Page 7 of Shattered

Koen

The kid was hiding something. It wasn't only the fact his answers were clipped, it was how he refused to maintain eye contact, which sent a slew of red flags flying all over the place. My question was, what? He’d already revealed his part in hacking the university’s system, yet somehow this felt different, more ominous.

Once we finished the meal, he retreated back to the solace of his bedroom, leaving Jade and me to clean up the dirty dishes.

“You don’t have to help,” she said as I scrubbed a bowl then handed it to her to rinse.

“I want to. Besides, my mom would kick my ass if she ever found out I’d dined and dashed.”

Tilting her head to the side, she asked, “Are you close to her? Your mom?”

“Yeah. We FaceTime every Sunday and talk or text throughout the week.”

“Must be hard living so far away.”

“It was an adjustment, absolutely, when I movedacross the country, but she has Riley and Willow.” At her questioning glance, I elaborated, “My brother and sister.”

“Lanie mentioned you had siblings, I just didn’t know their names.”

“Oh, really?” I bumped her shoulder with mine. “You were talking about me?”

“N-No,” she stammered, dipping her chin to her chest, a flush of red blooming on her cheeks. “She said it once.”

I desperately wanted to find out where else on her body she blushed, except we weren’t there yet. Not by a long shot, but we would be if I had anything to say about it.

“I’m teasing, Jade.”

She hummed in response, her focus returning back to the sink. We finished our task in relative silence and as she placed the last dish on the drying rack, I took a moment to look around.

Their house was clean, almost obsessively so, and despite the multitude of obvious repairs needed, it felt like a home; well lived in, yet full of love. A few pictures hung on the walls, mostly of Jade and Jett at various stages throughout their lives. However, there was one in particular with an older woman which caught my eye. Moving into the hallway, I studied the portrait.

“That was our gran,” Jade announced.

Glancing from the picture back to her, I remarked, “You have her eyes. I’m sorry you lost her.”

“Me too.”

Taking her hand in mine, warmth spread through my veins when she didn’t bristle at the contact. On the way to the living room, we passed the stairs where I noticed the intricate detailing in the woodwork of the banister. Each hand-carved line and swirl was seemingly etched with care. Much like the rest of the house, it was in need of someTLC, but it was still as beautiful and complicated as the woman beside me.

Reaching the ash-gray oversized sofa, I sat, gently tugging her down next to me.

“How are you doing after everything? And don’t you dare spout some bullshit about being fine because you’re not.”

“What do you want me to say, Koen?” She sighed heavily, yanking her hand out of mine. It took an act of God for me not to snatch it back, but she was talking so I’d give her a modicum of space…for now.

Standing abruptly, she turned to face me, roughly shoving her fingers through her long dark hair, fisting it near her scalp and speaking through gritted teeth, “I wasn’t the one who got stabbed and almost died, for Christ’s sake.”

Bingo. There it was. I’d asked and she’d answered, except the nitty-gritty truth as she saw it was flawed. Rising to my feet, I crowded her, done with the distance. She took a shaky step back, then another, but I matched her movements until there was nowhere else for either of us to go. Cautiously, I placed my hands on her hips, pulling her body so close there was barely a breath between us.

“If you think for one second because you don’t have the physical scars as proof of the horror you went through that you weren’t hurt, then we’ve got big problems, Angel.”

It had been a little over two weeks since Jade and Henley had been taken by a killer, whose endgame was to torture Keaton. I could still see each and every tear which streaked down Jade’s terror-filled face like it was yesterday. I could still feel the rage vibrating through every cell in my body when a video of her being zip-tied to a chair had been sent to Keaton’s phone. My only saving grace was knowing I owned the kill-shot.

“Let me in, Jade,” I pleaded, holding her gaze. “No more hiding in the shadows, it’s time to come back into the light. I promise, I won’t let you fall.”

Minutes passed. I sensed the walls she’d built begin to fall apart. The air between us shifted as the tension and fight drained from her body.

“I was so scared.” The way her voice trembled with each word would haunt my dreams for years to come. “Not just for me, but for Henley. He drugged her, but I was awake. When he pointed the gun in my face and made me strip down to my underwear, I knew my life was over.”

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