In her head, she said two things.
He’s fucking with you.
You’re finished. This is too much.
Only, she had to finish what she started. That was one of the things her father had taught her.
“Jesus Christ,” Ivan said, again, as he saw the blood all over the walls, and the mess that had been left around the room. “He’s sick.”
Yeah, yeah, he was, and this wasEXACTLYwhy she couldn’t let anyone get taken.
This had been her fear.
Now, they were going to deal with the ramifications of this, and how it would ruin her father’s life, and Caspian’s.
There was no doubt in her mind that she was losing Caspian.
Oh, not to death, but he’d hate her.
Because she hated herself.
At the door, they heard footsteps. When they both turned, to make sure they were safe, it was Raphael, and even he looked to be shaken.
No one blamed him.
The whole time he spoke to them, he didn’t look at Rayna, or what was left of her.
“We found her bag in her car, and a clipboard with a report on it. She was working on it at some point. It’s about a drunken brawl.”
She said one thing.
“Bring it. Put it in our vehicle. Go out there and guard the door,” she said, not wanting him to be forced to see this.
Quickly, he did what she asked.
He headed back out, and Ivan saw the phone. There was a notification on it. They could see it on the screen, blinking.
“There’s a message.”
She pulled on gloves and picked it up. When the phone went on, it wasn’t locked. She saw the voicemail message that was on it.
As she held it, she couldn’t make herself press the button. Deep down, she knew it would be of Rayna being tortured. It would be a way to break and destroy her.
To slow her down.
To derail her.
“Don’t do it,” Ivan said. “He’s going to fuck with your head. You don’t need that message.”
She looked over.
“I don’t care about me, anymore, Ivan. Caspian doesn’t need to ever hear that. I have to protect him. I’m already destroyed over all of this. Over Jet, over Vivian, and now, over Rayna.”
Then, she did something he hadn’t expected.
Dropping it on the floor, she used the heel of her cowboy boot to smash the phone, destroying it. She pounded it into oblivion soNO ONEwould ever hear what had been recorded.
Not Caspian.
