Page 169 of The Pact

“I-um…I need to go inside.” My voice shakes and my vision blurs. Logically, I know I’m safe with Damian and Wes here. Still, I can’t push the panic away.

Damian’s head turns and his gaze follows mine before returning to me, confused. “Thea, what’s going on?”

“How do you know him?” I point to the man that has me terrified.

Wes looks behind him this time. “Who? Jake? The one with the beer? In the blue shirt?”

I nod, my eyes wild. A name to put with a face.

“He’s an old friend. Lives a few towns over. We don’t get to see him much, but he always comes to our summer barbecue,” Wes explains. “Do you know him?”

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “Do you remember the night Cole first brought me over? When that guy opened my truck door and started screaming at me? That’s him.”

Damian and Wesley’s faces twist. “No, that can’t be right,” Wes objects.

I can feel everyone’s eyes on me. Then they shift to Damian as he stands abruptly, nearly knocking the table over. He stomps over to the man and Wesley follows behind.

They’ll throw him out. Then I can relax, I tell myself.

But that’s not what happens. Damian grabs Jake by the shirt and drags him towards me. I fumble backwards. My legs don’t want to cooperate, making me nearly fall into Cassie’s lap. My heart pounds with each step closer.

Damian doesn’t stop until they’re at the table and then he’s slamming Jake’s face into it, holding him down. Jake’s eyes find mine. He suddenly seems to realize why he’s being manhandled.

“You recognize her?” Damian growls, his fist tightening on his shirt.

Jake’s eyes are wild and I’m sure he knows he can’t lie. They’ll believe me over him. “Ye-yes,” he stutters.

I look up to see Wes’ face contort in anger. He just defended him, only to be proven wrong.

“Start explaining,” he commands.

“I was doing him a favor. I didn’t think anything of it. I was never going to hurt her,” Jake sputters out. “I swear, I was never going to hurt you.” He’s staring at me as he says it. There’s no way I can believe him. The anger that was pouring off of him that night was too strong a memory for me to dismiss as acting.

Damian lifts him by his shirt only to slam his face back down. “Who?”

Jake looks like he’s on the verge of tears. “Man, c’mon. I can’t tell you that. Listen, I’ll leave, you’ll never see me again. I swear it.”

My fear subsides a little and I’m curious who would have put him up to this. Gavin? It’s the only logical answer. That was the same night I found the note in my truck. Had Gavin made him do that as well? Was it pure coincidence that Jake knew Damian, Sutton, Cole, and Wesley?

Then it clicks. My veins turn icy.

Cole was the one to pull Jake out of my truck. They would have recognized each other. Cole would have said something to him or to me about knowing him. Instead, he acted like this man was a stranger.

“Jake, this is your last fucking chance to tell me who asked you to do this. The next word out of your mouth better be a name.” His voice is threatening. But Jake doesn’t have to answer. I can.

“Cole,” I mutter. “It was Cole.”

Cassie gasps and I feel her hand on my back. She was right. Of course she was.

Damian and Wes look at me, confused. Then, suddenly, they seem to realize what I have. Jake’s body is being lifted off the table and Damian has him by the throat, squeezing tightly. “Tell me.”

He only nods.

Wesley tips his chin down, glaring at Jake with darkened eyes. “You’re sure?”

Anger pushes past my fear and shock. Why do they need any more confirmation? It all makes sense. I take a breath, trying to see things from their perspective. This isn’t something they’d expect from their brother. They’re in shock too.

Jake’s hands come up defensively. “Hey, man. I can show you the messages.” He moves his hand towards his pocket slowly. “I’m going to get my phone,” he announces cautiously.

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