He stood when he saw me, his brows folding together, mouth in a thin line.
But I said nothing.
I just crossed the room and collapsed into his arms, knowing that as much as it would hurt, I had to tell him what I knew about Randy and Mallory, too.
When he wrapped me in those strong, warm arms of his and kissed my hair, rocking me gently, I struggled against the urge to cry.
And I prayed he would understand.SydneyJordan didn’t speak for the longest time.
I’d lit a candle — one that smelled like lavender and made me feel slightly better — before launching into what had happened with Mallory in the kitchen. I’d told him about what I’d known about Randy, what I wasn’t sure I’d known, what I’d questioned.
And I felt ashamed, knowing that Jordan now knew how weak I had been, what I had put up with, what I had let happen to me and my daughter before I’d found a spine and left.
The candlelight flickered across his face, which was severe, his brows nearly touching in the middle of his forehead and making a wrinkle so deep I wondered if it’d stick forever. I wondered if he was judging me, deciding he didn’t like what I’d uncovered. The only source of comfort I had that that was not the case was that he still rested his giant hand on my leg where I sat next to him.
After a long while, he swallowed, letting out a long breath. “So… did he…” He frowned even more. “Did he assault her?”
I shook my head. “No. At least, not that I know of. But he made her uncomfortable. From what I gathered, he basically pulled her into his lap and made some comment about them having sex when she turns eighteen.”
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Jordan said, and he finally stood, no longer able to sit still with what he’d just learned. He paced back and forth in my living room while I sat on the couch, watching him. “I wonder if Logan knows.”
“I’m sure he does.”
“Then I’m surprised Randy is still breathing.”
I didn’t have anything to say to that.
He continued pacing, and my heart had stopped beating altogether before I finally reached for his hand, pulling him to a stop. He looked down at me with that same severe look he gave the team when he was pissed.
“Are you mad at me?”
At that, his face crumbled, and he collapsed into the couch next to me and immediately pulled me into his chest.
“What? Of course not,” he said, blowing out a hot breath and shaking his head as he rocked me. I clung to him like he was the only thing holding me to the Earth. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Sydney. This is all on him.”
“But I didn’t tell anyone,” I pointed out. “I didn’t fight him on it or question him more when my gut knew something was off. I was scared, and he was the police, so I didn’t know where to go… and I just… I feel so awful.”
I buried my face in his chest as he gently quieted me, holding me tighter.
“Sydney,” he said after a long while, pulling back until he could look me in the eyes. “Do not feel guilty for his actions. You did not play a role in what he did to Mallory or anyone else. You were a victim, too.”
I sniffed, still feeling like he was wrong but not wanting to argue it.
“There were so many things I heard over the years,” I confessed on a whisper, searching his eyes as that foggy memory from the night his father died flittered in like a wisp of smoke. “But nothing that was ever concrete. Nothing that I couldn’t dismiss with just a few questions of whether I was crazy or not, of whether I had really heard what I thought, or if I was being dramatic.”
Jordan swept my hair from my face. “He knew what he was doing. He knew his power.”
I swallowed. “The night of Mallory’s grand opening of her art studio last year… do you remember that?”
He nodded.
“That was when I knew,” I said on a shaky voice. “We went to it, and Mallory saw him and I saw the look in her eyes and I knew I was right, that he had done her wrong. And then when I came back from the bathroom, I overheard him and one of his officers making a joke about it.” I shook my head, tonguing my cheek. “He said something about how he wished she would have been down for the deal, because judging by her piercings and tattoos, he bet she was a freak in the bedroom.”
Jordan’s jaw clenched shut, and he looked away from me briefly, as if he needed to look at something else to calm himself and keep from shooting off that couch and flying across town to confront Randy right now.