Chapter 139 Chapter One hundred and thirty-eight
ARA
The car sped off, its tires screaming against the asphalt, and my heart raced right along with it.
“Nick Reeds,” I murmured, more to steady myself than to call him out.
“That’s me,” he replied calmly. “And judging by the way you said my name, I’d say you’ve been looking for me.”
“Yes,” I said without hesitation. “I have. I don’t have time to circle around this. I have a lot of questions, but I’ll ask just one for now.” I took a breath. “Do you want to meet your daughters? Thayne is—”
“Thayne already knows,” Nick cut in smoothly. “I sent my extraction team to the roof of the library.”
I froze, the words sinking in.
“You—what?”
He laughed, low and brief, like the sound surprised even him.
“Thayne and I have been in contact,” he said. “We’re heading to the care home now. I need you to stay in the car while I help your husband deal with your father.”
A cold shiver slid down my spine.
“Can he even be dealt with?” I asked quietly.
Nick’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Everyone can be brought down.”
I swallowed, studying his face, searching for doubt and finding none.
“I have exactly what will put him on his knees.”
My throat went dry. “What?”
His voice dropped, stripped of all emotion.
“The footage of the rape.”
The words hit like a blow to the chest. I stopped breathing. My mother never told me anything like that, but I imagined she didn't because I was still so young.
“You… you have it?” I whispered.
“I wanted to fight for Lola. I wanted to help her get justice,” he said quietly. “But she chose silence. She was terrified of what Jimmy might do if this ever came out. I kept the evidence because I nearly lost everything getting it, and because men like him don’t deserve the mercy of being forgotten.”
I looked away, forcing myself not to cry. Not for my mother. Not now.
Why hadn’t she let him help her?
Because she’d been scared. Because fear had ruled her life.
And he’d loved her anyway.
“We’re here,” Nick said, pulling to a stop. “Stay in the car. No matter what you hear. No matter what you see.”
“I’m coming with you,” I said immediately. “My husband is in there. I should be with him.”
“He made me promise I’d keep you here.”
I scoffed. “Keep me? What am I—property?”
A corner of Nick’s mouth lifted. “I can see why he grabbed you the moment he found you. You’re your own woman. He loves you for it.”
My heart stumbled. “He said that?”
Nick opened his door and stepped out, then paused and looked back at me.
“Follow me,” he said. “And hear it for yourself.”
We had barely stepped into the building when a crash exploded from somewhere down the corridor. Glass shattered. Something heavy hit the floor.
Then Thayne’s voice tore through the air.
“Come out, coward!” he roared. “Come out and face me, you bastard!”
The sound of him, raw, furious, and unrestrained made my stomach twist. I couldn’t tell if Jimmy was hiding… or if he was smart enough to be afraid.
Bootsteps thundered toward us. Thayne rounded the corner and stopped dead.
His eyes locked on me.
“Reeds.” His voice dropped, dangerous and controlled. “I asked you to keep my woman safe. Even if she threatened you with a gun.”
Nick didn’t flinch. “She didn’t have to.”
Thayne’s gaze shifted to me in quick assessment. When he saw no blood or visible injuries, his shoulders eased by a fraction.
Then the anger returned.
“Stay here,” he ordered, already turning away. “I’m dragging him out.”
“No.” I stepped forward before I could think better of it.
Both men looked at me. Nick sighed.
“Just like her mother.” He muttered.
I shot him a hard look. “I’m not standing behind another door while my husband handles my father like I’m fragile.”
Thayne’s jaw tightened. “Ara—”
“You don’t get to shut me out of this.” I protested.
Silence stretched between us, thick with smoke and broken glass.
Thayne exhaled slowly, then walked back to me instead of away.
When he reached me, he lowered his voice. “You stand behind me. Not because you’re property.” His hand brushed mine briefly. “Because I can’t fight if I’m worried about you.”
The admission hit harder than the shouting had.
Nick cleared his throat. “If we’re done with the marital negotiations, your father is still somewhere in this building.”
Thayne’s eyes went cold again.
“Stay behind me,” he repeated, this time softer.
And then he moved.
“Wait.” Thayne breathed.
The word had barely left his mouth when Jimmy exploded out of the adjoining ward.
The gunshot cracked through the corridor, then another.
Thayne didn’t miss, but he didn’t kill him either.
One bullet sliced across Jimmy’s cheek. Blood bloomed instantly, dark and startling against his skin.
Jimmy staggered back with a curse, clutching his face.
“You brought an old friend,” he sneered, his eyes flicking from Thayne to Nick. “How thoughtful.”
Nick stepped forward, his voice calm, measured. “Drop your weapon. Now. Or we take the alternative route.”
Jimmy laughed hysterically. “Alternative route?” His gaze slid back to me, lingering, calculating. “No threat puts me on my knees.”
Nick didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t need to.
“You might want to rethink that,” he said. “I kept a copy of the footage. The rape. Every second of it. And if you don’t surrender, it goes public.”
Jimmy’s smile froze. Just for a second, but it was enough. Aha!
“You’re bluffing,” he said, too quickly.
Nick reached behind his back pockets. His hand dipped into his back pocket and came back out holding a worn cassette.
He held it up, waving it. “It’s all here, Jimmy,” Nick said quietly. “Every frame you tried to bury. Drop the weapon.”
Jimmy stared at the tape like it had grown teeth.
The corridor went deathly silent.
For the first time since I’d seen him, fear cracked through his expression.
And suddenly, the man who thought himself untouchable didn’t look so tall anymore.