Her head whipped around to face me, and I winced at the bruises and cuts marring her beautiful face. There was no way you could look at her and not see she had fought. She’d fought for her life, and in the process had to take someone else’s.
Lola opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Part of me wanted to shake her, to tell her she didn’t need to stay silent. She could talk to me. She could tell me anything. “I know it’s hard, but once you’ve told them what happened, we can move on. You can start to heal, and”—I flicked my gaze to the water and back to her—“start talking to me again.”
Her hazel eyes misted over, a sheen of tears coating them. She was trapped inside herself, and I had no idea what to do to get her out of it. She stood so quickly it nearly knocked me off-balance, but I managed to catch myself and stand with her.
I swallowed as she stepped to the side and let her head hang back. She stared up at the sky, opened her mouth, and let a scream rip from her vocal cords. It echoed around the lake, the sound of pure torture, and I just stood there. I stood and watched her, feeling like this was the first step she had to take.
Tears streamed down her face when she stopped and looked back at me, her shoulders sagging, and I didn’t think twice about wrapping my arms around her. “It’s okay,” I murmured. “I got you, darlin'. Never doubt that.”
She clasped on to my T-shirt, twisting it, and sobbing into my chest. “I’m sorry,” she said, over and over again, but I wasn’t sure who she was saying it to, so I held her tighter, refusing to let go. I’d given her space, but I couldn’t stand by any longer and not hold her.
We stood there for what felt like hours until she pulled away, wiped at her face, and pushed her shoulders back. “I think I’m ready,” she whispered, her voice hoarse from not using it and the scream.
I placed my hands on either side of her face, my touch whisper-soft as to not hurt her, and stared into her eyes. “I’ll be right there, every step of the way. I’m on your side. Always.” She nodded and placed her palm over mine, and that was all the permission I needed to take her hand and lead her back into the house.
I gathered our things and shot off a message to Jord to let him know we’d be there in a few hours, and met Lola out front. She was staring at the chair my pop used to sit in with a small smile on her face.
“You ready?” I asked.
She turned to face me, and her chest moved as she inhaled deeply. “Yes.”
Not another word was spoken as we got into my Mustang and started the long drive back to the office. My hand found its way over to hers about thirty minutes into the drive, and not long after that, her eyes closed, and she finally slept peacefully, if only for a couple of hours.
The guys were waiting for us when we pulled up, and I wasn’t sure what to expect from Lola. She was giving nothing away, so I did what I had done since she’d finally spoken again. I didn’t shy away from her. I helped he
r out of the car and inside, heading right for the interview room.
“I’ll be on the other side of that mirror,” I told her, pointing at it as Kyle and Jord came in. “Just tell them what happened and then we can leave, okay?”
She nodded and replied, “Okay.”
I stood and walked out, not looking back once, because I knew if I did, I wouldn’t be able to leave her in that room. Ryan joined me in the other room, and together, we watched them.
Kyle started with his calm voice, asking her what had happened, and I crossed my arms over my chest, listening intently.
“I…” She cleared her throat and picked up the small, plastic cup in front of her. “I don’t know where to begin.” She took a sip of the water and placed it back on the table.
“From the beginning,” Kyle said. “Tell us what you did from the time you woke up that day.”
She nodded and worried her bottom lip. My pulse thrummed faster, my blood pumping through my veins, and all I wanted to do was leap into that room and take her away from all of this. But I’d already done that once, and now she had to face what was happening. It was the only way she would heal.
“I had a day off, so I woke up late. I texted…someone to make plans for the night, and then headed out for a walk. I got a sandwich and went back to my apartment. And then…Hut showed up.” Her voice was so monotone until the last three words. “He wanted me to go with him, and I refused. I put up a fight.” She glanced from Jord to Kyle. “I didn’t want to go, but then I couldn’t get away.” Her shoulders slumped, and she wrapped her arms around her stomach. “I figured if I went with him, I’d do whatever he needed me to and then I could get home and forget all about it.”
“Okay,” Jord said. “What happened next?”
“He made me get in his trunk.” Her nostrils flared, and she moved her arms so she could wrap her hands around the plastic cup on the table. “And he took me to this warehouse. He was trying to give me to Carson so he’d buy drugs off him. I panicked and said something that made Carson back out.” I stepped forward, willing one of the guys to ask what she said, but she kept going. “Then Hut said it was all my fault. That everything was my fault. He… He…” She placed her hand on her chest and moved it down to her stomach. “He said…”
She pushed up out of the seat, and Jord sprang up at the same time. I couldn’t stand here and watch it anymore. I couldn’t witness her falling apart, not when I was only a few feet away.
I dove for the door, and Ryan tried to stop me again, but nothing could halt me from getting to her. She needed me, and I was going to come to her rescue, whether she liked it or not. I flung the interview room door open, my gaze batting over Kyle who was sitting in the same position, Jord who stood at the edge of the table, and Lola as she leaned against the wall, gripping her stomach.
“He said he’d cut my baby out,” she whispered.
I gripped on to the doorframe, the world tilting on its axis. Jord and Kyle both whipped around to look at me, silence hanging in the air.
“I didn’t have a choice,” Lola continued, finally looking at them and frowning. Her gaze followed where they were looking, and smacked me in the face. “I didn’t have a choice, Brody. I had to do it. I had to.”
I heard what she was saying, I understood it, but I couldn’t think straight. I couldn't make sense of what she’d said. She had a baby—my gaze flitted to her stomach, where her hands covered, protecting what was inside her. She wasn’t showing yet, and no matter how much I tried to calculate the dates, I couldn’t work them out.