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It had to be true.
But then, why did she beg me to spare Viktor?
Her reaction tells me everything I need to know. She pushes Jake, her hands on his chest, repeating the gesture a few times.
“Fuck you!” she rages. “You have no idea what the fuck is going on. You’ve been here living your best life. I’ve asked nothing from you, but this one favor, and you think you know what the hell has been going on in my life?!”
When Rose has nothing to hide, she is calm, collected, often mocking someone’s assumption of her.
When she’s guilty? She gets defensive. Violent, rude, bitchy.
I close my eyes, shaking my head and feeling stupid. She played me. She played all of us to go back to Volkov.
“It’s easy to fool everyone when they’re all dying to fuck you, isn’t it?” Jake mocks her. He gives her one push back, making her stumble backward.
“We’re leaving,” I say as I get up. I grab the car keys from my pocket and give them to Lik. “Come on, get out of here.”
He doesn’t hesitate one second, just as disappointed as me. Rachel stays quiet, a certain sadness taking over her being.
Rose is glaring at her twin, her fists tight. “You said you’d help me.”
“Get better. Not go back to him.”
“Rose, go to the car,” I snap at her.
She struggles to break the staring contest with Jake, but she moves before I repeat myself.
“You’re a dick, Jake,” she throws before leaving his apartment. She doesn’t even acknowledge Jamie.
“Can I talk to you?” I ask, throwing a glance toward his girlfriend. “In private.”
She hurries away. “I’m going to buy some breakfast,” she says as she leaves.
Jake shakes his head, not wanting to have a one-on-one conversation with me. “What do you want?”
“I need that tracker turned on.”
“Come on,” he laughs. “Are you deaf or stupid?”
“I won’t tell Rose. The Volkov brothers are on my hit list, but I want them dead for what they did. She doesn’t need to know.”
“You know what I’ve always wondered?” he tells me, disgust coating his words. “How my sister only ever loved and trusted the people who did her wrong. She always falls back into her nasty habits of needing those who hurt her the most.”
“I might have done her wrong, but I never intended to hurt her. Everything I do is because I love her. Everything is to try and give her the life she deserves.”
“Sure,” he nods. “And why not help yourself in the process.”
I take a deep breath, not wanting to get into it and yet knowing it’s the only thing that will get me his help. “Do you know what they did to her?”
He takes a small step back. “Do you?”
I nod. “Partly. And I don’t think her brother should ever know.”
His knees wobble and give up, forcing him to drop onto the sofa. He rubs his face with both hands and glances up at me. “How bad?”
I know the battle he’s fighting right now. Desperate to know and yet not wanting to. His heart is probably beating fury and desperation into his veins. His head must be spinning from something he presumed yet never wanted to find out was true.
“Worse than Bianco.” I keep details out of my answer. He doesn’t need to have precise images in his head. There’s no need to break him further than he already is. Although, he must know that they took the step Bianco never had. Pushed on her the fate she had escaped when she ran away from her foster dad.
