Page 127 of Ruthless Secrets
Everything inside me turns cold.
Clara.
“No,” I choke as I whirl around, my eyes furiously scanning the rest of the room.
I had hoped she was hiding in one of the other bedrooms, but I was wrong.
She’s gone.
Rosa starts to cry as she clutches Holly and Zoe. Both of the babies’ faces are bright red and tear-stained as they try to fight against Rosa’s hold.
When Zoe looks at me, she starts crying even more, holding up her chubby hands to reach for me.
I round on Lila, who is clinging to Andre as she stares at me. “What the hell happened?”
Her lips are moving, but no sound is coming out. She’s completely frozen.
I need answers. I need to know what the fuck has happened to the mother of my child. The woman I love.
My gaze snaps back to Rosa. She’s pale and shaking but still holding herself together better than Lila.
She swallows hard, straightening slightly as she meets my eyes.
“S-she sacrificed herself,” she whispers, her voice cracking.
“What the hell does that mean?”
Rosa’s throat bobs as she blinks back tears. “She told them to take her. S-she made them leave us alone.”
I turn away, dragging a hand down my face, as I try to think, tobreathe.But the rage is boiling over, searing through my veins like molten fucking lava.
“Goddamn it, Clara!” I send my fist into the wall.
My outburst causes Holly and Zoe to start wailing, but I don’t have the capacity right now to feel bad.
How could Clara do this? Did she really think that I wouldn’t come for her?
Andre looks at all the women. “Did you see who took her?”
Marissa shakes her head. “N-no. Alio…he told us to hide.”
Andre frowns. “But Clara didn’t?”
“She refused.”
I’m barely listening, not when my rage is being drowned out by something much worse.
Fear.
The kind that wraps around my throat and squeezes so hard that I can’t take a breath.
What if I don’t get to her in time? What if she ends up like Melanie?
The thought nearly destroys me.
I pocket my gun before crossing the room toward Rosa. I take Zoe from her arms and hold her close, needing a piece of Clara to hold on to while I try to think.
She clings to me, her tiny fingers pulling at my shirt as she whimpers.
