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She shakes her head, sniffling, wiping her face with her sleeves.
"None. We don't fail, sweetheart. Never. You need to trust us."
"Trust. You guys might be the only ones that will ever have my trust again, but right now, I'm terrified of my own shadow,” she sobs.
"I'm going to leave you two and get back to the office."
I hit Clay with a look that says I want to kill him for leaving me alone. "I'll walk you out."
His arrogant smirk lets me see that he knows exactly what he's doing. He’s getting out of here while he’s still the good guy. I’m the closest one to Aria, and I know I’m going to cop every tantrum, every hurtful word, every meltdown. It’s fact.
"You've got this, bro. Out of all the Shawland siblings, you're the one that can deal with this the best. Just give Aria time."
Time is a four-letter word I’m beginning to hate. In the last forty-eight hours, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard it.
"Time. What if we don't have time? The press is going to be crawling all over this case before too long. She's going to be showing soon. We can't hide a pregnancy from the world. I know we’re good, but we’re not fucking magic," I hiss.
Clay grabs my shoulder. "You need to get a grip, Caleb."
"Stop fucking saying that.” I growl. “I have a grip. I'm just angry. I love that woman in there, Clay. Do you have any idea what that feels like?"
I close the door so Aria can't hear any of this conversation. The last thing she needs is to deal with my problems as well.
"And that's your problem right there. You loved the woman she once was. You need to take a step back and see her now. She's a victim. She's been raped and abused for a year. She's carrying her rapist’s baby. You need to put the past behind you and start again. Help her heal, be there for her to scream at, comfort her, and just be the man she knows, because you haven't changed one bit over the years. We'll catch this bastard, and I hope and pray to God that the police find him first."
That I agree with. If I get my hands on her kidnapper, I'll snap his neck first and deal with the consequences later. I’d do time for the bastard.
"I'll call back if we get anything. Send me a text if you need me."
I lean against my closed door and watch my brother walk away. I take in a few deep breaths and try to steady my racing heart. I need to show Aria how strong and determined our company is. That won't happen if I fall apart. And believe me, right now, I’m close to breaking point.
I'm going to need a lot of strength in the coming days. I’ll call in favors owed to me by anyone I can think of; the mayor, the FBI, ex colleagues… I mean business with this case. I’ll stop at nothing until we know something.
