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“Well, once I’d heard that, I couldn’t very well leave without checking it out, could I? Anyone would have done the same.”
I looked at him with new interest, and he shuffled in his seat uncomfortably when he noticed my stare.
“It sounded like the guard had arranged for whoever he was speaking to come down to the docks the next morning, and I knew I didn’t have long. I didn’t know where you were—” He looked at my girl. “—so I had to follow him.”
“Were you scared?” Winter breathed, completely caught up in his story.
“More scared than I’ve ever been,” he admitted with a shrug. “I was jumpy enough being down there in the first place. I wouldn’t have been there if we hadn’t received a tip-off, and Lena was supposed to meet me, but she was running late. Couldn’t sneak out of the house, which turned out to be the best thing that could’ve happened. She…she’s more fragile than she realises.”
“Sounds like you know her well,” Zayde commented. His voice was flat and emotionless, but I knew he was just as curious as I was.
“It’s not like that. We hang out sometimes, and we’ve been working together to look into something. That’s irrelevant at the moment, though.”
Yeah. It wouldn’t be, once Cassius found out Granville was hanging out with his sister.
“Back to it. I picked up an iron bar from the junk that was round the back of the warehouse, and I followed the guard as closely as I could. He entered the building I’d found you in, and I went in after him. He disappeared into a room and left the door open, but I didn’t know whether to follow him in there or not.”
He stopped to take a drink, while I not-so-patiently waited for him to continue. Fucking finally, he stopped, setting his cup down on the arm of the seat with a loud thump.
“Sorry. Dry throat. Anyway, the guard had been gone for a while, so I peered into the room. I suddenly saw his head appearing out of the floor, and I jumped backwards, hiding further down the dark corridor so he wouldn’t see me. He came out of the room and I—” He buried his face in his hands.
“James?” Winter’s voice was soft and concerned. “It’s okay. We know what happened.”
He raised his head, fucking tears in his eyes. “I panicked, and I hit him as hard as I could with the iron bar and he fell. He knocked his head on the stone wall as he went down. There was so much blood…” He trailed off, his hands shaking.
“You’ve got a good swing on you.” What the fuck was I saying? Had I just complimented Granville?
“All those years of playing golf.” He gave a wry smile, then scrubbed his hand across his face with a heavy sigh. “With the guard knocked out, I didn’t waste any time. I ran straight into the room he’d been in, found the hatch, and opened it. I was in shock when I saw you down in that basement, Winter. You were unresponsive, completely out of it, so I guessed he’d given you some kind of sedative. I got the fuck out of that place as quickly as I could. Lena turned up when I was trying to get you into the car.”
“Why didn’t she say anything to me?” Winter spoke quietly. I could hear the hurt in her tone, and I stroked up and down her arm, trying to comfort her. “We’ve hung out a lot, and I never had a clue.”
“Seeing you like that scared her, I think—you were in a pretty bad state. We didn’t know what you were mixed up in. I didn’t want to know, in all honesty, so I decided to take you to Lansdown General Hospital rather than the local one, where there was less chance of you being recognised. Lena and I made sure the hospital knew to contact Kinslee, and after that…we left.” His hands twisted together. “The whole thing shook me up, scared me half to death. I couldn’t let myself get involved. I’ve stepped back from everything since. Tried to stay out of it all.”
Fucking hell. This evening was not going down the way I’d expected.
THIRTEEN
“Okay, I get what you’re saying.” I watched him closely. “I understand you wanting to stay out of it.”
“I just couldn’t believe I actually knocked someone out. I’ve been having nightmares every night about it. I hope there was no permanent damage. I couldn’t live with that on my conscience.”
I exchanged glances with Z, feeling Cade stiffen behind me, pleading with my eyes.
“No permanent damage done,” Caiden unexpectedly said, and I collapsed back against him, seeing the look of total and utter relief that came into James’ eyes.
“Thank you,” I whispered to Caiden, mouthing the words carefully so Zayde could see them, too. I wasn’t okay with keeping things from people, generally, but in this case, the whole situation had clearly messed with James’ head.
“I’m only doing this for you,” Caiden muttered in my ear, and I turned my head so I could kiss his jaw, the stubble scratchy under my lips.
“I know.”
“Is there anything else?” James looked at me.
“Yeah. James, I need—no, I want to thank you for saving my life. What you did was incredibly brave, and I can never repay you.”
He gave a small laugh. “Like I already said, I was only doing what anyone else would in that situation. You don’t have to worry about repaying me.” Then he looked at me closely. “Am I allowed to know how you got there in the first place?”
“I—yes. Long story short, I moved to Alstone to investigate my dad’s death. He, uh, passed away under suspicious circumstances.” I paused to grab my drink, letting the cool liquid soothe my suddenly dry throat. “I had a lead that something may be happening down at the docks, and I went there to check it out. You know what happened next—I managed to get myself caught.”
