Instead of answering my question, she clasps the orange juice in both hands, taking small, measured sips, blushing harder the longer we stare at her.
“Hailey,” I urge. “Whendid you eat?”
She chews her cheek, then takes a deep breath, injecting confidence into her posture. “Remember when you threw my beer in the lake?”
She waits for me to nod.
“You taught me well. I wassmarterin Blaze’s mansion.”
“You haven’t eaten since Lakeside?” I grit out, anger quivering within me like a loose garden hose. “You didn’t eat forninedays?”
My men don’t wait for confirmation. At once, they push their plates toward her.
She sends them a grateful smile but pushes their plates back across the island. “I’m okay. One portion is enough.”
“Blaze needed you alive and unharmed, Hailey. You should’ve eaten,” Broadway says.
“Maybe... but Blaze wasn’t home for four days, and his men...” She pinches her lips together, shaking her head as if dismissing whatever she was going to say. “When Blaze explained what he needed from me, I considered eating a little, but—” Her cheeks flare even hotter.
“But?” I urge, my jaw ticking.
I’m almost certain I know what she’ll say and my jealousy reignites. Twice as potent.
“It doesn’t matter. I couldn’t hold anything down anyway.”
“Finish what you were going to say,” I insist.
“Blaze didn’t stay with me during mealtimes.”
Staring at the wall beside me, veins in my neck pulsing rapidly, it takes all my willpower not to throw my fist at it. She would’ve eaten if he’d sat with her. She trusted himthatmuch.
Without a word, but with a look that paints a thousand, Koby gets up, his chair scraping along the floor. His shoulders are squared back until he opens the fridge, pulls out the fruit tray and starts peeling clementines.
“Eat.” I swallow my jealousy and urge Hailey on, nudging her shoulder. “You need to gain back every pound you lost.”
Her breathing hitches and a small shudder shakes her, the pink of her cheeks spreading down the porcelain column of her throat.
It’s missing a few strategically placed love bites...
She might not trust me, but my words affect her. I have no fucking idea how to proceed, so I take another approach.
“I talked to your dad. Told him you’re safe.”
Her fork clatters against the plate and her blonde head whips toward me, eyes wide. “Youtalkedto my dad?”
“He’s the reason I found you. When you left Lakeside with Matthews, I was certain he was evacuating you to a better hiding place, on your dad’s orders.”
“Matthews was taking me home, but he turned around after we stopped for gas and took me straight to Noretto. They had his daughter...”
She gives us a rundown of that night’s events, including Blaze’s goons throwing Matthews’ lifeless daughter at his feet before they put a bullet in his head.
“Your man got cuffed for his murder by none other than your dad.” Koby—who’s hacking strawberries into fours—looks up when no one says a word. “What? You weren’t going to hide that from her, were you?” he asks me.
“Not at all.”
“My dad had you in handcuffs and you’re not rotting in jail?” Hailey cocks an eyebrow, the vulnerability she showcased earlier now a memory.
She’s growing more confident around us.
