He exhaled slowly.“They found Robin.”
The room spun.Chloe grabbed the edge of the desk, knuckles whitening.“Found her?”
“In the river,” he said gently.“Down by the Mississippi.She washed up this morning.”
Her ears rang.The hum of machines being unboxed outside felt suddenly obscene.Life was going on while something irrevocable had snapped.
“No,” she whispered.“No, she was just fine.You saw her.”
Kayne shook his head once.
She swallowed hard.“How?”
He hesitated.“Strangled.”
Something within her cracked clean through.
Her knees gave, and she sank into the chair behind her, breath coming shallow and fast.Robin’s face flashed in her mind, competent with a smile that said she had things handled even when chaos reigned.She had trusted Chloe and walked into this space believing it was safe.
“Oh, my God,” Chloe breathed.“This is my fault.She’s dead because of me.”
“No,” Kayne said instantly, fierce and certain.He crouched in front of her, hands bracketing her face.“Do not do that.This is not on you.”
“She only worked here because of me,” Chloe shot back, tears burning hot now.“She was here because ofme.”
Kayne’s gaze didn’t waver.“Don’t borrow trouble.We don’t know that she was targeted because of you.There could be things in her past we don’t know about.And even if she was, that’s on them, not you.”
Her breath hitched.She looked past him, through the glass, at the shining gym floor that moments ago had felt like salvation.
Now it felt like a trap.
Her voice broke completely.“This gym will be the death of me.”
Kayne stood and pulled her into him, holding her so tightly she could feel his heart pounding.His chin rested against her hair, his breath warm and steady.
“No, it won’t,” he said, low and absolute.“I swear to you.I will burn this place to the ground before I let that happen.”
She clutched his shirt, fingers digging in as the weight of it all finally crushed through her defenses.Chloe had been outrunning fear, grief, guilt, and terror since the first note.
Outside, the machines kept arriving.Inside, Chloe finally let herself cry.
