through something is rising fast and hot. I force it down like I’ve forced down worse.
“You didn’t tell us.” Anger at a man I’ve never met makes this sound like an accusation, even though I don’t mean it to sound that way.
She’s disclosing one incident, but I’d bet money there were more. Each followed by emotional manipulation to make her think his actions were her fault.
Kira’s mouth tightens, and her shoulders straighten. “I didn’t want your pity.”
“You’ve got our protection,” Grizz says. “Not our pity.”
She takes a deep breath as something flickers behind her eyes, then she lets out a sigh. “I know. That’s why I’m trying to make sure I don’t get you, oranyone else, killed.”
I push back from the table and meet her gaze, forcing her to look at me.
“You won’t,” I tell her. “Because from here on out, that danger is ours to carry. You don’t need to worry about it.”
Her breath catches, and I realize I’ll burn everything to the ground before I let Vaughn or anyone else hurt her ever again.
CHAPTER 19
