His smile sharpens.
“Is the one that changes everything.”
52
Ace
“Then start talking,” Tessa says.
Her voice doesn’t shake.
Not anymore.
I stay right beside her.
Close enough to step in.
Close enough to stop this if it turns.
But I don’t interrupt.
She needs this.
And I’ll be here when it hits.
“You saidI wasn’t supposed to take the fall,” she presses. “So why didn’t anyone stop it?”
He studies her.
Then—
“Because by the time we realized what happened… it was useful.”
Useful.
I see it hit her.
Hard.
“To who?” she demands.
“To people who needed someone clean to disappear.”
My jaw tightens.
“Clean?”
“You had no record. No connections. No reason for anyone to look twice at you.”
Perfect.
I step closer.
Not touching yet.
But ready.
“So you let it happen,”she says.
