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“I’ll be fine,” he says, attempting a smile.
Deep inside, I know he’s putting on a brave face to make me feel better. I don’t deserve his kindness after the way I left him and his brothers without any explanation.
Taking a deep breath, I start cleaning the wound.
The moment the cotton touches his ripped skin, he lets out a hiss. Seth’s smile turns into a grimace as he lets out a curse.
“Tell me what happened tonight,” Seth says in a controlled voice after a while. “Why did you end up leaving the party without a word to anyone?”
“Hey, don’t start without us,” Simon’s voice comes in through the doorway. He steps inside with Oliver and sits down on the edge of the bed.
“How about I take over now?” Oliver says, gesturing toward the syringe and a tiny glass vial full of a clear liquid.
Giving a nod, I move aside and let Oliver take my place.
“So, what happened?” Simon urges as Oliver prepares the syringe.
Closing my eyes, I exhale a long breath.
“My ex was at the party tonight,” I begin.
“What?” Simon spits. “Is he the same guy Heather told us about?”
I nod. “The same,” I say with a defeated sigh.
“What was he doing there?” Seth asks in a lowered voice. “Did your dad invite him to the party?”
“No, Dad would never invite an asshole who hurt me. Jake sneaked into the party as the senator’s guest tonight.”
A small noise escapes Seth as Oliver administers the shot to him. His eyes squeeze shut while his lips turn pale.
Seth is doing his best to hide his pain from me. Deep inside, I know he’s trying to protect me from feeling guilty.
An ache goes through me. Do I truly deserve so much from him?
Lifting a clean towel, I dab the sweat beading his forehead while Oliver proceeds to bandage the wound. “Should I get you something to drink?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “I’m fine, Rory. Just tell me how you ended up inside the senator’s mansion tonight?”
I stare into the anxious expressions on each of my mates’ faces before continuing.
“When Dad was making his speech tonight, I happened to glance at the senator,” I say, looking toward the far wall. “The way he looked at me then...it felt like he recognized me. He even smirked at me. I suddenly realized he must’ve been one of those people who came into those hellish underground chambers to abuse me and the other omegas.”
“Is that why you left the room the moment the speech was over?” Oliver asks.
“Yeah. I felt sick and uncomfortable. My anxiety gave way to panic and I needed to leave the hall. Since the downstairs rooms were crowded, I decided to escape to my room.”
Silence weighs over us. Seth, Oliver and Simon have their whole attention focused on me.
Taking a deep breath, I continue.
“Jake was waiting for me in my room,” I say. Looking down at the bed, I utter the following words. “I never told you guys this before but he was the one who sold me to the Black Widow.”
“Fucking bastard!” Oliver roars, punching the mattress so hard, I feel the bed shake underneath me. “I knew he was linked to your disappearance!”
“How?” I say, astonished. “I never said anything about him.”
“We guessed,” Simon says in a calmer tone. “Heather told us how horribly he treated you. He was the reason you started distancing yourself from your friends and family. Even though we never met the dickhead, we suspected him to have a hand in what happened to you.”
