Page 77 of Broken Boss

“Okay…” She hesitates, and for a moment I think she might ask what it’s about. But then the phone clicks.

My entire body tenses as I wait. Instead of it being a relief when she steps into the room, my throat goes dry.

“Close the door, please.”

She blinks, features settling into a serious expression as she obeys and then walks slowly toward the desk.

“Here. Look at this. Tell me if you recognize anyone.”

I hand her my phone and wait. The footage is completely silent with no audio. Autumn’s eyes move across the screen and I know she’s taking in the bar scene, the group of girls.

The men approaching.

Her face goes slack.

“Is that…?”

“You tell me.”

Her eyes snap up and meet mine. The color drains from her face, and I stand to guide her to a chair, taking the phone from her before it falls out of her grip.

“What happened?” Her voice is detached, careful, but there’s an edge of fear to it that only I can hear.

“I’ll tell you soon. First, is that Kieran? The man who turns and looks back across the bar?”

“I…I don’t know.”

Sighing in frustration, I prop myself against the desk. “Autumn, I need you to look again, then.”

Slowly, she shakes her head. “No, I…I don’t need to. I think it’s him.”

The tension leaves my body. Now that I have an answer, I can start putting the pieces together.

“Okay. This is going to be hard to hear, but something happened last night.”

As I repeat all the information Jacobson gave me, Autumn’s eyes become unfocused and it’s almost as if she’s not in the room with me. I explain the girl, Alex Gilmore, that she’s in the hospital with a serious injury to the throat. That a knife was found.

When Autumn finally meets my gaze again, it’s obvious she’s put the pieces together, too.

“You think Kieran did this to her?”

“I think this footage shows that he and his buddies were interested in these girls, and the girls rebuffed them. I think…I think Kieran has a history of being violent. You’ve hinted so yourself.”

Autumn’s cheeks flush in embarrassment. Jaw set, I drop to my knees in front of her and take her hands.

“Hey. Look at me.” It takes her a second, but she finally does, as if she can’t look away. “Whatever he did to you wasn’t your fault, Autumn. You didn’t deserve it. Men like Kieran…they have a sway over people. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

She chews her lip for a second and then bursts out, “He couldn’t have done that.”

“Are you sure? Really sure? Because if he did, Autumn, it means that all those years ago…”

Her brows knit as she shakes her head again. “I just…I can’t believe he’d do something like that to someone.”

“Okay. But you don’t think Stephen did it either, right?”

“I know Stephen didn’t do it!”

There’s my girl. The fire is back in her eyes as she straightens in the chair, pulling one hand out of my grip. I give her a small, encouraging grin.

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