Page 71 of Skid
Rhys grasped my shoulder, and I looked up at him. “Let me, please. She’s vulnerable and scared.”
I reluctantly stood back from the couch and watched as he kneeled in front of her. She tried to sit up, and he stopped her, speaking quietly to her as she looked around. James pushed the door to the room closed as Rhys met my gaze. I walked around the couch, and when Grace saw me, her eyes filled with tears.
I kneeled in front of her and said, “Hey, baby. I’ve been so worried about you.”
“What . . . how did you find me?”
The sadness in her voice killed me, and I gently took her hands into mine, kissing the backs of both as I promised, “I’ll always find you, Grace. You’re mine, remember?”
Chapter 24
Grace
Ilooked down at mylap, letting the tears fall behind my curtain of hair as Dalton held onto my hands. He lifted my face to his and brushed the tears from my cheeks as he whispered, “I’m so sorry, Grace. Please forgive me. I never meant to hurt you.”
I looked at Rhys over Dalton’s shoulder, seeing the dark-haired man who I now know to be Devlin Callahan standing with him. Confused why they were here, I looked at Dalton and asked, “Can someone please tell me what’s going on?”
“I think we need to be someplace more comfortable. Would that be okay, Grace?” Rhys asked, and I nodded.
Dalton offered his hand to me, and I stood, trying to pull my grip from his. He linked his fingers with mine as we walked out of Rhys’s office and down the hall to the sunroom and a part of me felt better to have his hand in mine. The rest was curious how he found me. There was a large table under an umbrella, and I sat down as the four men pulled out their seats. Rhys sat across from me, and Dalton was on my right.
James sat at the end of the table, silently watching everything unfold, and I ripped my gaze from him, feeling like he could see every painful moment of my life. Devlin sat to the left of Rhys, across from Dalton and the men kept looking at each other with a worried expression passing between them.
Clearing my throat, I started, “Who’s going to tell me what’s going on?” I removed my hand from Dalton’s and crossed my arms over my chest as I tilted my head, appraising them. None of them made a move to speak, and I stood, pushing my chair back. “Fuck this. I’m going to pack, then I’ll be out of all your lives in a few minutes. Thanks for the enlightening conversation.”
I made one step away from the table when James spoke, his voice low and his words filled with painful anger. “My sister, Aubrey, is the little girl on the thumb drive, and I’m sorry you ever had to see it.”
I collapsed into the chair and my mouth fell open as I looked at him. “Why did it even exist? And why didn’t you tell me about it?” I asked, turning my last question to Dalton.
His blue eyes cast down before meeting mine, and he exhaled before speaking. “I never meant for you to ever see it.”
“Would everyone stop saying that. Seeing it wasn’t as painful as living through what I know you’re all aware of. So, someone tell me the truth.”
Devlin cleared his throat and I turned my attention to him. “Ten years ago, I discovered my wife, as a teenage girl, was being abused by her adoptive parents. When I went to save her, I found her adoptive father watching . . .” He swallowed deeply and looked back at me, lowering his voice as he explained, “He was watching Aubrey’s rape, and I killed him for not only what he did to my wife, but what I saw on the TV.”
I could see the rage and anger in his eyes, and I felt Dalton take my hand as Devlin continued. “That sent me on a path to find the little girl being hurt. When I did, I killed her father and his whore of a girlfriend, who instigated Aubrey’s introduction to . . . him.”
