Page 44 of Traitor

"I didn't talk, but I watched," he says, eerily calm. Too knowing. "I went through hell because Adora betrayed me," he goes on after a moment, the sound like a blade. "Spent five years watching my life turn to shit because I trusted the wrong woman. Lost everything. I know what betrayal looks like, Bones. I know what it feels like. And I watched Ely for months. She didn't fake it with you."

Poison spreads through my chest. It's the worst fucking thing he could have said to me.

Because I already know it, don’t I?

I know it every time I close my eyes and see her looking at me like I hung the goddamn moon. I know it when I wake up in an empty bed, when I reach for her before I remember that she's gone. That I’m the one who sent her away.

But I can't admitthat.

So I scoff. "Sure. Whatever the fuck you say."

Ghost shakes his head like he's fucking tired of me, and honestly? I'm tired of myself too.

"Why'd you send Tank after me, Kane?" he asks, narrowing his eyes. "He didn't come to bring me back. And he wasn't exactly subtle, following me around like a lost puppy, being all obvious and shit. I'm surprised the Riders didn't clock him. You know he's shit at stakeouts."

I snort, rubbing a hand over my jaw. "I sent him to have your back in case you decided to act even more stupid than you already were."

"Sure. So he wasn't there to help me get Ely out of the Riders' clubhouse when I made my move?"

My stomach drops.

"You're talking fucking nonsense," I snap, sitting forward in my chair, heat flaring in my chest. "He was there to have your back and call for backup in case you were made. That why you were in their territory? To get her out? Are you out of your fucking mind?"

He simply shrugs. Unbothered. "And to investigate further. Don't act as if you didn't know, Kane. If you really didn't want me there, you could have stopped me. Things didn't add up, but you already know that. Nothing moves around here without you knowing. Don't fucking deny it. You can lie to yourself, but you can't lie to me."

I stare at him, something dangerous and unwelcome creeping into my veins.

He's right.

I knew.

I could have shut it down, told him to stay the fuck away. But I didn't.

Because some fucked-up, buried part of me wanted to find out more.

His voice drops lower. "I had a hunch that she needed saving. And I was right. I just didn't get the chance to help her, Jinx moved too fast. He broke her in four fucking days and I had no opening to get her out. Tank got to her before me after she was dumped. Fucker has no idea what staying in the shadows means. His cage is red for fucks sake! But at least he saved her life."

A sharp, suffocating pressure wraps around my lungs.

I sent her back to her own personal monster.

And I stood there and watched while he threw her in the van.

"Fuck," I mutter, my head dropping forward, my elbows braced on the desk. "Where did everything go so fucking wrong?"

Ghost doesn't answer right away. When he does, his voice is cool, detached. "I did get to play with one of the Riders' prospects. Got my chance when Jinx went to dump Ely's body. Grabbed him right from their back gate, it's why I was late getting to her."

My head snaps up. "What did you find out?"

The corner of his mouth lifts. Barely. Mocking. "Ah, so now you want to look deeper into things, huh?"

"Don't try me, Ghost."

His smirk fades. "Prospect didn't know much. He was there for a year. Seems he wasn't making the cut for a patch. Which works in my favor because they won't be asking where he went when he doesn't show up at the clubhouse. He caught Ely for a few months only. But he did say she used to be bruised all the time. Looked like a lifeless doll every time Jinx pulled her into his lap. I'm thinking she ran from him. And you sent her back to her own personal monster, Bones."

Something inside me snaps.

"I can't believe that," I whisper, but it's weak. A fucking lie.

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