Page 129 of Sage Haven
But it didn’t make me feel better.
If anything, it made the weight in my chest heavier.
Because deep down, I was starting to believe that if Reich ever knew the truth…
If he ever learned how broken I really was…
He wouldn’t want me anymore.
That thought—more than being trapped in this room, more than everything I’d already survived—that thought for some reason filled me with more shame.
Castor watched me for a longmoment.
Then he exhaled, dragging a hand over his face. “I’m sorry, Sage. If there was another way, I would’ve convinced him to take it. But there isn’t. This information is more invaluable than you know.”
Invaluable?
I gave him a confused look. A look that said I wanted more answers than what he was offering. So I asked, “How is my trauma ‘invaluable’ to a couple of brothers that decided to kidnap me in a small town 200 miles away?”
He hesitated, then added softly, “That’s really not my place to say and some things have to stay with Reich. Just trust me… this is all to keep you safe.”
I swallowed hard. “You keep saying that and I’m trying to trust you, but it’s hard to trust, especially after everything that has happened.”
He nodded.
Then he took my hands in his—gentle, grounding. “If you can find even the smallest piece of yourself that still knows how to trust,” he murmured, “put it in Reich.”
His voice softened further, “I promise you… he won’t take it for granted.”
And something in his voice made me want to believe him.
30
REICH
After Castor finished hisconversation with Sage, he rushed to find me.
I could hear the weight in his footsteps before I ever saw his face—the way they echoed down the hall, faster, heavier than usual. He was practically running, and that told me everything I needed to know.
This wasn’t good.
I braced myself against the edge of my desk, rolling my shoulders back as if that would keep the weight of this off me.
It didn’t.
The second he stepped into my office, he didn’t waste time.
“She told me everything.” His voice was low. Grim.
I nodded once. Waiting. But part of me already knew.
I had already suspected the truth. Maybe I’d known it the first time I looked at her and saw the broken pieces she tried so hard to hide. Maybe I’d seen it in her eyes from the moment she walked into my field.
But knowing something and hearing it confirmed were two different things.
I had hoped—fuck, even prayed—I waswrong.
But I wasn’t.
