Page 25 of Hidden

“She’s not invested.”

“The fuck she is. Ever since she found out about her—which was way before Axel was born, might I add—she’s been nothing short of obsessed with bringing her back to me, as she puts it.”

“She just wants you happy, Ven. We all do.”

“And why is that causing issues in lover’s paradise?”

Dante sighed heavily. “Look… she heard about Church yesterday and… she’s seen Gabriella in town. She’s tried to speak to her on many occasions. There’s no love lost between them, not after what Rachel did to her brother, but… She cares, Vienna. That’s all it is.”

“Nothing I’m hearing is new information. She’s told me all of this herself. Why has it caused an argument?”

“She had a bruise,” Dante said quietly, cutting through all the bullshit. And just like that, the noise of the room disappeared.

“When?” I demanded.

“A few days ago. On her face,” he added when I opened my mouth. “Not quite a black eye, but her cheek was definitely bruised.”

My hand clenched around the phone, almost crushing it in my grip, my breathing picking up speed.

“And why is Rachel mad about that?”

“She wants to stage a rescue. She wants us to go and kidnap her and force her to stay here—she learned from the best, eh?” he said, rubbing the back of his neck as he attempted to make a joke. But I didn’t reply. I wasn’t capable of replying.

She had a bruise on her face…

“We’re dealing with it, Vienna. I promise. I’ve already got Hacksaw and Riley scoping the place out. Once they come back with intel, we’ll figure out how to get eyes inside that place. We’ll find out what’s happening, and then we make a plan. Nothing has changed since Church. I promise. Just… just get through this show with Bee. Hacksaw should be back by then, and we’ll figure things out.”

I nodded to show agreement, not quite trusting my voice to speak.

“You know we can’t force her out of there. We’ve tried before. She begged to be returned. If you want us to go get her right this fucking second, just say the word and we’ll go… I just figured we needed to be smart about this.”

“No. No, you’re right,” I said, barely able to make out the words coming out of my mouth.

He was hurting her. And I hadn’t seen a thing. She hadn’t come to me. My mind was racing with a million questions.

Why would she stay with someone who hurt her? Why was it so easy for her to walk away from me, but she stayed with someone like that?

What did she see in him that she hadn’t seen in me?

Where had it all gone wrong?

Because she knew. She had to know. She had to know that no matter what had happened between us, I would be there for her if she needed me. Surely the years of watching her, waiting for our signal, waiting for her to prove she was still safe, had proved that to her?

So why hadn’t she come to me now that she was hurting?

What the fuck was happening in the Rider’s compound?

“We’ll get this sorted, Vienna. I promise,” Dante repeated, slapping me on the shoulder as he walked away and left me to my thoughts.

And deep down, I knew he was right.

I knew that he would have my back, no matter how we approached this. And so I trusted him, just as I always had. We would get to the bottom of this. But we would do so in a way that didn’t endanger everyone.

In the meantime, I would finish this show, and then I’d go back to my spot outside her window.

And I’d get some fucking answers.

Chapter 10