Page 24 of Whisper

“I do,” I said. “You’ve been dealing with a lot of shit lately. This was just the straw.”

She laughed, tucking a strand of curly hair behind her ear. It was pointless; her hair was a mess from crying in my arms, make-up smeared around her pretty eyes.

“But Jace...”

“It’s okay, Sof,” I said. “You have nothing to be sorry for. Just rest for a bit.”

“Thank you,” she said.

I wiped her face with my fingers. I thought she might not like it. Instead, she leaned into my touch, her breathing deepening.

“Whoever did this is a fucking asshole,” I said. “I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that they don’t get to you. This is already bad enough.”

She sniffled. “No, I’m here to work,” she said. “I’m not here to rest. You didn’t rest after you got kidnapped, did you?”

I held back a smile. “I did the first time,” I said. “Took me months to recover.”

“I’ve heard it was weeks,” Victor said. I’d almost forgotten he was sitting in the sofa across the bedroom. “Don’t sell yourself short.”

I rolled my eyes. I was about to thank him when Sofia pulled away from me. “What do you mean the first time? That’s not the first time you’ve been kidnapped?”

I hesitated for a moment before answering her question. It wasn’t something I liked to talk about, but she deserved to know the truth. “No, it wasn’t the first time,” I admitted. “I was kidnapped and tortured when I was younger.”

“Tortured?” she asked. I could tell she was stopping herself from wincing.

“It was light torture,” I said. “A little toenail pulling. Getting beaten up by the barrel of a gun, that kind of thing. Don’t worry. No one went anywhere near my balls.”

“That’s not...that’s not what I was worried about,” she replied.

I felt a pang of guilt for bringing up my past. It wasn’t fair to burden her with it, not when she was dealing with so much herself. “Sorry,” I muttered.

“No, it’s okay,” she said, shaking her head. “I just...I can’t imagine going through something like that. How did you deal with it?”

I shrugged. “Poorly,” I said. “It’s not the first time the Blades have gotten me out of a pickle. Remember how I told you I was working at a casino when I met Teo?”

“Vaguely.”

“Okay, so I was there a lot,” I said. “And I was really good at what they needed me to do. I was more than just enhanced tech support. I was essentially a spy, gathering information on high rollers and their connections. You know, people need to be careful of what they put online. I had enough money and wanted to quit. My boss liked using my skills. He wanted me to keep working for them. He offered me a raise. He offered me twice my salary. Honestly, I just wanted out of the life. Back then, I thought my mom would’ve hated to see what I had become.”

Sofia was quiet for a moment, taking in my words. “What did you do?” she asked softly.

“I quit,” I said simply. “And then they came after me. They took me and kept me captive for weeks. I thought I was going to die. He kept me in a hotel room right above the casino so I didn’t even realize I had been kidnapped at first. Then he came in and he started torturing me. You know, himself. Not his goons. He was mad I was trying to leave. It was...it was bad.”

Sofia’s eyes widened in horror. “And the Blades got you out?”

I nodded. “Teo and Grayson. Back then, it was just the two of them,” I said. “They found out where I was being held and came after me. They took down everyone in that room, including my former boss.”

Sofia cocked her head. “Why did they get you out?” she asked. “I mean, you said you weren’t part of the Blades back then.”

I shook my head, looking into her dark eyes. “You know, I’ve thought about that a lot over the years,” I said. “And I think it’s because Teo saw something in me. He saw potential. He saw someone who could be a valuable asset to the Blades, and he was right.”

“So what happened?” she asked, her head cocked. Her face was soft as he listened to my story, her fingers trailing absently over the fabric of my shirt. “You don’t have to keep talking about it, Jace. I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”

“I don’t mind talking about it,” I told her. “Teo offered me a job. And it was a real job, you know? He told me to do it for a year and if I didn’t like it, he would help me get out of this whole thing.”

“By whole thing, you mean organized crime.”

“Yes,” I said. “But I didn’t want to. Teo and Grayson became my family. I still don’t think my mom would approve, but she’s not here.”

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