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His stare burns a hole through the side of my head but he accepts her statement and goes over to his corner booth.
She lowers her voice. “Are you a cop?”
I furiously shake my head. “No, oh God no.” I can only imagine how stupid it would be for a cop to walk in here asking questions after the warning Savini gave me and seeing the muscle already in this place. If I weren’t an unsuspecting female, Magnus and the Ian lookalike would have been enough to scare me out of here already.
But if I’ve learned anything from my time on this planet, being a woman can get you access to places you typically wouldn’t be allowed.
“I knew him.” Claire’s nostrils flare and she repositions herself.
“Claire, listen, I’m going to share something with you that I don’t like to talk about, but I think it might help you better understand why I’m here…”
Claire inches closer like she’s aware whatever this is I’m about to say is private information.
“I lost my mom when I was younger.” I note her resolve softening. I sigh and continue, digging my fingers into my thigh to steady myself for this admission. I’ve gone years without talking about this and here I am, spilling the tea back-to-back to practically strangers. “My adopted father, he beat her to death, while my brother and I watched.” I shake my head as if I can get rid of the memory or make it any less true. “He was a monster, and his rage didn’t stop there. He was never caught, never penalized for taking her life, or what he did to us. We didn’t get free of him until we were old enough, but the damage had already been done.”
“Banks, I’m…” But she stops herself as if realizing her apology isn’t going to change what happened.
“Ineedto know, Claire. The truth about Jared, what kind of person he was." I lean forward. "I know about the cover-up, okay? I don't need any more lies."
Claire seems to process the information, her face a bit unreadable and only adding to my continued frustration. Finally, a million seconds later, she responds. “Jared, he was your brother.”
I can’t tell whether it’s a question or that she’s acknowledging what we both already know.
I nod, a single tear rolling down my cheek.
Claire chews at her lip. “I don’t want to taint this idea you have of him.”
“And I don’t want to mourn a version of a man that never existed.” I fight with how much more I’m willing to share, but decide to go on anyway. “I tracked down his killer, Claire. I wanted vengeance. I couldn’t go through it again, a death at someone’s hand that wasn’t deserved. But I need to know if what I’m fighting for is worth it.”
Claire’s blue eyes widen. “He sent you to me?”
“Yes.”
“Wow.” She glances down then back up. “I’m surprised he didn’t kill you himself…”
My phone vibrates with Axel’s name at the top of the screen. I click the ignore button and focus on the girl holding all the cards in front of me.
“This fight, this war you’re waging inside.” Claire reaches across to me again. “And the one you’re risking out here, with thesepeople.” She flits her gaze toward June’s bodyguard in the corner. “I urge you to reconsider. It won’t bring your brother back, and even if it did, you wouldn’t like the man he became.”
She confirms what Savini has been saying all along. Jared was a bad guy. And Savini killed him because of it. He rid the world of one more abuser—how could I ever punish him for that?
A weight seems to lift from my shoulders, but is immediately replaced by another.
This whole time I’ve been playing Axel to try to get close to Savini, I’ve dug myself into a hole I might not be able to get out from. Savini gave me a final warning and made it clear that if I continued to interfere, he would kill me, and if I didn’t come clean with Axel, he would tell him himself. How can I diffuse a bomb that’s already lit and ready to detonate?
CHAPTERSEVEN
Ihug Claire after we exchange numbers, and she assures me that June really isn’t as mean as she appears to be.
"You think she and Magnus are intimidating, wait until you meet her other two boyfriends."
“Two?” I raise a brow at her.
She nods with a grin. “One man was never going to be enough for her. Heck, I’m not all that confident three is either.”
I point to the Ian Somerhalder look-alike. “He isn’t one of them?”
“Nope, Simon isn’t, not that I’m aware, at least. Pretty sure the three she has would murder him if he tried.”
