“I’ll make Pavlov sign anything I want,” he continued, his voice cold and cruel. “He’s still refusing, but I’m playing hardball too, and mark my words, Jade—” he pointed his finger at me. “He’s close. And I got what I wanted—the perfect resolution to The Nightcrawler's case. One dead, one behind bars for life. Better than I could have ever imagined."
He stepped back then, slowly walking toward the door, leaving me in my chair—empty and crushed like never before.
“Get started on the case and take the weekend to go over it. You can lead the Monday morning meeting."
Just like that, he walked out, leaving me in the suffocating silence of the information he dropped on me.
You would have let him go? No.
No. I would haveneverlet him go.
The guilt flooded me again. Alex proposed we should leave—just hop on a plane andleave,but I was the one who said we shouldn’t run. That we should stand up to my father. Crush him.
Instead, he crushed us both.
“Miss Moretti, these are the files—oh,” Cindy, my father’s secretary, stood in the doorway, her worried eyes taking me in. “A-are you alright?” She stepped inside the office, cautiously approaching me.
I sniffled and wiped my nose with a sleeve, unable to quell the tears. “Y-yes. S-sorry, Cindy.”
“Did you want—here.” She passed me a box of tissues and stood there, looking me over like I was about to break into a thousand pieces.
“I-I’m sorry, Cindy, what do you have for—”
“Do you want to talk about it?” She interrupted and quickly sat down on the chair in front of me, her eyes shining bright.
Talk about it. There weren’t enough words in the world to ever explain my pain.
“Is it…is it work? I know you’ve been gone on medical leave, and please, don’t think I’m prying, but may—”
“My father ordered to k-kill Alex M-Martinov,” I squeaked, descending into sobs again. I gasped for air, the pain of saying it paralyzing me. “We-we were in love. And my father, he…”
Cindy sat in front of me like a statue, blinking and trying to take in my incoherent blabbering.
“The Nightcrawlers…they—they kidnapped me. And Alex and I fell in love, and…”
And there was nothing more to say. Nothing more to cry over.
“I’m sorry, Cindy.” I sniffled, staggering to my feet. “I’m s-sorry, I’m just—I have no one to t-talk to! I live with amonster!A man who thrives off my pain and my father—” I choked out, myhead threatening to explode. “He—he arranged it all! Promised me to him!”
I couldn’t see Cindy anymore. Couldn’t see or hear or feel.
“Miss…”
I stood from my chair and swayed in front of my desk, trying to figure out what to do next. I couldn’t stay at the office, couldn’t look at the man who betrayed me in the worst possible way.
“Take care, Cindy. Thank you for your help.”
Cindy was crying too, but I had nothing else to say. One foot in front of the other, I walked out of my office and headed to the police station.
Julian’s office looked just like the last time I was here.
"Jade!" he exclaimed with happiness. "It's so nice to see you! Where’ve you been?" For some reason, he threw his arms around me and pulled me into an awkward hug, like we hadn’t seen each other in years.
It lasted only a few seconds, but for the first time in a long time...a positive feeling sparked inside me. It felt great—to touch a human being and to see a face that wasn't Xavier or his security.
“Do you want coffee?” Julian welcomed me to his desk and took a seat in front of me. I shook my head, knowing that I couldn’t keep coffee down.
“I’m okay, thanks. I’m just dropping by for five minutes, but I’m hoping you can help me.”
