Page 53 of Kneeling to Candy

I look away from Prez, unable to accept the inevitable.

“Candy could be a wealth of information,” Atlas continues. “You know it. I know it. The whole crew knows it. But until we question her, we’ll never know. And this case will continue to sit with those women still missing. If Candy is uncomfortable with the questions, she can take a break and come back to them. If a question is a hard pass, we’ll not push. We aren’t looking for the specifics of what was done to her, but what she knows of Lorenzo’s trafficking operation. That’s it.”

“We can always have Brandon on-site in case Candy needs an immediate therapy session with her counselor,” Gauge suggests.

“We can clear the room, so the questions are left to Atlas and Gauge. The rest of us can listen and ask questions over speaker in the tech room,” Punk suggests. “You can be present, too, Butch. I’m sure Candy would appreciate your support during the questioning.”

“If the solution is to have a counselor on-site and clear the room for questioning, you already know this will be bad for Candy,” I seethe.

“It’s all we got, brother,” Chase intones.

Unable to lift my head, I sense, more than see, my brothers all nodding.

I hear all the words they’re preaching, yet none of it is sinking in. My brain pulses painfully in my skull, and I rub at my temples as a headache forms.

I turn to my best friend sitting beside me. Ziggy eyes me with remorse, swallowing as he says, “I know this sucks, Butch. But if she can help direct us, it could save lives.”

“At what cost to Candy?”

Ziggy looks away, muttering an apology.

A sound of disgust rips through my throat as I shove away from the table. “Fuck the lot of you.”

Livid, I speed stride toward the exit.

“Butch!” Ziggy hollers behind me. “Wait up, man.”

But I don’t stop. I’m in no headspace to discuss my feelings rationally. With how protective I am for my woman, the word rational is nonexistent.

There’s only one person who can settle the squall brewing inside of me, and she’s upstairs, asleep in our bed.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

BUTCH

Looking for sanctuary, I head upstairs to my room. With all this rage billowing inside of me, I need space from the guys.

Back in the suite, I sit on the couch and rest my head in my open hands. More than anything, I want to go to Candy. She sleeps peacefully in our bed—I don’t want to interrupt her slumber with the horror we’re facing. Not yet.

It takes a few minutes of meditative breathing to calm me down. When the storm passes, I’m left weighing the reality of this trafficking case.

We have no leads. No suspects. No trace of our victims.

We’re dead in the water before we’ve started.

As upset as I am with my brothers, I’m more furious with Tank for mentioning Candy. He had no right dragging her into this mess.

To be fair, it was only a matter of time before one of the other crew members mentioned her past with Lorenzo. It was unavoidable. My woman was always going to come into this scenario. And there’s nothing I can do to shelter her from her old hurt resurfacing.

If this involved any other person, I’d be agreeing with Piero. A source is a source. The source being my woman doesn’t mean our crew should make exceptions.

The only thing I can do to make this shit situation better is to be present with Candy when she’s questioned, offer moral support and comfort her.

She also should hear this news from me first, before anyone else gets to her.

Hating what I need to do, I get up from the couch and walk the few steps into the bedroom area of the suite. Candy lays motionless on the bed, wearing my long sleeve Henley from the day before. Beautiful as always, she’s curled around the covers where I tucked her in before heading downstairs for the meeting. A small smile tips her lips upward, almost like an angel sleeping.

What I’m about to reveal to her will remove the peaceful smile from her face.

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