“Paid me to take care of his daughter.”
“With your fucking fists?” The interrogator asks loudly on the recording.
“She never cried. Not one time.”
Oh shit. No. No!No!
“Close that fucking door!” I bellow, but it’s too late.
“You piece of garbage,” Thane seethes on the recording before I can shield her. Then the sounds of physical torture fill the hallway.
Thuds. Grunts. Wheezing.
Jade’s shocked silent when I grab her, arm locked around her waist, lifting her off the floor as I charge into the library with the force of a freight train.
Goddammit.She can’t hear that.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’msosorry,” I chant, over and over, fire in my lungs, ice in my veins.
Twisting out of my arms, Jade stares at me, pain and shock contorting her features.
“Who… what was that?”
“It was a recording of Trevor being interrogated.”
“How?”
“My team grabbed him when they flew back to the mountain. Apparently, he had come on scene when they couldn’t find us.”
With her mouth hinged open, she makes a heart-wrenching sound. Before I realize what she’s doing, Jade whirls and strides to the window, tearing the drape back until the garage is in clear sight.
“Is hethere?”
“Please don’t?—”
“Is he?” She spins back around, and the hurt in her eyes morphs to a sharp, cold anger. Something I recognize because I’ve seen it in the mirror.
“Is hethere, Ryker? In that building? On thisproperty?”
I would give a million dollars to tell her that he’s not.
“Yes,” I choke out.
Jolting like she’s been slapped, Jade shakes her head. “You didn’t tell me.”
What can I say. It all feels wrong.
“It seemed like the best thing so you could feel safe.”
“So I could find out this way? When I saw you arguing out there, I knew something was wrong. Was it about him?”
“Yes. Axle blocked me from going in there when I heard what you just heard.”
She burns me with her stare for a long moment, jaw tight, chest rising and falling too fast.
“I wanted to shield you?—”
“Ideservedto know.”
