Page 127 of BounBound By Scars

Chef Matthis?

Maybe. Maybe not.

Fuck.

I spent the whole day watching them—tracking their movements, their breaks, their personal calls. Nothing stood out, but that didn’t mean shit.

And the worst part?

If I dug deeper—ran background checks, tracked digital footprints—I’d expose myself. I’d give them proof I knew something.

I couldn’t risk that.

I couldn’t riskher.

I made sure Kaylan was with Amelia constantly. And when she wasn’t—Iwas. No exceptions.

Dylan was practically catatonic. Not that I blamed him.

I was buried in the Pentagon data streams when my phone buzzed.

Sebastian and Ghost were calling me to the lounge.

I sighed.

This better be good, because I didn’t want to leave the Command Center with a potential rat scurrying about.

I locked my laptop and walked off, each step echoing with that gnawing pressure in my gut—feeling of eyes on me.

One of them.

It was one of these five.

I just know it.

My gut was screaming at me.

The lounge was unnervingly quiet when I walked in.

Sebastian sat across from Ghost in one of the alcoves, their voices low. The kind of conversation you didn’t interrupt. I slid into the seat next to Seb, catching the tail end of something about the Pentagon—plans, next steps, fallout.

“I know you’re working on the data,” Ghost said, glancing at me. “Take your time.”

I gave a quiet nod, my mind already spinning. “Why was I summoned?”

Sebastian exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. “Zane’s back. Ronan too.”

My chest jerked like someone had slammed their fist into it. They were back?

“Where are they?” I started to rise, but Seb’s hand shot out, firm on my shoulder, anchoring me down.

“They’re in the clinic,” he said, his voice quieter now. “Ronan… he’s in bad shape. Zane too. We don’t know what weeks of captivity did to him.”

My jaw clenched. “Is he okay?”

Ghost nodded slowly. “Physically? Mostly. Mentally? Not so sure. He’s not himself. You two were close… maybe he’ll talk to you.”

I blinked, swallowing the knot rising in my throat. My thoughts immediately scattered—Zane, tortured, broken. What did they do to him? Had Romano gotten to him? Had he made the same threats I just heard in my room?

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