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My eyes went to Zathrian on instinct. He had been my rock and since I didn’t know what to do, I hoped he’d have a solution.
The moment he took over, my body sagged with relief. Riven must have noticed because he moved in behind me and massaged my shoulders. Lance didn’t miss the movement and I saw him tense, but he didn’t say anything else.
“We’re going to get lunch. Why don’t you come with us? We reserve the right to kick your ass out if you decide to be a douchebag, but if you’re serious, you can come with us.”
Zath glanced at the other two men and they both nodded in agreement before he turned back to Lance.
“So, what’ll it be?”
“I’m coming. We’ll follow behind you, I can’t let my security fall too far behind.”
Security? What the hell had he gotten into since we’d parted ways? Sure enough, as soon as he moved toward the car, two men in suits joined him, obvious weapons tucked in their belts.
Maybe it was time to hear him out after all. There was, apparently, far more to the story than I could imagine.
“Hey, are you okay?” El asked, stopping me before I had a chance to climb in the car. I shook my head but didn’t offer him any words. He simply gave my hand a squeeze before helping me in. He even reached over and buckled me in when I couldn’t do it for myself. It was strange having someone take such meticulous care of me. It had my emotions even more on edge and I was having to do everything I could to keep them at bay.
Lance and I were amazing before the wedding. We were compatible on almost every level. He was sweet and caring outside of the fact that he had some snobby tendencies. He only wanted what was best for us, but ‘best’ in his mind was not the same thing as mine. Even with those differences we were both committed to making it work.
“We don’t have to go in,” Riven offered as we pulled up to the restaurant.
In the end the decision was mine, but this wasn’t necessarily about reconciling. Zath had been right before, I’d regret not getting closure. I wasn’t doing this for my ex, I was doing it for myself.
Lance and his security team were climbing out of their car at the same time we were. He gave a strange look at the diner we’d discovered previously, but didn’t complain.
We walked inside and claimed the same corner booth from before. El, Riven, and Zath sandwiched me between them, so Lance was stuck sitting right next to Zathrian, who had more than a little hostility toward him. He’d seen me break down enough in the beginning to know every dirty, little detail.
Zath started the conversation off right away. “What safety issues do you have that concern us?”
His words were so harsh that Lance blinked for several moments but was saved by our waitress coming up. We threw out a quick lunch and drink order before she hustled back to the kitchen. No one bothered to speak until the drinks were in front of us. The tension was rising by the second and I could barely make myself look at my former mate.
“None of this is going to make sense unless I start from the beginning. Can I please get it out? If you don’t want to hear from me after this, fine, but you should know everything.”
So, he was going to talk about leaving me after all. I guess it was time to just listen. My horse whinnied in agreement. She had every right to demand answers and I couldn't deny her that peace of mind.
“Fine,” I said. It wasn’t the guys who reached out to touch me this time, but me reaching out for them. One hand landed on El, and the other on Zathrian.
“About three months before we were supposed to get married, my dad was doing this huge trial. You might remember it because we spent some late nights there while I helped him out.” I nodded, remembering the time baking with his mom while they worked well into the night. Everything had felt normal, like I had a family. I was happy then, even if I was exhausted.
“Yes, I remember,” I said, waving him on to continue.
“The case was against a local member of the Snake Eyes gang. I’m sure you’ve heard of them on the news before now. This isn’t their usual area but you’d be surprised how many small pockets they have in the country.”
“Damn,” El said. “I wasn’t expecting this turn.”
Lance glanced at him but continued on. “Well, the trial was successful. It closed about a month before we got married and dad put away the local leader and a few of his best men.”
A few less gang members on the street didn’t exactly sound like a bad thing, so I had no clue where he was going with this. How could his father’s trial have anything to do with us and our relationship? My first reaction was anger. This felt like he was feeding me random excuses.
“Okay, how does that relate to you leaving her at the altar?” Riven asked. If I could have given him a high five I would have. He was saying exactly what I was thinking.
Lance gave him a quick glance before looking back at me. Every time he spoke, his gaze was locked on mine, eyes pleading with me to actually listen.
Just hearing his voice again was hard, but I was breathing through it, not letting go of my mates as I forced myself to finally look at him. He was a mess, even more so now than the last time I saw him. His dirty-blond hair was longer, thrown in a messy bun on his head. There were still dark circles under his eyes like our first encounter a few days ago, but now it was accompanied by stubble and wrinkled clothes. Seeing me must have been difficult for him, though I felt no sympathy for his pain.
“They didn’t take kindly to my dad’s involvement,” he said. His voice broke and I knew this was the part that would get me. “On the way to the chapel that day, I got in a car accident. It wasn’t bad but when I got out of the car to talk to the other driver, they shoved me in their car. We made it to the chapel long enough for someone to run in a hastily scrawled note that I wrote at gunpoint. I never knew what happened to you other than the fact that you had to be hurt. You thought I just left but I spent the next three months in literal hell before my dad and his connections found us. I won’t go into the details, but let’s just say I have scars that are not only on the surface.”
The shadows in his eyes alone was proof that he wasn’t lying. I was stunned and of all the scenarios I’d come up with over the past year, none of it was this bad. What had they done to him while he was in their clutches? Abuse? Torture? Something more?
