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Damon scoffed, ice-blue eyes glaring.
"We’re in this as much as you are now, J. Remember that.” David cut Jace a hard stare, instantly sobering his pride. “The whole division. Ash and Trent included.”
Their division leader nodded his approval.
Jace tipped his head toward each of them, an acknowledgement of his appreciation. From David, he’d expected as much, but the others? It was more than he could have asked.
His colleagues, no, hisfriendswere putting their asses, their own jobs and lives on the line for him. He needed to make it worth it. At the very least, he could do that.
“Okay.” He nodded slowly. “Okay. If you’re all up for going against Headquarters, we’ll handle that, figure out what’s motivating Chet, but there’s two parts to this plan and how do we know her packmaster will cooperate?”
He directed his attention to Francesca then. “How do you know so much about what he thinks? Answer me that.”
Her hands clenched into fists, and she stood, power radiating from her until he could feel the full force of her strength. Her eyes transitioned to their wolf-like gold. “Because Iamthe packmaster.”
14
Frankie’s heart waspounding so hard she could feel the pulse in her neck. Silence hung in the air as the room filled with palpable tension.
“My name isn’t Francesca. Francesca is my mother’s name.” She cleared her throat and fought down the bile rising in her stomach. “My real name is Frankie. Frankie Amato.I’mthe Rochester packmaster.”
After several long moments the men’s utter shock and confusion passed. Frankie watched in dawning horror as Jace’s face tightened with hurt.
For deceiving him. For lying to him.
Her stomach dropped. She hadn’t realized what a betrayal of trust it’d been until that moment. She’d only considered her own survival, her own protection.
Jace turned to his fellow hunters. “Give us a minute, will ya?”
The other men exchanged knowing looks, clearly understanding the sudden need for privacy. “I’ll be in the kitchen,” Shane nodded, retreating to the other side of the apartment and out of earshot, before David and Damon stepped out.
As the door closed behind them, Jace turned toward Frankie. The already constricted feeling in her chest tightened in a sharp pain. She’d expected nothing less than pure, unadulterated rage from him. Swearing. Curses. Hurtful words. Anything but this.
The pained expression across his face was so much worse.
She’d disappointed him, hurt him. Not with who or what she was, but because she hadn’t trusted him with the truth, and maybe worse, she’d underestimated him.
How could she have been so wrong?
“Did it amuse you that I didn’t know your real name? Actually, no. Don’t answer that." Jace held up a hand, before dropping it again, his voice surprisingly calm. “Forget it. You don’t owe me anything.”
She stepped toward him, attempting to bridge the chasm she’d created. “Jace, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t mean to hurt you. It was a survival strategy, that’s all. Your kind has killed mine for less, and at first, I was...scared, of who you were, of what you’d do. Not to mention, I needed to keep my identity off the E.U’s radar, for my pack’s sake,” she admitted. “Once you let me go and we started working together, I...I didn’t know how to come clean. But why does my role as packmaster have to change anything? Why does it matter?”
He huffed, a humorless, pained laugh. For a moment, he buried his face in his hands. “Why does itmatter?” He raked both hands over his face. “It matters because I trusted you. That means something, remember?” He met her gaze. “But you didn’t trust me,” he breathed.
Frankie’s breath caught. “You… You never asked me to,” she whispered.
“Did I have to?” he asked, gesturing around them as if to indicate the situation.
She’d known he’d risked himself for her, of course, but until she watched the pained look in his eyes then, she hadn’t fully understood.
That he’d done it all for her.
That he’d do it again in a heartbeat.
Even though he’d told her that, hadn’t he?
Yet still, she’d doubted him. Treated him like a monster.
