Chapter 30 REICH
REICH
After Castor finished his conversation 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 was wrong.
But I wasn’t.
The weight settled in my chest like a concrete slab, thick and suffocating. Rage swelled underneath it, sharp and violent, an ache I couldn’t dull.
This was real.
This had really happened.
I stood there for a long moment, staring past Castor like if I stayed still long enough, I could undo it all. Reverse time. Change her past. Rewrite what had happened to her.
But I couldn’t.
And I was going to have to face her knowing that.
I stepped out of my office, my boots hitting the hardwood with heavy, deliberate strikes as I made my way toward her room.
Each step was a war.
Each breath, a battle.
I willed my heart to slow, to stay steady. But inside, the storm kept building.
She had trusted us with the worst pieces of herself, and now I had to act like I wasn’t breaking under the weight of them.
I paused outside her door, inhaling slowly, grounding myself in that rhythm like I had done a hundred times before going into a fight.
But this wasn’t a fight I was ready for.
I reached for the handle.
And pushed the door open.
The fading light of dusk bled through the window, washing the room in a muted glow. She was curled in the corner by the window, knees to her chest, arms wrapped tight around them as if she was holding herself together by sheer force of will.
At the sound of my boots crossing the threshold, her head lifted.
Her green eyes met mine, tired but sharp.
She managed a small smile. Fragile and brittle.
Yet, it cut me deeper than any blade ever had.
I tried to give her one back, but it felt hollow and forced.
I knew it didn’t reach my eyes, and she saw it too.
Her gaze dropped.
“Why am I here?” Her voice was quiet, but not weak.
I studied her, watching the way her hands flexed against her arms as if bracing for another blow.
But she wasn’t done asking questions.
And neither was I.
“Answer the rest of my questions,” I said, keeping my tone steady, “… and I’ll tell you everything.”
She nodded. Slowly.
And it was like watching the last embers of a fire die out.
Resignation settled in her shoulders, heavier than anything I had put there.
She dropped her head, as if the weight of me knowing was too much to bear.
I forced myself to stay in control.
To stay still and not let it show how much it was affecting me.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
I didn’t know why.
I already knew the answer.
She looked up at me again. Her gaze was empty, hollowed out.
“Good,” she said. “Or as good as I can be.”
Then she let out a dry laugh.
It made something in me tighten until it was almost unbearable.
But I needed to push forward.
I needed to know.
“How many men do you remember being there?”
I kept my voice low. Even. But the burn in my throat was rising fast.
Her throat worked as she swallowed hard.
Her fingers clenched into the fabric of her pants like she was fighting not to come apart at the seams.
“Five,” she whispered.
A cold chill ran through me.
I felt it in my bones.
In my blood.
“Was your ex one of them?”
She shook her head, “No.”
That didn’t make sense.
Klay’s circle was a much tighter knit group three others at max. He didn’t let anyone in unless he had a reason. Unless they were bound by blood or debt.
“Did he know what happened?” I hated the way my voice sounded. Dread was creeping in. Poisoning me.
Her breath shook. “Yes.”
Unbelievable.
“When I was running away,” she continued, “I found him. Told him everything—” Her voice cracked. “—but he didn’t believe me.”
The words hit harder than I expected.
A blade sliding between my ribs.
I stood there, frozen, as the weight of it sank deep.
Klay.
The man she trusted.
The man who was supposed to protect her.
Had looked her in the eyes and called her a liar.
My stomach twisted violently.
I leaned back against the wall, bracing myself against the sickness that swelled in my gut.
But when I looked at her, it was already too late.
The tears had started falling.
Silent.
Slow.
She buried her face in her hands.
Her shoulders shook, small, violent tremors.
Like she was trying to shake them off.
Shake them out of her skin.
But it wasn’t working.
And she was breaking all over again.
I wanted to go to her.
I wanted to cross the space between us and pull her into my arms.
But the air between us was too heavy.
Too fragile.
I didn’t trust myself not to shatter her completely.
“Do you remember anything about the men?” my voice was tight. Controlled.
Barely.
She shook her head but spoke anyway, “Just that they said their brother was rude for not sharing me.”
I went still.
So still it hurt.
“Their brother?” I said it like it wasn’t a loaded question. Like it wasn’t tearing through my mind like wildfire.
“Yes.”
Her voice was empty.
But her words were not.
They sliced through me, leaving nothing but ruin in their wake.
“Their brother…” I echoed it again.
Trying to make it make sense.
But it wouldn’t.
“Did they say who they were talking about?” I asked, already dreading the answer.
She shook her head. “I don’t think my ex ever mentioned having brothers.”
But I wasn’t hearing her anymore.
Five men.
Brothers.
It couldn’t be.
No, that wasn’t possible.
Because I had killed them.
I had hunted them down, every last one.
I had buried their bodies and burned the evidence.
I had watched the life leave their eyes.
I had made sure they were gone.
Made sure they couldn’t hurt anyone again.
But now…now I wasn’t sure.
Because if they weren’t dead…
Then who the fuck did I kill?
“Reich?” Her voice was small. Wavering.
I barely registered it.
I turned on my heel and walked out of her room without another word.
I couldn’t stay there. I couldn’t look at her and pretend I had the answers. Because I didn’t. Not anymore.
By the time I reached my office, my hands were shaking.
I slammed them down onto the desk, bracing myself against it like it was the only thing keeping me upright.
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
This was supposed to be over.
But it wasn’t.
And I was drowning in a truth I couldn’t comprehend.
I yanked my phone from my pocket and dialed Castor.
He picked up on the first ring.
“How’d it go with Sage?”
His voice was casual.
Unaware.
He had no idea how fucked we were.
“We have a problem.”
My voice was gravel. Rough and cold.
A pause.
“What’s wrong?”
I stared at the wall, feeling the weight of it all settle in my chest like concrete.
“It was his brothers.”
Silence.
A long, stretched moment of nothing.
Then— “What?”
I clenched my jaw so tight I thought it might break.
Forced the words out, “The Ovitt brothers.”
Another long beat of silence.
Then Castor said it, “We hunted all of them down.”
My throat was dry.
“Unless it wasn’t them that we hunted.”
A slow, creeping horror settled over me.
Like something ancient and cold, sliding beneath my skin.
This wasn’t just about Sage anymore.
This was about every woman after her.
Every person we thought we’d saved.
How many more were there?
How many had suffered because we’d killed the wrong men?
How many had suffered because I didn’t finish the job?
“We need to find out what went wrong,” I muttered. “Now.”
Another pause. Then Castor’s voice—low and certain, “I’m on my way.”
I hung up.
Stared at the phone in my hand like it was a live grenade.
The weight in my chest was unbearable.
I had failed her.
I had failed all of them.
And now—Sage was in more danger than I’d ever realized.
I needed to get her out of the line of fire.
Because if I didn’t—She was going to burn with me.