Page 43 of Shattered By Grace

Vic.

Her chest tightened at the sound of it. No one had called her that in years. Not since she left. Not since she becameGrace Scarlettinstead of Victoria Grace.

She forced herself to ignore the way it made her feel, like a ghost of the girl she used to be had just been called back to life.

“I had to,” she said flatly.

Justin shook his head like he was trying to make sense of it. “And all this time, I thought…” He cut himself off, jaw flexing before he let out a bitter laugh. “Doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re here, and this? This is bad, Vic.”

She crossed her arms, keeping her expression guarded. “So explain it to me. Why the hell areyoutangled up in this mess?”

His lips pressed into a tight line. “Because I thought I was going to break the case of a lifetime.”

Justin let out a slow breath. “I was fresh out of the academy, still green. I found a file buried in the archives,an old case that got swept under the rug. It had names, stash house locations, and something about an underground fighting circuit called theGrand Reaping.It didn’t make sense why no one was acting on it, so I started digging, asking questions.” His throat bobbed. “Turns out, I found a dirty judge on Locke’s payroll. I went to my supervisor, he took the file and said he would look into it.”

Realization flickered in her chest. “Cops.”

Justin nodded grimly. “Some of the force is clean. But the ones who aren’t? They work for the Lockes. Before I knew it, I had two choices, either keep my mouth shut or go under.”

“And you got close to Cassian Locke,” she murmured.

Justin’s gaze hardened. “Too close.”

A shadow passed over his face, and for the first time, she saw something in him that hadn’t been there before. Weariness.A man who had played his part too well, for too long.

“I’m in deeper than I ever planned,” he admitted, his voice tight. “And now you’re here, and they know you’re here. You’re being watched, Vic.”

“How much deeper?” She asked, her chest tight.

Justin’s eyes darkened. “I went to the judge to ask about the files, and that’s when things went south. He was dead… and I saw who murdered him.” His breath hitched. “Cassian found out what I was doing, and he cornered me. Gave me a choice. Either I work for him, keep my eyes open for anything against him, or I become a target myself,” he pauses, swallowing hard. “He used the judge’s death as leverage, made it clear how far his reach went. There was no other way out. I had to take the deal.”

His jaw clenched, his gaze going distant. “It wasn’t about power or money then. It was survival.”

A long, tense pause followed as his words sank in.

“Now?” He leaned in, voice low, pained. “Now I’m stuck. I know too much, and if I try to back out? I’m dead, they’ll make sure of it, but I’ve been feeding information to someone. I’m still a cop.”

“I know,” she said quietly.

Justin’s throat worked like he wanted to say something else, but instead, he held her gaze.

Victoria narrowed her eyes. “Do you know who’s following me?”

A beat. A hesitation so slight most people wouldn’t have caught it. But she did. The shift in his stance, the tightening of his fingers.

“No,” he said, too quickly.

A slow, cold realization curled in her stomach.Liar.

“Right.” She let the silence stretch, watching him squirm. “Because that wassoconvincing.”

Something flickered across his face. Regret, frustration, maybe both. “Then let me prove it.”

She stared at him, heart hammering because despite everything, despite the past, the secrecy, thelies…A part of her still wanted to believe him.

And that was the most dangerous part of all.

But she wouldn’t let that sway her. Not when the stakes were this high.

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