Chapter Sixteen - Ryder #2
Rachel pushes to her feet. “I didn’t do it to get anyone in trouble.
I did it because when I feel helpless, like someone is watching me, or like I’m unable to protect my daughter, it’s the only thing that can calm me down.
You have no idea what it was like seeing those men hurt Lyla.
Wouldn’t you be searching for some sort of assurance that it won’t happen again?
That’s what this thumb drive is for me.”
“What do you mean by feeling like you’re being watched?”
Rachel closes her eyes with a resigned sigh as she falls back into the chaise.
“Is this about the truck?”
She nods but refuses to open her eyes or answer.
“Was that day the first time you’d seen it?”
She nods again, and I think I’m on the wrong track until she adds, “But it was the third time I felt someone watching me.”
If I thought I couldn’t get angrier, I was wrong. The riot of violent urges is jarring enough that I almost crush the charm in the palm of my hand. I have never been so furious with someone, with myself, with the world.
“Why is this the first time I’m hearing about this?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“Why is this the first time you’ve asked?” she snaps, eyes sparking with fiery indignation. “I was in a car chase last week, and you never asked a single question about it.”
I clench and unclench my jaw, and I’m not sure what it is that gives me away, but she sucks in a sharp breath.
“You didn’t believe me,” she whispers.
“I did believe you,” I correct, and raise a placating hand. “But I thought I might've inspired some paranoia after I pushed you during our training session.”
The look of dejection on Rachel’s face finally breaks through the flames of my wrath, cooling them to a simmering dread.
“I looked into it, but when I didn’t find any evidence that someone was chasing you, I figured it was some punk kid. How long have you felt like you’re being watched?”
She doesn’t look at me. “Will you believe me if I tell you?”
I’m across the room in two strides, lowering to her eye level and covering her hands—which repeatedly pop her knuckles—with my own.
“Of course, I’ll believe you. I’m sorry I didn’t press for answers before.”
She must hear the sincerity in my words because she finally looks at me. She looks so beautiful that I have to force myself to return to the desk chair. If I don’t put space between us, I’ll take her lips as savagely as I did at the gala.
Only this time, I won’t stop.
“The first time was after Lyla’s appointment with Dr. Danver.
Then it happened at the grocery store, and taking Lyla home from martial arts, which was when we were followed.
I never noticed the truck itself until it was following us.
Before that, I just had this really… disturbing feeling of being watched.
I thought I felt it again tonight when Briggs was looking at me, which is why I followed him. ”
I take long breaths to suppress my frustration and focus on analyzing the potential implications of what she’s said.
“Do you think it has anything to do with what we heard from Briggs tonight? I mean, if he was talking about you, is it possible he could be watching me?”
“I don’t have enough information to make assumptions, but the timing is strange,” I say with a shake of my head. “I’m going to handle this. I don’t want you worrying about any of it.”
The look of utter absurdity she gives me would be comical under different circumstances.
“You’re about four years too late for that,” she says flatly. “You’re not just kicking me out of this.”
“I am, actually. This is family business, and you can’t be involved.”
“Trust me when I say I wish that were true, but it isn’t. I’m tied to this family whether you like it or not.”
If I keep Rachel involved, I’m risking my position in this family—not to mention her safety. But if I say no, I can’t guarantee she won’t go behind my back and continue her research unchecked. Not to mention, I’d be depriving her of the only source of peace she’s clung to since the factory night.
Cutting her out is better in the long run.
It may be hard at first, but she’ll find comfort in other things.
We’ll keep training, and I can have a security team assigned to her and Lyla.
Anything to help her feel safe again. Then, she won’t have incriminating information that could get her in trouble with Moreno or other families if they think she’d be a valuable source of information.
Even as my brain comes to its conclusion, another—certainly dumber—organ has other ideas.
Maybe it’s the mesmerizing eyes that are pleading with me. Maybe it’s the way she’s curling into herself as if preparing for the blow of my impending rejection. Or maybe it’s the fact that my lips still taste like her.
“We do this. We do it my way. Whatever I say goes, and if you deviate from my instructions, I will cut you out. Understand?”
My words bring her physical relief. She sags her shoulders, and for a moment, I wonder if I see a glisten of wetness in her eyes. Of course, she doesn’t let a single tear fall.
“I mean it, Rachel. There will be no going behind my back and no going rogue.”
“Fine, but you can’t hide things from me, either. When it comes to anything Mason-related, I have a right to know.”
I press my lips into a hard line, deliberating this request. I understand why she wants this, but I can’t agree to unrestricted, unlimited access. I need to reserve the right to withhold whatever information I deem necessary.
I lower my head in a gesture that could be received as a nod. “I’ll tell you anything you need to know.”
She doesn’t catch my careful wording, or perhaps she realizes that’s more than I would normally allow. Either way, she accepts it.
And I’m already fairly certain I’m going to regret making this deal.