Page 185 of The Contract

I was.

I was right fucking there. And I failed her too.

“Another Ledger girl was taken by her contract. I had to find her before it was too late. I—” Lucian swallows hard. “I should have called someone else in to help Elena. I shouldn’t have fucking waited until she felt like she was in danger. She called in for us to bail her out of here because it wasn’t safe anymore.”

The breath in my chest stills.

“Why didn’t she come to me if she wasn’t safe? I would have fucking done anything to protect her.”

“She did.”

Marcus finally speaks, and my head snaps to him.

“What?”

“She did come to you.”

He blinks slowly, looking exhausted.

“Your security threw her out of the fucking building,” James adds.

He’s fuming at the entire situation.

I finally sit down on the barstool.

My mind is rushing with a million thoughts, but it’s like I can’t hear a single one.

“It’s why we came over here.”

Marcus opens his laptop bag, pulling out his computer. “Watch. Everything.”

The series of events guts me.

Elena leaves the cafe, fire in her eyes.

Adrian follows her, and I watch her call someone.

“She called the car service to bring her to the office,” Marcus fills in, his tone grim. It’s clear he’s looked into every minute of what happened—just like I asked him to do.

Adrian chases her, and we all tense when he slams her into the wall by her hair.

Her phone clatters across the sidewalk, away from her, and I feel like I’m going to vomit.

She fights back.

When he slaps her, my entire world turns red.

“I’m going to kill that fucking asshole,” Lucian grits out, and I agree with the sentiment.

Elena knees him, runs away—and I stare at her phone, still on the sidewalk.

I know what happens before I watch it.

The pit in my stomach plummets deeper.

Adrian picks it up and chases after her again.

Marcus clicks another video. The Blackstone valet.

---