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I couldn’t miss the alarm in his question. Fire burned up my throat, and I bit my lip, holding the swell of feelings inside. “I don’t think she does. If Reid is your brother, then obviously she realized she had another pregnancy. But maybe she was forced to give him up? I’m not sure.” I shrugged. “We won’t find out until we talk to her.”
After meeting Opal and Kassandra, I could understand if Catherine had decided not to have anything to do with her sister. As far as Catherine knew, Opal had died years ago. Even if Catherine didn’t have a clue about the sex ring, they were fucking crazy, and she was smart to keep her distance.
I rested my forehead against his. With the new information, I understood the anxiety about asking Catherine if she knew. He was looking for an answer to who he saw. “It sounds like you witnessed something horrible, and your brain blocked it out to protect you.” Slipping my hand around his neck, I gave him a gentle squeeze. “It wasn’t your mom, though, I promise. It was her twin.” For some reason, I felt it necessary to repeat that to him. He had to be in shock. I was when I first saw her.
Holden softly sighed. “When I saw her face, it fucking terrified me. I’d led you straight to her. You’d been taken at my club, lived in my house … I never, ever meant to put you in danger, River. I swear I didn’t know.” Tears welled up in his eyes, and my stomach twisted into knots.
I kissed him gently. “Baby, it wasn’t your fault. Neither of us had a fucking clue. I sure as hell don’t blame you, so you can’t blame yourself.”
He wiped away the moisture, and his breath stuttered. “As soon as I came out of the hypnosis, I called Pierce immediately. He said after we found you, then we could investigate Catherine, but hypnosis wouldn’t hold up in court so they couldn’t arrest her unless they discovered evidence during the raid.”
Dread bundled inside me, twisting my stomach into knots. “Do you know if the FBI found anything that connected Catherine to all of this?” Even though I hadn’t ever seen her at the compound, it didn’t mean she was innocent. She could still be involved. Opal said Catherine thought she was dead, but Opal lied as easily as Satan himself. If Catherine was tied to the sex ring, Holden would lose both of his parents. I clutched my chest while I wrestled with the possibilities.
“I don’t know. I was hoping to find out today when we talked to Brian. Reid and I should get a DNA test before we meet with everyone, though. I’m not saying shit to mom until we have as many pieces to the puzzle as possible. At this point, we can’t trust her.”
A heavy silence descended over us. Holden’s grip tightened on me, then he stood, taking great care not to drop me. “I need a minute.” He set me down, and the moment my feet touched the porch, he gave me a clipped nod, but a storm brewed in his eyes. “I’ll be back.” He took off down the steps.
I smashed my lips together in order to keep myself from calling after him. I knew this would be hard for him to wrap his brain around, but it fucking broke me to see him this way. His whole world had been a lie. And somehow, Tim was involved as well. I had no idea how, though. Holden’s entire fucking family wasn’t who he thought they were. My heart shattered into pieces for him. At least I’d known from a young age that my piece of shit mother had betrayed my brother and me. Dan hadn’t hidden his true self from me for long, either. I was clear on who they were. But this … the secrecy and lies … it had to be devastating for him.
The door creaked open behind me, and I turned to see Reid take a hesitant step out. Worry twisted his handsome features, so closely resembling Holden’s that it was eerie. “What happened?”
“I told Holden about Opal and Kassandra. He didn’t take things well and took off down the road.” I pointed in the direction I last saw him.
Reid gave me a quick kiss on top of the head, then darted down the steps, looked both ways, then turned right and disappeared behind the row of tall bushes that lined Chance’s front yard.
Zayne strolled over to me as I grabbed my coffee, my hands trembling. “I can’t go after him, River. He ordered me to not leave your side.”
“I understand. Maybe Reid can help.”
Zayne massaged the back of his neck. “That was a big blow. He’s going to take this hard. He already felt like it was his fault you were taken.”
“It wasn’t. He can’t carry that burden.”
“But he is. It was his club. He introduced Michelle to you, brought her into his house, and now this. His family was behind it all. It will take him a while to process everything. Not to take anything away from your experience, I don’t want to come across as an asshole. I’m just trying to help.”
I studied Zayne. He seemed to really care about Holden, and I was glad he was here. “I appreciate it. I’m floundering around, grasping for things to make sense.” I took a sip of what was left of my coffee. “Sutton said she wanted me to meet her sister.”
Zayne flashed me a sweet smile. “Claire’s pretty amazing. She and Vaughn are engaged.”
“He seems like a good guy. While Brynn and I were out shopping, he was very kind to us. Took us to a great spot for lunch, too.”
Zayne chuckled. “He’s a great guy. He and Sutton are super tight, but she freaked on him when Claire admitted she and Vaughn were together. Vaughn—well, all of us—played around, but Vaughn played around a lot more. Sutton wasn’t convinced he was what Claire needed. She was so furious with Vaughn, she punched him.” A huge smile split Zayne’s face, and he laughed. “I watched the whole thing go down. It was epic.”
My mouth gaped. “Holy shit. I figured she could hold her own with you guys.” I grinned at him, grateful to have something else to talk about.
“Anyway, Vaughn and Claire are good for each other. They have that deep connection like you and Holden do. Claire was a fucking wreck when she moved in with Pierce and Sutton, though. She’d been held in a shipping container for days with a hundred other women. They were about to transport them overseas to be sold when Brian and the FBI found them.”
“Wow.” Sutton was right. Claire would understand what I’d gone through.
“She’s tough but had flashbacks, and it took her a while to recover. Gemma and Mackenzie were super good for her. They’re all sexual assault survivors, and they immediately bonded. You will too. Trust Sutton. She’s in your corner.”
“Gemma and Mackenzie?” I quirked a brow at him.
Zayne’s attention traveled across the front of the property, remaining alert while we talked. “Yeah, Gemma is the female lead in August Clover along with her husband, Hendrix Harrington. Mackenzie, Mac for short, is Cade’s fiancée. He’s the guitarist.”
“Wait, wait, wait … You know Gemma?” I squeaked, completely caught off-guard.
“Yeah, I know all of them. Super good people. They all have stories to share, but that’s their place, so I should shut my mouth.” Guilt flickered in Zayne’s green eyes.
