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What?

“You’ve been watching me?” I glanced around at all of them, but only Court would meet my eyes. “What the fuck does that mean?”

Court expelled a weary sigh, but it was Cade who responded to my question. “We’ve been watching over you, I guess you could say. Which was unavoidable while casing the store. He’s been watching you, mostly,” he said, pointing at Court.

If there was ever a time in my life I’d been more surprised or embarrassed, I couldn’t recall it. Because what? How? What did that even mean? I hadn’t seen a single one of them before. Especially not Court. I think I’d remember the giant with the face of an angel. I’d for sure remember those hands.

“What do you mean, you’ve been watching me? What the fuck does that mean? How long have you been watching me?” I turned to look at Court, who didn’t seem at all ashamed of the fact that he’d neglected to tell me something so…important? Relevant? It was definitely something I might like to have known, that was for sure. I had no idea how to feel about that, but my body knew. I could feel all the tell-tale signs of my anger returning. It was stupid to say I felt betrayed when there was nothing between us to betray, but that was kind of how I felt. Or maybe violated was a better word.

“On the security cameras. Brooks hacked them,” said Cade. “For all Thorne’s stores, not just the one in Marion.”

Court didn’t even look at me, which only made the anger and annoyance and confusion swirl together and churn around in a heady way that was all too familiar.

“And why,” I said, licking my lips and trying to gather the thoughts in my head, “would you be watching me? What the fuck for?”

“Well, we weren’t watching just you. We were watching Thorne. And Tom. Gathering information. Waiting for the right time.” Cade was still the one doing all the talking, and maybe Court’s silence was its own answer. Maybe he did feel a little ashamed. Probably not, though. That was wishful thinking. I wasn’t sure he was capable of feeling shame. He looked pleased with himself, actually, which made me want to punch that expression right off his face.

He should be feeling ashamed, not fucking pleased, because if he’d—if they’d—been watching all this time, they’d seen exactly what Tom had constantly done and said to me. The thought of these strangers having front row seats to my humiliation chafed at my pride in a real, raw way. I hated the idea. I hated it so much, that they’d seen everything and done nothing—just like Jay—that I shoved my chair back, intent on leaving and never seeing a single one of them again. Especially Court.

Court’s hand shot out faster than my legs could work, pushing me right back up against the table. He kept his arm wrapped around the back of my chair and leaned toward me on my right side, blocking me in and filling all that space with his heat and the clean scent of his skin and clothes. I gripped the edge of the table, and with the way he was holding me in, I couldn’t move. He leaned in even more, until his face was right next to mine, until his eyes were all I could see. “We’ll make them pay for what they’ve done, Whitney. To you and everyone else.” There was a hardness to his tone, something ruthless and brutal that rang of truth.

A gut-churning mortified frustration was building in my chest while Court continued like he wasn’t peeling the flesh from my bones with every word. “Believe me when I tell you that if we could have done something to get you out of there sooner, we would have. Every single time he touched you, every single moment he disrespected you, I wanted to cut off his hands and sew his disgusting mouth shut. I would never have left you there with them. Never.” The intensity in his eyes was overwhelming as he kept me locked in his gaze, but his words weren’t helping to quell the nausea roiling in my stomach. “But if we’d gone there any sooner than planned, we would’ve lost half a years’ work, which isn’t something we could risk. We didn’t have a choice but to wait.” Those eyes begged me to believe him, to understand the situation, but I didn’t. “I promise you, they will pay.”

Pay for what? A little misogyny and harassment with occasional assault thrown in? Were these guys vigilantes for the harried and hounded female population? I couldn’t for the life of me think of any reason they might have gone out of their way to ‘save me,’ as he’d put it.

I tried pushing my feet against the floor, testing the arm at my back, but it didn’t budge a millimeter. “Pay for what?” I snapped, looking around the table at the other three men. “Seriously, what is going on here? Who are you people?”

“We’re just a group of friends that intend on destroying Thorne and holding him accountable for what he’s done. What he was planning on doing.” Cade paused, glanced at Court, who was still watching me, then finally got to the heart of it. “Thorne was going to kidnap you.”

Silence fell over the room. I gaped at Cade, trying to let his words sink in and mean something that made any kind of sense.

“Kidnap me?” I shook my head and laughed, despite nothing about this being funny. “Kidnap me. Thorne was going to kidnap me.” Maybe if I kept repeating it, it might start tracking properly. I gestured at Court. “Like this motherfucker did? Sorry, but⁠—”

“Thorne has a long history of violence against women, Whitney.” There was something bitter and lethal in Cade’s voice. “But on top of that, he’s a middle man for gangs, corrupt people in positions of power, anyone who pays him enough. He helps connect clients together, store drugs or guns or whatever other illegal products that these people need moved for a limited time, he’s involved in money laundering, the list goes on. And he makes a very pretty penny doing that. That’s the basic rundown of his business activities, and he gets away with all of it because of his connections. He does favors for a lot of powerful people and calls them in when he needs to.”

It made sense, honestly. The products in the back I wasn’t ever allowed to touch that never went to the sales floor. The strange visitors at all times of the day whom Thorne would personally escort. Yeah, it made sense that Thorne was doing shady business deals and helping hold a shit ton of illegal products.

But…kidnap me?

Cade scratched his jaw and leaned back in his chair. “But his personal tastes are far more disturbing. Yes, he was going to kidnap you.” He was about to say something, paused, then glanced at Court, who nodded. “And we can play you the tape. Where he’s talking about it with Tom.”

The offer of some form of evidence turned the tenuous idea into something dark and weighty. Something undeniably, disturbingly real.

I had to see that tape.

“Show me,” I demanded, my voice not sounding like my own. Hoarse and shaky and barely there.

Brooks started typing, clicked a few times, then slid the laptop over to Court, who angled it so I could see the screen.

The footage showed Mr. Thorne and Tom standing near one of the cameras in one of the aisles at the back of the store. They were huddled together, speaking in low voices. Court turned up the volume.

“—she’s got no one. I followed her, Dad. She was sleeping in the park, for fuck’s sake. She’s nothing.”

My stomach dropped a thousand feet and a prickling started under my skin, slowly spreading through my entire body.

“You’re sure?” That was Mr. Thorne. His back was to the camera, but the cold, unfeeling way he spoke was unmistakeable.

“Yeah, I’m sure. Give Jay the day off, a week from now, and then let’s do it. I can get some roofies from a buddy. Can I fuck her first?”