Chapter Nineteen
Hadrian
It hurts to leave her alone after what she just told me, but Doctor Richard was correct. The exertion from my “strenuous activity” left me drained, and collapsing on Juliet’s floor wouldn’t exactly play into the image I’m trying to create. By the time I shower and change, my hands are shaking.
I grab a Dr Pepper and a protein bar from the fridge and sit on the small sofa to eat them.
Trent Bartley.
She described it as a session that got out of control, but the way she flinched when I touched the burns told me everything I needed to know. He did that without her consent. Of course he fucking did. Even Juliet wouldn’t want to be permanently burned.
I picture it, some faceless asshole laughing as he presses a cigarette onto Juliet’s soft skin. Her screaming and begging him to stop. The rage that sears my body has me shaky all over again, despite the food and drink renewing my energy.
How dare he. How fucking dare he do that to her!
And what you’re doing is so much better?
I don’t shrink from the question, hard as it is not to. Am I just as bad as Trent Bartley? Am I worse? He scarred her. I’ve taken her freedom.
And if you hadn’t, she’d probably have ended up getting murdered.
I don’t know enough about what happened with Trent yet to know if she put herself in a bad position. But it doesn’t matter if she did. There are predators everywhere. I can give her all the fear and punishment she craves but will never damage her. She’s mine to protect as well as torment.
And once I do my homework into Trent Bartley, he’s going to regret ever touching her. Exhaustion still claws at me, but I’m driven with new energy as I head outside. I really didn’t need anything else to add to my plate, but this might be a project I’ll enjoy.
I keep my back straight as I nod to the Gilda soldiers, and the older of the two steps forward. “Sir. Kendrick has asked us to escort you to meet him.”
Something in the way he says it gives me pause. Why didn’t he say “in his office?”
The soldiers set off, and the way they’re standing on either side of me feels different to before. I’m no expert in these things, but there’s a focused determination to their movements now. As if they’re expecting someone to attack any second.
“What is—”
“Please, sir. Kendrick will explain shortly.”
Unease creeps into my bones, and I shiver even though it’s a warm day. When the two men angle away from the main buildings, toward the forest, I stop dead. “Tell me what’s happening right now, or—”
“Mate. It’s okay.”
I turn to see Jacob waiting at the tree line. The soldiers and I angle toward him, and I’m both more and less nervous. I trust Jacob, so I can’t be walking into a trap. But none of this feels anywhere close to right. Why are we meeting out here?
In the forest. Away from cameras and electronics. A suspicion starts to form, and when Jacob holds up a piece of paper with the words Hand your cell phone to the Gilda. Don’t ask questions, the suspicion solidifies into fear.
He’s worried someone is watching me. Someone with access to the Brotherhood electronics. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out they’re concerned about Candice. A cold, heavy stone lodges in my stomach at what this could mean.
Do they know something I don’t?
I let Candice loose on us. She knows the Brotherhood’s secrets. She’s a loaded gun pointed at the head of every man in the Compound, and most of them don’t even know it.
I’ve pictured what would happen if Candice decided to expose the Brotherhood to the world. The organization has powerful allies, but there’s a limit to what could be done if footage of dozens of supposedly dead women was sent to every news agency in the world.
The government would be forced to send the military against the Compound, and even we wouldn’t withstand that.
With communication technology as advanced as it is, the Brotherhood’s continued secrecy and existence is built on a knife’s edge.
If Candice decided to tip that balance to free all the Wards, she could.
I don’t think anyone besides me really understands that. Maybe Jacob and Kendrick have just figured it out.