Chapter 50
Ace
“My mistake.”
The words hang in the air.
Wrong.
Dangerous.
Tessa goes rigid beside me.
“You don’t get to say that,” she snaps.
Her voice is steady—but I can feel it.
Her pulse.
Her tension.
This is hitting her.
Hard.
The man doesn’t react.
Just watches her.
“You don’t remember,” he says.
Ice slides through my chest.
“Remember what?” she demands.
I shift closer to her.
Ready.
Always ready.
But she doesn’t step back.
Not this time.
I’ve had enough.
“You’re done talking,” I say, voice low. “Step away. Hands where I can see them.”
He ignores me.
Looks at her like I’m not even here.
“You were supposed to disappear quietly,” he says. “Serve your time.”
My grip tightens.
“Last warning.”
He glances at me.
Amused.
Big mistake.
“Why me?” Tessa pushes.
Because she needs answers.
I get that.
But I don’t like where this is going.
“Because you saw something you weren’t supposed to,” he says.
Her stomach drops—I can see it.
“What are you talking about?”
“You really don’t remember.”
“Stop saying that like it means something!”
His expression darkens.
“Seven years ago,” he says. “The night of the accident.”
Everything shifts.
The air.
The tension.
Her.
“I didn’t do anything,” she says quickly. “I told them that—”
“You told them what you thought was true.”
No.
I step forward.
“She said she didn’t do it,” I cut in. “That’s the end of it.”
He smiles.
“No,” he says. “That’s the beginning.”
Rage hits hard.
“You don’t get to rewrite her past.”
“I’m correcting it.”
That’s it.
I raise my weapon.
“Last chance.”
He exhales.
Disappointed.
Not afraid.
Never afraid.
“Tell me,” Tessa says.
I glance at her.
“Tessa—”
“I need to hear it.”
Damn it.
Because now—
I can’t stop this.
He studies her.
Then—
“You weren’t driving.”
Everything stops.
“You took the blame,” he continues. “For someone else.”
I feel it the second it hits her.
“We all know that,” she says.
Her body shifts.
Her breathing changes.
“No,” she whispers. “No—that’s not—”
But it is.
I can see it.
Memory.
Recognition.
Something breaking open.
“I promised her,” she breathes. “But you all knew that. I already told everyone, but they said they didn’t believe me. But Daniel and the others knew the truth.”
Yeah.
There it is.
“She lied to you,” the man says.
That does it.
“Careful,” I warn.
But he keeps going.
“Your friend wasn’t the victim you thought she was,” he says. “She was connected.”
My blood goes cold.
Connected?
“To what?” Tessa asks, barely holding it together.
He smiles.
“There it is. The question you should’ve asked years ago.”
That’s enough.
He’s breaking her.
Not happening.
I step forward.
Gun steady.
“Conversation’s over.”
And this time—
I mean it.
He smiles.
Slow.
Knowing.