“We will keep an eye out,” Ray says. “Can you do me a favor?”
“What’s up?” Rogers asks.
“She will never admit it, but finding out her biological dad might be alive, and Sutter mentioning me has made her afraid of me.Can you get her whatever information she needs to ease her mind a bit?”
“I sure will. You live a boring life, Ray. It won’t be hard to show,” Rogers says.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
“No,” Ray says, lifting my chin. “Do not apologize for looking out for yourself. I never want to see that fear in your eyes when you look at me again, so I will do whatever I need to make you feel safe.”
“I don’t ever want to hurt like that again,” I say quietly. “It wasn’t even the physical pain… it was feeling so goddamn helpless and out of control.”
We get off the call with Detective Rogers before Ray drives us to the restaurant. We are in public now, so I have more confidence as we walk into the building. Conrad and Ethan sit back in their chairs, and anger sweeps over them when they see me holding hands with Jovian and Elijah.
Jovian pulls my chair out before he and Elijah sit on either side of me. “Dating?” Conrad asks me.
“Yeah,” I say with a forced smile.
“Hmm,” Conrad says. “I never took you for the type, Arianna. All six? Makes sense why they seem to be protective over you.”
“They’re good guys,” Tate says.
“Doesn’t hurt to have them around either,” I say vaguely.
“Oh? Why is that?” Ethan asks.
“Well, I mean, whoever nearly killed me is still out there. I don’t know who they are or if they want anything from me,” I say.
“Any reason to think they are close?” Conrad asks. “You must be worried.”
“Nah. Not worried,” I say. “I have plenty of people in my corner now. It’s not like before, where it was just me alone in a city.”
“Even so. You seemed to struggle out on the ice. We were watching from the stands,” Conrad says.
I can tell he is trying to trick me into admitting something. His cocky attitude is annoying, so I bend a bit and give him what he wants. “Yeah. Someone mailed me my finger, so I’ve been on edge.”
“Your finger?” Conrad asks. The look on his face is genuine shock. I think back to the video surveillance of the package being dropped off, and I can’t say with full confidence that it was them. They had hoods and the masks. It could’ve been anyone. What if someone is trying to get them in trouble?
“Mhmm,” I say, holding up my hand. “Apparently, the sick fucker who bit my finger off kept it. Why? Who the fuck knows? It’s with the state detectives now being DNA matched.”
“Are they sure it is yours?” Ethan asks.
“Well, it was removed in the same fashion that mine was; it’s the right length and size… the DNA match is just a formality,” I say.
“Has to be a real fucking psychopath to bite someone’s finger off,” Kip says.
“I mean, raping me with hockey sticks is pretty sadistic also, even for them,” I say. I immediately realize I just fucked up. I instinctively look at Conrad to see if he picked up on it, and he smiles.
He knows.
“What do you mean?” Ethan asks coolly. “You said even for them.”
“I mean, raping someone, bashing their head in… it’s sadistic. It’s not much of a stretch that they’d use objects too,” I try to explain.
“It’s too bad you don’t remember faces,” Conrad says.
My text notification pings from my phone, and when I look down at my phone, so do Conrad and Ethan.
