Page 80 of The Lies We Believe

I glanced up at him in confusion, not really understanding the relevance, but before I could ask, Jordan continued. “Bane said someone took your things. Your clothes were likely destroyed, but the nurse, Sharon, mentioned her colleague took it by mistake, right?” Unable to speak, I nodded. “I don’t think it was an accident.” He raised his fingers like speech marks to emphasise his words.

“What makes you say that?” Montoya asked.

“Well.” He rubbed his hands together. “It didn’t take long for these guys to appear on the footage. One of them was here earlier today, talking to a nurse. The conversation didn’t last long, but it was intense, and resulted in her storming off. He waited around for a bit, then walked a circuit of the building while noting the cameras. After confirming with the guard on duty who she was—Kirsty Ambrose—I got him to look up her shift pattern and it turned up two things. One, she was on a lot ofshifts with Sharon, and two, she was working the night you were brought in, too.”

“So you think she’s guilty by association.” It wasn’t a question, but Jordan nodded anyway. “She’s here on shift today?”

“Yes, on this ward.”

“Fuck.” Montoya looked at Bane, and the silence stretching between them was suffocating. You could have heard a pin drop as they had a conversation that consisted of frowns, nods, and head shakes. No actual words passed between them, but by the time Montoya left the room like her ass was on fire, they’d come to some kind of understanding. Bane worried his bottom lip between his teeth.

“Want to share with the room what you’ve decided?” Jordan asked as he took the seat next to Bane.

“Sorry.” Bane sighed and ran his hand over his face before his eyes flicked to me like he was making sure I was still here. “We’ve worked together for so long that sometimes we forget other people can’t understand us.” Jordan gave a semblance of a smile while he waited for Bane to continue. “It seems too convenient, but I’m not prepared to take any risks in case everything you’ve found is exactly as it looks, not just a case of her being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“What’s the plan, then?”

My head was pounding, and I found it difficult to focus on what they were discussing, but I caught what I thought were the Cliffs Notes. Montoya was going to speak with Sharon about her colleague, and then the nurse in charge. I was to be secretly moved to another room, because Bane was convinced these guys were going to come after me to finish what they’d started.

Personally, I thought they were blowing everything out of proportion. I had Bane and Montoya in the room with me, and Jordan on the door. My room was better guarded thanFort Knox, but Bane was adamant this was happening and no one could convince him otherwise. Especially after Sharon confirmed that Kirsty was the one who had my bag. The fact no one knew if it was a genuine mistake or not seemed irrelevant. The decision had been made, and that was that.

The three of them spent hours talking through their plan and discussing any variables that could fuck everything up while I drifted in and out of consciousness, making my own plans. When Montoya and Jordan left to get something to eat, finally leaving me alone with Bane, the opportunity I needed finally presented itself.

“Shift change is about to happen, so we’ll move you to the other room while everyone is distracted. The only person who will know where you are is?—”

“N-no,” I ground out. The painkillers I was on were strong and kept knocking me out, but with adrenaline surging through my veins, I felt capable of anything. “I-I’m…n-not…going.”

“Excuse me?”

“Y-you…he…h-heard me.”

“River, what the hell?”

Bane paced the room, looking strung out and exhausted, but so was I. I’d spent my life fighting, even when I was physically broken and mentally checked out, waiting for death. Now, when I had the chance at a life I could have only dreamed of months ago, I wasn’t about to sit back and let others put themselves in the firing line. I was ready to fight for the life he’d promised, and I wasn’t about to let him stop me.

Exasperated, I ignored the burning pain in my throat and the ever present searing ache that echoed through my bones and pushed through. “I-I’m the…o-one they…w-want…”

“I know, but I promised you?—”

I held up a trembling hand, halting him, rubbing my throat as trepidation slithered across my skin and sunk like lead in mygut. “I-I’m the one t-they… raped… and the o-one t…they w-want…to…”

Tears shone in his hypnotic eyes as he sat on the side of the bed. He pulled his knee up, so it brushed my thigh. That single point of connection rocked through me, grounded me, and finally allowed air into my lungs.

“I promised I’d keep you safe, River.” He swallowed, the sound audible in the near silence of my room. “I won’t make the same mistake again.”

My hand wrapped around his, where it was clenched into a fist on his knee. “I-I know, a-and…y-you’re…k-kee…ping it. B-but, I…n-need…to…d-do this.” Sweat coated my forehead and the top of my lip. My whole body shook as I waited with bated breath for Bane’s response. I could see the war raging inside him. I just hoped he’d remember the promise he made to fight my demons at my side as a partner, an equal.

“You need this?” he asked tentatively. I nodded and stroked my fingers over his knuckles, unable to take the pained look in his eyes anymore. “Jesus fucking Christ.” He shook his head. “The things you do to me. I can’t say no to you, even when I know I should.” Resignation laced his every word. “How much did you hear?”

“M-most of…it?” My breath caught as his shoulders slumped in defeat, and he brushed a kiss to the end of my nose. Unclenching his fist, he slid his hand into my hair and pulled me close enough for his lips to brush mine.

When he spoke, his words reverberated through me and into my bones. “If I let you stay, you must do exactly what I tell you. I could be wrong about them coming for you, but my gut tells me…”

The smile that lifted my lips felt unnatural, the antithesis of everything I was. I’d spent my life broken and wearing my fear like armor to keep everyone away. I’d made myself an island,because it was safer that way. But now I wanted to be strong, even in the face of death. I didn’t want to face the future without fighting for it. “Your g-gut is n-never wrong.”

“It’s not. I must be mad,” he muttered, and kissed me until all I could think about was him. I knew what agreeing had cost him, so I did the only thing I could; I gave him every part of me. I kept nothing back, because this could be the last time I got to kiss him. The last time his taste burst across my tongue. There were no secrets hidden in the shadows. I laid myself bare as his tongue licked into my mouth, and his arms wrapped around me, chest to chest, hearts thundering, each beat perfectly synced with one another. Two bodies, one soul, together locked in a final embrace as we stood at the edge of the battleground to fight for our forever.

“I love you.”

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