Page 47 of Hunted Hearts
He was seeing Juliette trying to run into that burning dressing room.
All the pieces were beginning to fit together. The charity was trying to fly under the radar to continue their dark transactions…and she was fucking it up for them by drawing them into the spotlight with her.
My god. She’s been in danger because of this all this time.
Carson walked in first, with Colt looking like he just rolled out of bed. Gray entered a minute later, dusty from working around the ranch.
Theo kept his gaze on the doorway, every muscle in his shoulders drawn tight as Oaks finally stepped in. The low, deliberate thud of his boots against the hardwood echoed louder than it should’ve, like the house itself was waiting.
“Sorry it took me a bit to break away.” Oaks’s deep voice rumbled through the tension in the room. “I was over in thetherapy building. One of the guys…” He stopped, jaw flexing. His eyes flicked down for a second, as if the words he was reaching for might be easier to find on the floor.
He didn’t have to finish. Every man in that room had been there—seen someone crack, fall apart or hang by a thread after carrying too much for too long. Several of them nodded in quiet acknowledgment of battles they’d all fought in one way or another.
But the heaviness in Oaks’s tone hit Theo harder than he expected. Not because of the pause. But because of what it reminded him of—what they were all skirting around.
Theo’s hands curled into fists against his thighs. He didn’t know if he had the guts to voice the words he needed to say.
Everyone stared at him, the silence in the room loaded.
As he began to speak, it felt like a confession pressing against his ribs. Short blasts tumbled out. “Those kids…the ones the trafficking note pointed to…the note I handed over to the right people so the system could handle it…”
They were alive, yes, picked up in some port and given blankets and the promise of safety. But now? They were scattered into foster care. Processed, then forgotten.
“Fuck!” He sliced his fingers through his hair.
The weight of it clawed at his gut. The rest of the words tumbled out in rapid succession, tripping over themselves at times.
“I should’ve stopped this from happening, should’ve found a-a…better solution.Something. Anything but letting the machine chew them up and spit them into the kind of life that can break them all over again!”
Colt’s voice broke through the static in his head, measured and low. “See how that feels, brother? Imagine what this isgonna do to Juliette when she hears it. There’s no way she’s part of this intentionally.”
Theo’s head came up at that, his jaw locking. “No. Of course she isn’t involved with their crime. She doesn’t have a damn clue, and that’s going to be the hardest part for her to process.”
The idea of her finding out, of her thinking even for a second that she’d been hurting the same people she was trying to save, made his chest ache with something he didn’t want to name.
“We’ll have to pull her in,” Oaks said quietly, finally finding his voice again. “She needs to hear it from us, not from a headline or some rumor.”
Theo exhaled through his nose, the sound sharp in the quiet room. He hated it. Hated that they were about to drop this on her shoulders when she’d already been through enough.
“Then we need Willow here,” he said firmly, looking around the table until every one of them met his gaze. “She’s gonna need a female she can trust in the room. Someone who’ll help her process it, not just stand there like a bunch of guys circling a problem we can’t fix.”
Denver gave a short nod, his expression grim. “I’ll have Willow bring Juliette in.”
Theo yanked out a chair and dropped to it, his energy depleted. But his body didn’t relax. Not even close.
He couldn’t stop what was coming. But he could make damn sure Juliette didn’t face it alone.
* * * * *
Juliette had just eased her bow back into its spot in the case when a soft knock broke the stillness of the guest room. She glanced up, fingers lingering over the smooth wood of the violin.
She’d meant to do this hours ago. It was her ritual after every trip to inspect every inch of the instrument to be sure itwas unharmed. But Theo had been…distracting. The warmth of his arms, the way his presence settled something she never evenknewwas restless inside her, had pushed everything else from her mind.
The knock came again, and then Willow’s voice. “Juliette? You got a second?”
Juliette hesitated, then she placed the violin carefully in the case and snapped the clasps shut before rising.
Willow Malone stood in the doorway, her dark brows drawn together, though her smile was warm. She was tall but feminine, with long, dark hair spilling over a pine green sweater and faded jeans. The woman wasn’t just pretty in a grounded, natural way—she was stunning.
