Page 109 of Make Them Cry
And it’s not the affair that makes me see red.
It’s thetiming. It’s the gleam in Helena’s eyes when I lost it at the party. Like everything went exactly the way she wanted.
She wanted me to blow up.
She wanted River humiliated.
She’s beenplanning this.
“I’m going to kill them both,” I mutter as I kill the ignition and shove the door open.
“Gage,” River says behind me, but I’m already out, pacing the driveway like a caged animal.
I hear her footsteps on the gravel. She touches my arm.
“They were watching,” I tell her. “Smiling. Like it was a game.”
“Itisa game,” she says softly. “And we just gave them a new move.”
I stop. Turn. She’s standing there under the porch light, still in that killer black dress that makes my chest ache, and her eyes are sad but steady.
She’s always stronger than she lets on.
“They got to humiliate you,” I grit out. “And I let them.”
“No, you protected me. I’ve never felt safer than when you stood up for me.”
I pull her close, burying my face in her hair. “I wanted to break every bone in those guys’ bodies.”
“I know.”
I exhale through my nose. “We need to tell the team.”
She nods. “You do that. I’ll make tea.”
She heads inside, and I pull out my phone and text the group chat.
ME: Confirmed. Helena + Andrew. Affair. Long-term.
ME: Saw them leave together at party. Caught on follow.
ME: Eyes open—this changes everything.
ARROW: On it. Helena’s file just became priority #1.
KNIGHT: I’ll cross-ref her travel with company deaths.
RENDER: Pulling her comms now.
JUNO: Tell River she’s a badass.
ME: I concur.
When I step inside, the lights are dimmed and soft music plays on the speaker. River’s in the kitchen, barefoot now, her dress slightly unzipped in the back. She’s boiling water and lining up mugs. It’s so domestic I forget for a second that we’re in the middle of a cyber-espionage nightmare.
“We need to talk about what we do next,” I say, stepping into the kitchen.
She nods, passing me a mug. “Do we bait Tasha?”
