“Right now.”
“Baby?”
I look over my shoulder to find Mac standing there, his hand extended for Chloe to take, so I slowly squeeze by, giving them the whole two feet of privacy this place allows.
As I look around, though, I notice Captain is gone, Maddoc and Raven, too.
I turn to Royce right as he grips me by the wrist and yanks me from the suite with angry, jerky movements.
“What the hell—”
“Come on,” he hisses, his steps urgent.
“Royce, what’s wrong?”
“We gotta get over there, you need to put this bitch in her place.”
“What are you talking about?”
We come around the corner and I skid to a stop.
Mallory stands there, laughing and drinking with a group that must be her friends.
“Fuck,” Royce seethes, dropping my arm as he darts forward, and it all happens so fast.
Raven is suddenly in front of her, swinging full force and hitting Mallory square in the nose, sending her stumbling onto her ass.
Maddoc has Raven in the same second, keeping her back with his chest, hands holding her wrists to keep her from falling.
He’s furious.
Mallory adjusts her crop top. “You’re pregnant, you psychopath!”
Raven tries to haul herself at her again. “Oh, you care?! The girl who gave away—”
Maddoc’s hand swiftly wraps around Raven’s mouth, the look in his eyes enough to get her to completely give in. Her forehead caves, her eyes falling to the ground.
Mallory stands, moving over in an attempt to shield herself at Captain’s side, and that’s when I realize I was moving closer, when her eyes lift, locking with mine.
She drops her arm instantly, and his head slices my way.
“You’re a piece of fucking work, you know that?” I keep toward her and she frantically looks across the room.
But before I can get any closer, security is there, Brayshaw security.
Maddoc slips in front of me, glaring. “Not the fucking place.”
He’s right, it’s not.
This is some serious Brayshaw dirt. Zoey is still a secret to their world.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here. Now,” Maddoc shouts.
We turn to follow the men down the hall, and through a private one that leads to the back parking where we were allowed to park.
It’s not until we’re outside, under the dark night sky that I realize Mallory followed.
“Captain, wait. Please!” she yells, and I jerk to a stop, swiveling around to look at her.
She eyes me, and tension lines her brows, but she forces her gaze away, quickly looking to Captain.
He continues to ignore her, his face a blank slate as he quickly keeps walking, but she runs after him, high heels, tiny skirt and all.
When she realizes she can’t keep up, her eyes fly to mine. She opens her mouth only to close it a second later.
Captain happens to choose that moment to reach for my hand and Mallory begins to nibble at her lip.
And then her eyes close, and she shouts, “She told me not to go!”
Everyone stops.
Captain stops.
Time fucking stops.
But I rush her, and she’s right within reach, my fingertips an inch from gripping her by the shirt and tearing her to me, mine’s tugged from behind and I’m held still, Royce at my back.
“Let go,” I force past clenched teeth, but he continues to pull me back, farther away.
The crunch of gravel beneath Captain’s shoes echoes in my ear as he turns to face her. “What are you talking about, Mallory?”
Captain’s voice is low and lethal, leaving no room for lies. Demanding the truth.
“She did this.” Mallory moves a few slow steps back, rushing out, “All of it.”
Oh my god.
I jerk forward again, but just as I do, Royce is there, blocking me.
Giving her the motherfucking floor.
“She came to me, the other day, and… and before. She’s the one that told me to leave, that it wasn’t safe here for me.”
The vessels around my heart tug and pull, tangling around until I’m sure no blood can flow through, and I’ll fall to the ground any moment.
It wasn’t safe, but she was the least of my concerns.
“She said that you couldn’t protect me, Captain. She took your daughter—”
“Are you fucking kidding me!” I shriek, managing to make it around Royce, but he has my hands behind my back in the same second, and in the same move, Mallory has slid behind Captain.
“It’s true,” she shouts, tears in her eyes.
“Mallory—”
“You did this!” she shouts again.
“I was—”
“You—”
“Shut up!” Captain barks, spinning out of her grasp and glaring down at her. “Shut the fuck up. Why would I believe you?”
“Why would you believe her?” she counters, and goddamn it, if those weren’t the perfect words for her to choose.
Slowly, his head swivels around to mine.
“Is it true?” he asks. “Did you tell her to leave, are you the reason I lost Zoey, lost them both?”
My gut twists, tighter and tighter like a Boa forcing the life from its prey as I stare at the pain in his eyes, but that’s not the hardest part.