I nodded to the door. “Let’s just get this over with.”
We walked inside the windowless room, ready to do what we never thought we would have to. Blake was sitting in a chair, body hunched over, hands over his head.
He looked up when I closed the door. The dark circles under his red eyes and the messy hair made him look like he’d had a rough couple of nights.
If he’d slept at all.
I took a seat opposite him, leaving Carter to stand next to the door. We’d done this many times before, just not with one of our own.
“Tell me you didn’t do it,” I said, taking in my friend.
He kept brushing his hands through his hair, looking everywhere but at me.
“I’m so sorry,” Blake whispered, and my heart crumbled. I didn’t want to believe he’d betray me, despite all the evidence. But his broken voice was all the confirmation I needed.
“Why?” I asked, my voice coming out raspy.
“They have Sofia. My baby. My world. They took her.”
A loud sob escaped him, and my heart broke in two.
I jumped up, slamming my hand on the desk. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me? We could have kept her safe,” I roared.
“They had bugs at my house, on my phone, in my car. They took Sofia in broad daylight. They knew every move I made. If I’d come to you, they’d have hurt my little girl. I couldn’t let that happen. She’s my everything. She’s all I have.”
His voice was unsteady, his head tilted down. He looked defeated. Devastated. Lost.
“You forgot an important detail. You had us. And we’re going to find Sofia. But after that, we’re done.” The words were hard to get out. “You’re no longer part of Locked Security. You don’t exist to us anymore.”
He nodded, never lifting his head.
I walked out, each step harder than the one that came before. I crashed into the stairwell, slumping against the closed door. My skin felt tight, and I found it hard to breathe.
With a roar, I turned and punched the wall over and over again. My knuckles were bloody before I stopped, dull pain roaring through my hand.Why didn’t he come to me?
I needed Freya. She was the only one who could make all the pain go away. And I needed the hurt to stop. I’d lost enough friends, but never one through betrayal. It was hard to accept.
I took the stairs two at a time, bursting through the door to my penthouse. I rushed into my bedroom, my breaths coming out in short bursts.
Freya was lying in the middle of the bed, stretched out like a starfish with the sheets halfway down her body, snoring loudly.
My heart slowed down and my breaths evened out at the sight of her. I stripped down to my boxers and slid into bed beside her, pulling her close, only satisfied once she was lying half on top of me.
She didn’t wake up and instead buried into my chest. The contact settled my rage to a simmer.
I didn’t find sleep that night, but I did find solace in the arms of the one person who had come to mean more to me than anything or anyone else in my life.
Chapter24
Freya
I wokeup with an aching body and a smile on my face. One that grew bigger when I remembered last night. I still felt Gunner everywhere. The ghost of his hands tracing the contours of my body, the whisper of his lips on mine. I shivered at the memories, cherishing them and locking them away for safekeeping.
Since I was on my side, I had a perfect view of a misty Chicago morning through the wall of windows in Gunner’s bedroom. They trailed along two sides, the other two taken up by a huge walk-in closet and a bathroom.
One I needed to visit since my bladder was screaming for me to move.
A look around the room confirmed I was by myself. Missing Gunner, I pushed myself up, the sheet pooling on my lap.
