Page 38 of Beautiful Exile

She blinked a few times, a little awareness coming back. “I froze.”

“You froze?”

Her hands fisted in my tee, twisting the fabric. “All my training and I just froze.”

A sick feeling slid through me. “What were you training for?”

Arden’s gray-violet gaze fully focused and collided with mine. “What to do in case they try to kill me again.”

14

ARDEN

The truth slidout so easily it was shocking. Especially given the fact that it was a truth I’d guarded with my life for over thirteen years. But I gave it to Linc as if it were nothing. As if he had earned the right to all my secrets. And maybe he had. Or perhaps there was simply something about him that made me want to lay myself bare.

That in and of itself should’ve had me running for the hills. But it didn’t. I stayed and watched as the words hit him and realization dawned.

Those hazel eyes turned thunderous, the sort of stormy that threatened retribution of the highest order. “Who. Hurt. You?”

I could feel the war within him, the battle to keep his hold on me gentle, and the fight to not scare me. But I wasn’t frightened. Somehow, his anger was a balm. I knew I shouldn’t tell him—my family were the only ones I could truly trust—but I found myself speaking anyway. It was like my voice belonged to someone else, as if I were listening right along with Linc.

“My parents were killed when I was eleven,” I began. “I saw it.My mom, at least. She’d hidden me in a secret closet, but there wasn’t enough room for us both.”

Acid surged up my throat, burning it. The older I’d gotten, the more I recognized her sacrifice. “I watched as a man taunted her and then ordered his hired hand to kill her. All because my father was greedy. Because he wanted more.”

I’d realized with time that my mom must have known what my dad was up to. The mastermind had known her. Had called her by name. But I couldn’t stop replaying the conversations of that night all those years ago in my head. How my mom had told me things would get better, and Dad would be home more. Either she’d known and had convinced my dad to stop taking the bribes, or he’d grown a conscience and decided to stop all on his own. But none of that changed the fact that his greed had set the series of events in motion.

I let out a shaky breath, anger mixing with my fear. “As if we didn’t have enough. Our house was bigger than we’d ever need, his car was top of the line, and his clothes were impeccable. But it wasn’t enough.”

Confusion swept over Lincoln’s face. “He stole something?”

I shook my head. “He was a judge. He accepted bribes.”

Linc muttered a curse.

“Apparently, there came a time when he wanted to stop.”

“And they didn’t want him to,” Linc surmised.

“No,” I whispered. “They didn’t. So, I watched from the pitch-black of a hidden closet as they shot my mom in the chest. I watched her take her last breath. Watched as her blood spilled out onto one of our antique rugs. I watched herlifespill out. I waited, locked in the dark for hours until a neighbor saw our open door and called the police. But even then, I was too terrified to step into the light. They had to sedate me to get me out of there.”

“Fuck,” Linc bit out, and then his arms were around me. He engulfed me in a hug that nearly drowned me—in the best way.

For the first time in over a decade, I felt truly safe. As if no one could get to me because the embrace would protect me. I let all thatwas Linc drown my senses. Let that bourbon and cedar scent wrap around me and seep into my skin.

He held me for a long time. So long, I thought the sun might’ve sunk lower in the sky. But it wasn’t long enough. As he pulled back, he lifted his hands and framed my face. His palms and fingertips were callused—a fighter’s hands. And those made me feel safe, too.

“Tell me they got them. Tell me those bastards are rotting in jail.”

I wanted to say yes. Wanted to know I’d never have to worry about those men again. But I couldn’t. “One is.” I swallowed hard. “I only really saw the man who shot her, not the one who ordered him to. But my description led the police to the shooter. My testimony put him away.”

Linc’s thumb stroked the apple of my cheek. “So damn strong.”

I wasn’t, not really. I was still terrified of the dark. Still held myself back from all the people in my life. But I didn’t tell Linc any of that. Instead, I gave him a different truth. “They never found the mastermind—the one calling all the shots. The hired gun never flipped on him, and all I saw was his damn shoe. Only heard his voice taunting my mom before he killed her and said he’d find and kill me, too.”

Linc’s hold on my face tightened infinitesimally. “Fucking hell.”

“The cops tried to put the pieces together and link him to my dad or the hired gun. But the money trails they found disappeared in Switzerland.”

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