Page 80 of Shattered Secrets

Matt held Scarlet tight, and his stomach twisted at the way her slight frame quaked. “How’d she get here?”

“She came with me. I was meeting with Quinn when the emergency call came in. We went to the diner and... She’s in a bit of shock, but she was asking for you.” Gavin’s expression became sympathetic as he looked at Scar. “She asked for Xander to look after Daisy.”

The hairs on Matt’s arms rose.The fuck?he mouthed to his friend.

“It’s the only thing she’s said since we left the diner.” Gavin shrugged. “Xander checked in about ten minutes ago. All is well over there. He’ll stay until you pick up Daisy.”

Matt lifted his chin in thanks, then bent his knees and scooped Scarlet up in his arms. Walking back to Bean’s enormous desk, he murmured his thanks when Bean spun his chair toward him. She held it steady while he sat with Scarlet draped over his lap.

“Scarlet, sweetheart, are you hurt?”

She shook her head against his neck.

“Thanks, man,” he said, accepting a freshly cracked bottle of water from Gavin. “Here, sit up and take a sip of this.”

Gaze locked on her lap, she took the bottle of water and drank.

Matt ran his hand up and down her back and laid a kiss to her temple. “I’ve got you.” He glanced at the concerned faces of his friends and colleagues. “We’ve all got you.”

Scarlet looked up, and his blood chilled at the stricken expression on her face. Aside from a man being stabbed, something else was horribly wrong. “What aren’t you telling me, baby?”

His chest clenched when a tear spilled down her cheek.

“He called me Sienna,” she said, voice shaking. More tears slipped down her face. “I think he was the guy asking about me, showing that picture of me.” Biting back a sob, she buried her face in his neck again.

“Sienna May Robinson,” Bean murmured.

Scarlet flinched in his arms and let out a small whimper.

“I’m sorry, Scarlet,” Bean said. “You said I could dig, so I did.”

With a sniff, Scarlet sat up, though she continued to lean against him. “It’s fine. I promise.” She met his gaze. “That was my old name.”

“Quinn, it’s Gavin.”

Matt glanced over at the sound of his friend’s voice. Gavin had his phone to his ear.

“I need you to send me whatever you’ve got on the stabbing victim. There may be a connection with Scarlet.”

Matt cupped Scarlet’s face in his hands, bringing her attention back to him as he brushed away her tears with his thumbs. “Talk to me, Scar. Did he say anything to you?”

She let out a shaky breath and nodded. Her eyes darted to Bean, then to Gavin. She waited until Gavin hung up before speaking. Pride surged through him. Scared or not, she was so damn strong.

“He said that they blamed me and were coming. That they knew. And he said...” She swallowed hard, and new tears flooded her eyes. “He said, ‘They want her.’ That’s why I asked Gavin to call Xander. Do you think he meant Daisy?”

Matt hugged her tighter. “Breathe, sweetheart.”

“Did he give any indication who ‘they’ were?” Gavin asked.

She sniffed. “No. He said something about how it’s not long now and ‘one for one,’ but I didn’t understand. I was in shock that he’d called me Sienna in the first place.”

“Once I get the guy’s info from Quinn, I’ll find everything there is to know about him,” Bean said, tapping the tablet in her hand.

Matt frowned, and he scrubbed one hand over his jaw.

Scarlet linked her fingers with his. “What are you thinking?”

They want her. The fact that this guy had most likely been referring to Daisy made his blood boil. One for one...

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