I drag a hand down my face and feel every year of my life in the movement. “I’m going to do it without letting him turn this town into collateral.”
“And if he forces it?”
I look at him, and he already knows my answer.
Zane nods anyway, once, accepting it without approving. “I’ll tighten the rear cameras when we get back to The Hollow tomorrow. Motion sensors too.”
“Good. We leave first thing in the morning. Talking to Cole face-to-face isn’t possible now. But I do know his plan, so that’s a start.”
I know I should sleep. We've got so much on tomorrow, but I can’t. My brain is buzzing way too fast. I can’t shut this shit down.
“Ryder.”
I jump at the sound of my name, at the sight of Aurora looking at me with those big, beautiful, albeit sleepy, eyes.
“You should be asleep,” I say.
“You should stop saying that to people who have eyes.”
I almost tell her I’m fine, but her gaze moves over my face, reading too much, too well.
“What happened?”
I should give her the clean version.
The useful version.
The version that protects.
Instead, I hear myself say, “I was right.”
“About what?”
“Cole.” My throat feels scraped out. “Benjamin Wren. The pressure campaign. The fire. All of it.” I laugh once, short and ugly. “They’ve got a deal in place. Wren gets The Hollow cheap when the licenses go under. Cole gets paid and gets to watch me lose it in public.”
Her expression hardens in a way I’ve only seen a handful of times. Soft girl, kind heart, but there’s steel in her when something matters. “He’s being paid to ruin you.”
“Yes.”
“And the town.”
“Yes.”
She goes quiet, absorbing that, then asks the more important question. “How bad is it?”
“Bad enough.”
I don’t realize I’m rubbing my thumb over my ring until she looks down at the movement.
Angry enough to lose control.
My leash.
Aurora moves closer, giving me time to stop her.
I don’t.
“Talk to me,” she says softly.
