“Callum—”
“How was your night? Did you have fun?”
He shakes his head.
“Sure. That’s why her bed was empty, and your door was locked.”
Jax just stares at him and doesn’t say a word.
Tiger appears behind Zephyr. She’s wearing his shirt. Her hair is messy. And she’s moving carefully like she’s in pain.
I stand up immediately. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. Just need my medicine.”
Zephyr gets her pills and water. She takes them and sits down at the table, wincing. I stare at her for a moment and then raise my brows. Jax and I make eye contact.
We eat breakfast in silence. The tension is so thick I can barely breathe.
Tiger keeps glancing between the three of us like she’s waiting for someone to explode.
Nobody does.
Finally, Jax says, “We need to leave in an hour. Marcus rescheduled for ten.”
“Okay,” Tiger says quietly.
At Marcus’s office, we all cram into his conference room.
Tiger sits at the head of the table. Jax on her right. Zephyr on her left. Me across from her.
Marcus walks in with a legal pad and a recorder.
“Miss Lopez. Tigerlily, thank you for coming. I know this isn’t easy.”
She nods.
“Let’s get started. I’m going to ask you to walk me through everything. Starting from the beginning. Take your time. If you need to stop, we stop.”
She takes a breath. Then she tells him everything.
About that night. About Damien killing her biological father. About being forced to lie. About the gun he held to her head to make sure she’d memorized the story. The fear. The threats. The demands. The abuse.
I watch her hands shake as she talks. I watch tears slide down her face that she doesn’t bother wiping away. I notice Jax is on edge too like he’s reliving it with her. His eyes meet mine, and I can tell he’s fucking livid.
By the end, my fists are clenched so hard my knuckles are white.
Marcus clicks off the recorder. “This is enough. More than enough. I’ll contact the DA’s office about your mother’s case today.”
“How long will it take?” she asks.
“The appeal process can take months. But we can start immediately. And given the new evidence—your recent injuries, the pattern of abuse—I’m confident we can get her conviction overturned.”
“And Damien?”
“He’s already facing attempted murder charges. Once we reopen the investigation into your father’s death, they’ll add that murder charge as well. He’s not getting out, Tigerlily. I promise you that.”
She exhales like she’s been holding her breath for six years.
