Page 75 of Laila Manning
“Flirting!” Her boyfriend roared, rolling his eyes. “I was fucking talking to the wife of a—”
She cut him off, dominating the conversation, “I don’t care.” She snapped, and he huffed, closing his mouth as if he were physically fighting back the words trying to escape. “And then I felt—” She paused and swallowed, losing some of the bravado, “sick. So, she went to find Jed while I went to the bathroom. That was the last I saw of her.”
I turned to Jed, “What happened when she got you?”
“She didn’t.” He sighed, “Ellie came and found me, but said you’d already taken Laila home. I never saw her after she went to the bar.”
I turned back to Ellie and put my hands on my hips, fighting the urge to scream at them all for the fucking answers. “So, what happened between the bar and you finding her?” Ellie’s body was tense where she leaned against Ryker, and I instantly felt dread come over me. “Someone fucking hurt her.” I stated thickly, fighting emotions from cutting off my voice completely.
“Not last night, they didn’t.” Elora whispered angrily as her eyes misted, “I don’t know when it happened. But I know who it was.”
“Who?”
She swallowed, and Ryker ran his hands up and down her arms, giving her silent support, showing she had already told him what she knew.
“I found her cornered in the darkness, and she looked like a wild animal.” She shuddered, “I haven’t seen that look in her eyes since you rescued her from that brothel that night.”
My body tightened as I got closer to a name. A face. A body to enact some vengeance on. “Who, Elora?” I demanded again.
“Senator Lupold.” She spat out, grimacing at the mere mention of his name, and my blood ran cold. “I don’t know what happenedbefore I got there, but he recognized her. He didn’t know where from, though. And she was ready to tear herself limb from limb to get away from him.”
My heartbeat echoed in my ears as the slimy face of that man blurred my vision, in time with the memory of that day on the sidewalk.
She was stopped outside his house. Frozen in time. Staring up at the brick exterior in a daze and when I asked her what she was doing outside the Senator’s home, she grimaced at the title.
“That man did something to Laila.” Elora croaked as she fought her emotions. “I don’t know what it was exactly, but it was something catastrophic.”
“I’ll kill him.” Jed sneered, glancing up at me. “Wewill kill him.”
“Not yet.” I shook my head, looking back at Ryker. Senator Lupold was a disgrace to humankind, but he was powerful. Whatever we did, it had to be smart. “We can’t make a move on him.” I hated saying those words, even if they were true. “Not right away, at least.”
“Why the fuck not?” Jed snapped, standing up from his spot at the island and tipping his stool over. “We all fucking know what that scum bag did to her.” He yelled, losing his composure as his imagination ran wild. Where his mind was racing, mine slowed down. Moves I could make played out in perfect succession like a chess match, showing me the right and wrong ones in cinematic fashion.
“Because he deserves worse than that.” I replied, and Ryker smirked, already knowing what I was thinking from years of working side by side.
“He’d be too prepared for it.” Ryker added, holding his hand up to Jed as his temper boiled over. “Zeke’s right. Killing him swiftly for whatever crime he committed against Laila is too kind of a fate. And his security is too tight for a blitz attack.”
“Then what the fuck are you suggesting?” Jed threw his hands up. “We finally have a fucking name, and you want to sit here and strategize? Fuck that!”
“No.” I shook my head, staring at the countertop. “There’s only one way to do this.” I glanced up at Laila’s brother and finally saw him for what he had been all along. Her biggest protector. It was ingrained in his DNA to keep her safe, and knowing he had failed had led him to act out and fight for control of the situation. “We have to do this her way.”
“Her?” He froze, “You seriously think she should be involved in this? He abused her! She nearly lost her mind last night just from seeing him!” He turned to Ryker, pleading for reason. “You have to agree that involving Laila in any of this would just hurt her further.”
“I don’t agree.” Ryker said easily. “I think it should be up to her completely.” He nodded in my direction.
“Like my mother.” Ellie stared at me head on, before glancing at Jed. “I killed my mother for what she did to me.” She shrugged, “Okay, maybe not firsthand,” She smirked almost ironically, “But I gave Zeke the command on when and how. And it gave me an incredible sense of power when I did it.”
“No.” Jed started pacing. “No!” He roared, and Carly stayed peculiarly quiet in her chair as her man lost it further. “I don’t want her near death!” He turned on me. “I fucking lost everything to protect her from it the first time! I’m not going to just make that all for nothing by forcing her to expose herself to it now!”
“She’s not a kid anymore.” I tried reasoning with him, even though I could empathize with his panic. “And neither are you, Jed.” I leveled with him, “She’s stronger than you give her credit for. And she thrives on being in control of things, even if she doubts her ability to do so at first. She deserves at least to have a say in it.”
“It will just re-victimize her.” Carly said quietly from her spot, which she hadn’t moved from. “You didn’t see it.” She shook her head and closed her eyes as haunting tears spilled over her cheeks. “You didn’t see what it was like for them.” Her voice cut out as she opened her eyes and stared right at me. “You didn’t see what they did to her.” She shook her head, causing more tears to spill, and my chest ached from her pain. “Don’t make her relive it.”
“She relived it last night.” Elora added calmly, trying to reason with her best friend. “She was right back inside that building last night when I got to her.”
“And what do you think killing the man who tortured her will do?” Carly snapped at Ellie as she stood up. “Because I did that.” Her whole-body shook. “I killed Frankie for what he did to me, and I regret it every single fucking day. Every single fucking day I remember that moment, I know you all are so fucking desensitized to the brutality of murder—” Carly cried before turning to me, “But I’m not. Laila’s not.” She grabbed her coffee off the counter and poured it down the drain. “I don’t know if it’s up for a fucking vote or not, but my vote is to leave her out of it.” She looked to Ryker and Ellie, “I’ve spent the most time out of all of us working with her through her trauma and I’m begging you,” She turned to me and pled with her teary eyes, “Don’t put more darkness on her soul.”
She turned and walked out of the kitchen towards her house, and Jed hung his head in frustration, moved by her plea. “My vote is no.” He tossed his hands up in the air, looking from me to Ryker, “But we all know you two don’t care what my opinion is where my sister is concerned. Or you would have respected it from day one. I brought her here because I thought she’d be safe.” He turned and walked out after Carly, leaving a thick silence in his wake.
