Page 50 of Ensnared By Silence
I sat back down, overwhelmed by the information and still trying to come to grips with the fact my boss was my brother. I knew he grew up in the Flats, like me, but I would have never guessed he was family.
“So, now what?” I asked, and he sat down, crossing his legs before he exhaled. “Now, you tell me why you ran, so I can fix whatever has you so on edge.”
“It’s complicated. I don’t . . . I don’t really want to talk about it.”
“Will you tell me what Hayden has to do with it? From everything I’ve seen, he cares deeply for you.”
I scoffed, and he tilted his head in curiosity. The pain was threatening to destroy the concrete I locked my heart in and the tears built in my eyes. I swiped at them before I explained, “I trusted Hayden with a secret, something I’ve never told anyone, and he used it against me in the worst way possible. I just want to forget about him and move on.”
“Away from Pierce Bluff?”
“Away from everything. It’s for the best. Believe me,” I replied, and he shook his head in frustration.
“We’ll get back to why you want to leave when we just found each other. Hayden came to Devlin and me months ago, worried about what happened to you. He wanted revenge, but he knew you were too fragile and scared to tell him who hurt you.”
I jumped up and went to the other side of the room, needing distance between me and James. “How . . . how could he tell you? It wasn’t his secret to tell,” I whispered.
“I swear to you, he didn’t tell us anything that betrayed you. He was helpless, and our reputation for solving these types of problems isn’t a secret, apparently, so he asked for help to find the people who hurt you.” He paused before continuing. “Why didn’t you go to the police?”
“No one would believe me. Not against them. I know how women are treated after . . . something like that, so I kept my mouth shut. I have skeletons I don’t need brought into the light,” I admitted, and he stood, offering me his hand.
I slowly walked across the crappy motel room, and he gestured for me to sit. Keeping his hand in mine, he kneeled on the dirty floor and explained, “We ran your background check and found Hayden’s connection to . . . him. We confronted Hayden, and he was physically sick over it. He spent his life as far away from those people as possible, and to know it was them who we assume hurt you, it destroyed him. All he wanted to do was annihilate those assholes, but I wouldn’t let him. Devlin wouldn’t let him.”
“Why not?”
“We need information from them, and when they showed up yesterday, Hayden panicked. He’s gathering information from them because . . . they tested their drug on you and, well, they’re still using it to take advantage of other girls.”
I gasped and grabbed my chest, struggling to breathe as the guilt of my silence pressed down on me. “I could have saved them.”
“You were a scared kid who wasn’t in the position to save them. But now, you can.”
“How? It’s still my word against theirs.”
“They admitted it to Hayden, not knowing his connection to you. He has it all recorded. With your testimony, they’ll go away for a long time.”
“I’m not sure I want them to go to jail,” I admitted, and he wrinkled his forehead in confusion. I looked up through watery lashes. “I want them to suffer like I did. I want them scared and looking over their shoulders. I want them to hurt.”
His smile turned sinister, and he chuckled lowly as he spoke. “You are undeniably my sister.”
I glanced to the side, embarrassed at my assumptions regarding Hayden. He cared deeply for me if he was willing to go to the lengths he did to find who hurt me. I needed to know, and James had been completely honest with me, something I appreciated very much. “So, Hayden didn’t set me up? He really didn’t know about what Tucker did to me?”
“He called me less than five minutes after you pulled away from his house yesterday, worried and panicked. I’ve known Hayden for almost ten years, and I can tell you, that man cares deeply for you. He loves you and just wants to protect you. Like I do with Amaya and Devlin does with Elise.”
“How do I get him to forgive me?” I whispered, and James chuckled before standing from his chair.
“You don’t even have to ask,” he replied before opening the door and motioning outside.
A car door slammed, followed by footsteps growing closer to the room. I watched as a nervous Hayden jolted into the room, dark circles under his amber eyes and his blond hair in disarray. He stopped when he saw me and looked at James for instructions.
“I’ve explained everything and I’m going to give you two a few minutes alone before we need to get back home.”
I nodded, and he winked with a smile behind Hayden’s back before he closed the door, sealing us inside. I twisted my hands together and my eyes grew glossy as he stood there, uncertainty pouring off my normally cocky boyfriend.
“Aubrey? Are you okay?” he finally asked, and I stood from the bed and walked directly to him.
He stood still as I wrapped my arms around his waist, and he exhaled, pulling me tighter to him. Bending over, he engulfed me in his embrace. I needed the feel of his arms around me, reminding me of what we had and what I almost threw away out of fear.
I whispered against his chest, “I’m sorry.”
