The car door’s already open, and this time, I force her to move. As soon as she’s inside, I follow behind, then slam it shut.
And even though I know what she said was out of anger and panic.
It still fucking aches.
The car sits still for a moment, then the engine hums.
“I... I was ambushed,” Revea says, her breathless voice breaking the silence. “I didn’t even know about those headlines.”
“We knew,” Sylvan admits.
Her head snaps to him. “You knew?”
He nods.
“Why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve prepared!”
“We were going to,” he says. “Tonight.”
She frowns. “Why not straight away?”
“We didn’t want to upset you,” Val speaks from the front, eyes fixed ahead.
She huffs, exasperated. “Would you have kept this from any other client?”
“No. But we didn’t treat you like a client, Revea,” Val murmurs. “Our mistake.”
Revea goes very still. “You think... you think I meant what I said?”
No one answers. Not even Sylvan.
“I… I don’t even remember exactlywhatI said. I... I just reacted.”
“But it’s the truth, isn’t it?” Val says, not turning around.
She stares at the back of his head, frozen.
“You told us you didn’t want a pack,” I murmur, shifting to stare out the window because I can’t look at her. “We knew that.”
“I just… I don’t want people thinking I can’t do this on my own,” she whispers.
“Enough,” Kaiden says, low. “Everyone just… stop.”
“I’m sorry if what I said upset—”
“Stop, Revea.” Kaiden’s voice rumbles the car, slicing through her words.
I wince at the edge in it, but I don’t look back. I just keep staring out the window.
Then it’s silent.
***
It’s the longest car journey of my life. We don’t even talk over the bond.
The second we’re inside, Revea disappears into the spare room she’s been using for her things. She hasn’t slept there once, but I have a feeling that’ll change tonight.
I head straight for the back office, uncapping a bottle of beer from the mini fridge before anyone’s even shut the front door.
