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I’m stunned into silence as I listen to Bree’s suggestion. For the longest time, I seriously believed I’d never have a future, and particularly not one doing something I’m trained to do. But now there’s the possibility I might get a second chance at life. This is something I never even dared to dream about.
As I think about what that future might look like, I only get as far as having Evan by my side, and it all comes crashing down around me. I can’t dream of any kind of a future until I know he’s going to be there with me.
But if I do allow myself a moment to think about what our lives could look like, I think I might quite like helping the people who went through what I did. Evan would rule, and I’d be by his side, helping and supporting not just him, but our family too.
The thought of being a useful addition to the Doughty family makes my heart beat faster, and the hope I’ve spent so long ignoring creates a hole in the pit of my stomach. That’s exactly the future I want. I want to help people; I want to be a Doughty, and more than anything, I want to be with Evan forever. I just need him to pull through first.
My silence must have dragged on for too long, as Desmond steps in. “You don’t have to make any decisions right now, Teigan. Just think about it.”
“I will,” I mutter, giving Des a small smile as a thank you for speaking when I wasn’t able to.
Bree clears her throat, pulling everyone’s attention back. “Other than the obvious, what happened at Club Crimson?” Bree asks, looking directly at Kellan this time, as he had a view on the cameras of the whole operation.
Kellan doesn’t respond. His eyes are lifeless as he stares off into the distance. It’s so at odds with the rest of his body, which seems completely on edge.
His leg is jiggling up and down, and he keeps dragging his hand through his hair wildly. Not only does he have two brothers in the operating rooms, one of them is his best friend.
We’ve always joked that Kellan and Liam are more like twins. They’re very similar in age, and they’ve been inseparable since they were kids. They are also like two sides of the same coin.
Where Liam is calm and sensible, Kellan is reckless and sarcastic. But, they care about each other, and they get each other in a way that none of us could ever understand.
Although I suspect it would gut anyone in this room if we were to lose Liam, I think it would hit Kellan the hardest, and that shows on his face.
Kel doesn’t even acknowledge that Bree spoke to him, and instead, Finn replies on his behalf. “We managed to get everyone out who was being kept in the back, including the cells that Lilly told us about.”
“What happened to Lilly?” I ask quickly, suddenly consumed by guilt that I haven’t thought about her until now.
“She sustained a minor gunshot wound that just grazed her arm. She’s being treated as we speak. I have a member of security standing guard with her,” Kian replies.
I breathe a sigh of relief, knowing Lilly isn’t seriously hurt. “Are we any closer to finding her guys?”
All eyes turn to Kellan again, but he still has no idea we’re even talking, let alone speaking directly to him. Finn replies on his behalf again.
“Last I heard, Kellan thinks there’s stuff on the computer that will lead us to The Duke. Once we have more on him, we will hopefully be able to locate them. But nothing else so far.”
“Thank you.” My words are said to everyone, but they’re aimed at Kellan.
Bree gives me a tight smile before the leader in her takes over again. “What about The Baron raid?” she asks, her gaze flicking between Shane and Declan, who both appear to be grimacing.
Dec motions for Shane to speak, and he lets out a sigh before he does. “It was a clusterfuck from the very beginning. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, as it was the raid with the least amount of intel. We had no idea going in if The Baron was even still inside.
“Lincoln from Southview Security and his team made it clear they couldn’t, despite several attempts, even get an accurate layout for the building. He suspected there were underground tunnels and exits that we didn’t know about, as there were times people entered, but we had never seen them leave from the time before.
“It was also impossible for us to know how many people we would be rescuing before we got in, as we had so little intelligence. So, right from the word go, we were on the back foot. Their security system was far more intricate than we knew about, and despite Lincoln’s team’s best efforts, we tripped the alarm fairly early on.
“We were able to rescue around forty girls from the house, including one that appears to be of great value to The Baron. However, from what we could see, and from talking to someof the girls we saved, there were quite a lot that were taken with The Baron, and The Baroness, when they escaped,” Shane explains, his voice dripping with disdain at the end when he talks about them escaping.
“The Baroness?” Bree asks, sounding just as confused as I am.
Dec shakes his head, his lips dipping into a scowl. “The high-profile girl that Lincoln was able to rescue, called Sophia… She’s The Baron’s daughter. She’s just as much a victim as the others we rescued, and she’s been co-operating. She told us that her mother—known as The Baroness—is also very much involved in The Aristocracy.”
“Why would she tell us all that?” Ryleigh asks, voicing the question I’m sure is on a lot of people’s lips.
Shane takes hold of Ryleigh’s hand, squeezing it as he seems to pull strength from her touch. “You didn’t see her, Little Rebel. The conditions she was being kept in. She was in a cell, and it was clear she’s been abused for most of her life. Guards were trying to take her with them, but Lincoln saw how important she seemed to be to them, and he saved her.
“Once she was safe, she asked Lincoln to protect her. In exchange, she promised to tell him everything she knows about The Baron and The Baroness, including where all the hideouts that she knows about are.
“She’s only twenty-one, but she’s never had a normal life. She told Linc she just wants the chance to be free, and that can only happen if her parents are dead. He’s one of the least trusting people I know, and he seems to believe her, and so do I,” Shane explains, and even though I don’t know this girl, my heart breaks for her.
