Chapter 12 #2
“Then what the fuck is it?” I fire back. “Because last I checked, she was the problem. She was in the way. And now she’s gone, and you look like that’s the worst thing that could’ve happened.”
His jaw tightens.
“That’s not what I said.”
“You didn’t have to,” I shoot back. “I can see it.”
Silence hits hard between us. Tense. Sharp. Dangerous.
Cesario steps in before it goes further.
“We don’t have time for this,” he says firmly. “We have multiple missing assets, a compromised operation, and an unknown group that just hit us clean.”
He’s right.
I hate that he’s right.
I drag in a slow breath, forcing myself to refocus, but the anger doesn’t go away.
It just shifts.
Fine.
If she’s gone, then this just got bigger.
“Find them,” I say, my voice cold now. “All of them. The girls, whoever took her—I don’t care how you do it.”
Cesario nods.
“We’re already tracking leads.”
“Good,” I reply. “Because if someone thinks they can take what’s mine and walk away—”
I glance back at Izzy for half a second. Just enough.
“They’re going to regret it.”
And so is anyone who gets in my way.
The second that door slammed behind me, it felt like everything inside my chest cracked open.
I didn’t wait. Didn’t breathe. Didn’t think.
“The fuck was that Izzy?” I snapped, my voice already sharp and climbing. “Don’t you dare stand there and act like I didn’t just see your face out there.”
He opened his mouth, but I was already moving, pacing, my heels hitting the floor too hard and too fast.
“No. Don’t. Don’t fucking lie to me right now,” I cut in, pointing straight at him. “You heard her name and suddenly you look like you lost something. Don’t pull that shit in front of my father.”
“I didn’t lose anything,” he shot back, jaw tight. “You’re twisting it.”
“Oh, I’m twisting it?” I let out a short, bitter laugh. “You looked like you were worried about her, Izzy. About Becca. And I swear to God—”
“It’s not about her like that,” he snapped, stepping toward me now. “Use your head for a second.”
That pissed me off more.
“Don’t tell me to use my head,” I fired back. “Explain why the hell you looked like that when we realized she was gone. Because from where I’m standing? It looked real fucking personal.”
He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated now too.
“She’s a liability,” he said. “That’s it. She knows faces, Jenna. She’s seen shit she shouldn’t have seen. If she gets picked up and starts talking, your father doesn’t just lose product—he loses everything. And you?” His voice dropped colder. “You go down with him.”
That hit.
Hard.
Not enough to calm me, but enough to shift something. The anger didn’t go away. It just sharpened.
Because he wasn’t wrong.
And I fucking hated that he wasn’t wrong.
“They were already watching,” I muttered, turning away and dragging my hands through my hair. “You don’t hit something like that unless you know exactly where to be. That wasn’t random. That was planned.”
My chest tightened, thoughts crashing into each other too fast to keep up with.
“And now she’s out there,” I snapped, spinning back toward him. “Becca’s gone, and God knows who the fuck has her or where she ended up, and that’s not even the worst part.”
Izzy didn’t say anything.
He didn’t have to.
“Where the fuck are the rest of them?” I demanded. “Girls don’t just vanish like that. Not that many. Not without someone opening a door for them.”
“I don’t know—”
“Bullshit,” I cut him off instantly. “That was too clean. Too fucking clean. Someone knew something.”
I forced myself to stop pacing, planting my feet and trying to think instead of just react.
Think.
Who was there. Who heard what. Who shouldn’t have been listening.
“The auction…” I muttered, my voice lower now. More dangerous. “That conversation with my father… we weren’t alone.”
My mind started replaying it whether I wanted it to or not. Every face. Every movement. Every second.
Who walked in.
Who lingered.
Who stayed just a little too long.
My stomach twisted.
“No…” I whispered, shaking my head, but the name was already there.
Sarah.
“She wouldn’t fucking—” I cut myself off, but even I didn’t fully believe it.
“Who?” Izzy asked.
“My best friend,” I snapped, but something in my voice sounded off even to me. “She was there earlier. But she doesn’t know anything. I don’t tell her shit about the business.”
So why the fuck did her face keep coming back?
Why did it feel wrong?
Why did everything feel wrong?
I pressed my hands to my temples, breathing hard and trying to force it to make sense.
“This doesn’t happen without someone talking,” I muttered. “It just doesn’t. Not like this.”
Now the anger was mixing with something else.
Something worse.
Because if it wasn’t Sarah…
Then who the fuck was it?
And how long had they been watching?
My chest tightened at the thought of my father—the way he walked in, the rage, the pressure already building. Things were slipping, and that never happened.
Not to us.
Not like this.
And Becca…
She was out there. Alive. Knowing.
“Fuck,” I hissed, dragging my hands down my face. “This is fucked.”
I didn’t trust this.
Any of it.
Not the silence. Not the chaos. Not the way everything fell apart so perfectly it almost looked planned.
And for the first time in a long time…
I didn’t even know who the fuck I could trust.
Not even the man standing right in front of me.