Page 129 of What Remains

He grimaces. He knows I’m not wrong about that.

“But”—Gwen lets that word hang for a beat—“it is possible Molly knows Zoey’s persistently digging for the truth. Maybe she’s worried she’s getting close, the way Preston was. Especially with how close Zoey’s gotten to us lately.”

“And instead of just simply taking her out, knowing we’d also avenge her death, Molly’s using the very thing she feared—Zoey’s closeness to us—to her advantage. She plans to either discredit us or take us all out one way or another.” My eyes go to Gwen. “And that includes killing your grandfather’s,” I begin, looking at Carter next, “and your mother-in-law’s presidential runs.”

“Because somehow Molly knows they were both involved in the taking down of The Collective.” Carter hangs his head. “She’s banking on them both losing once we’re exposed.”

Gwen stands and rests her hands on the table alongside her laptop. “And that won’t be happening, because as I’ve already made myself clear to Dad and Easton . . .” Her gaze is sharp on me, fire in her eyes. It’s a flame I know I can’t put out when it comes to her. And why would I ever want to dim her light? “I’ll plead guilty. I’m not letting any of you take the fall for this if I can help it.”

CHAPTER 44

Easton

“Not happening. Don’t even breathe another word of that nonsense.” Carter shuts down Gwen fast. And I know he won’t shelve this conversation forever, but he might have bought us some time. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have that call to make.”

“Wait up,” Julian says over the speaker. “We’re still missing something here. If Zoey didn’t tell Molly anything personal about you all, then who did? Molly may know about some of you from old ops, but the fact of the matter is she still knows way more than she should.”

“Like the helo crash. Easton taking off.” Gwen looks at me before continuing. “My being sad both before and during his op with Zoey. Or that the op would even trigger the need for me to get away to ever hack Nash’s wife’s messages to begin with and yada freaking yada.” She curses low and lightly shakes her head in frustration.

She’s in need of a hug. Or maybe a punching bag in the gym.

Nothing is worse than being manipulated from the inside out, which is how this feels.

“I hate to say this, but are you sure it’s not someone you’d never expect it to be?” Julian asks, keeping his voice low, like that’ll soften the blow of what he’s asking. “Sydney and Beckett are the only ones from your team not⁠—”

“Don’t go there,” Griffin rushes out, not giving time for his theory to breathe.

I don’t have to look around to know everyone’s blood is boiling at the accusations about people we’ll jump in front of a bus for.

“What about that other woman you mentioned? Camila?” Julian asks.

“I’d suggest you back the fuck off.” Carter’s full of piss and vinegar, and all the things I’d expect from an overprotective “brother.”

“I’m sorry, really.” Julian’s apology sounds semi-genuine. Guess he doesn’t have a death wish (well, to die for real this time). “I’m trying to play devil’s advocate here. You’re all too damn close to this.” He pauses, letting the truth sink in. “If anyone would know what it’s like to be betrayed by someone you never thought would, it’s me. It sucks more than I can put into words, but we all know it has to be someone who knows personal details about how Gwen and Easton feel about each other.” He takes another breath. “Unless one of you has been text⁠—”

“Oh. My. God.” Gwen slowly stands and covers her mouth.

“What?” Mya rises as well, and Oliver goes right with her.

“Elaina,” she mumbles against her palm, then drops her hand to her side. “I—I confided in her over calls and texts. Not just in person at the hotel. She’s the only one not on our team who has any clue how I feel about”—her eyes flash to mine—“you.”

“I’m sure Liam’s cautious about his daughter’s phone,” Carter says, “but now that we know the kind of hacker Molly has working for her, it’s possible she broke through.”

Gwen pouts. Not her purposefully sexy one, her sad one, which always shreds me. “They’ve had us looking so many different ways, I’m forgetting which way is even up.”

It’s taking everything in me not to stand and round this damn table to pull her into my arms and shield her from this.

“It has to be Elaina’s phone. I don’t talk to my mum or brothers about my personal life.” Gwen gestures to Mya. “You, Juliette, Diana . . . and everyone else I talk to have heavily protected mobiles. Plusss, that makes sense how they’d know about the gifts she gave up, and them wanting to keep her out of this.”

“Why don’t I go talk to your dad?” Griffin offers. “Fill him in and have him call Liam. Natasha can check her phone while you work on finding Jezebel for us.” He stands and shoots Carter a quick look. “And you have your own call to make.”

“Right.” Carter nods. “When you get a hit on the hacker, find me.”

Gwen sits back down and pulls her keyboard closer as he and Griffin clear out.

Mya and Oliver don’t offer an excuse as to why they bail, they just take off, maybe deciding we need alone time. Of course, we’re not really alone. Julian’s still lingering.

“I should go, too.” Julian clears his throat. “But, uh, just so you know . . . what we talked about on the plane? Nothing you heard today changes that.”