Her lips part slightly. “I…” Her voice breaks. “I’m sorry.”
“No.” The word comes out instantly. Sharp.
She barely hears me. “I tried—” Her breathing turns uneven. “I tried not to let them—”
“No.”
“I’m sorry they—” Her voice cuts off completely. Tears spill over finally. And then the worst part comes. “I let them win.”
The entire room freezes.
Something vicious rises up my spine so fast I nearly choke on it. My hand comes up under her jaw immediately, firm enough to make her look at me. “No.”
Her eyes are wrecked. Destroyed. “I—”
“You don’t say that shit,” I snap. Not at her. Never at her. At the fucking idea. At the poison crawling through her head. “None of this is on you.”
Her face crumples harder. “But—”
“No.” I force her to hold my gaze. Need her to hear me. “They kidnapped you,” I say harshly. “They tortured you. They violated you. That is on them.”
Her breathing breaks apart completely. “I’m sorry. I was stupid. I just wanted to go shopping,” she whispers.
Trauma logic.
I recognize it immediately even if I don’t know the name for it. The need to find control by finding fault.
“I made Eli take me.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“It does to me.” Tears stream down her face openly now. “If I stayed here, he’d still be alive.”
Fuck.
The room feels like it caves inward.
“He died because of my choices.”
“No.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
Her entire body shakes harder. “The chain started with me.”
Before I can answer, Logan steps forward. The room quiets automatically. Even hurt, even limping, he still fills space like a president. Like authority. Like home. He stops in front of her, his expression grim but steady. “Look at me, Olivia.” She does. Slowly. “Nobody in this room blames you.”
Her mouth opens immediately. “But—”
“No,” Logan cuts in firmly. “You listen.” Silence drops hard. “Eli knew what this life was when he patched in as a prospect,” Logan says. “He knew the risks. He knew what we protect.”
Olivia shakes her head weakly. “He was there because of me.”
“He was there because he chose to stand beside this club.” That lands. Hard. Logan’s voice lowers slightly. “He died protecting someone under our protection.”The room goes deadly still. “That matters.”
Emotion tightens my throat unexpectedly.
