Page 4 of Shattered Souls
Logan scoffs, however his expression is fierce as his arms tighten around Riley. “You’re not teenagers anymore. It’s not like he can demand you live under the same roof as him.”
I shake my head, sighing. “I’m not entirely sure what he’s up to, but he’s up to something.” Deciding to just get it over with, I blurt, “He wants the four of us to sit down for some fucked up version of family dinner at a restaurant on Saturday.”
“Well, that’s not fucking happening,” Logan snaps before Riley can say anything. “Over my dead fucking body is that sick fuck going anywhere near my Shortcake.”
Riley shakes her head, a fierceness entering her expression for the first time since Royce and Logan walked empty-handed into the house last night and ripped her heart to shreds. “I don’t give a shit about some twisted family dinner. Mydaughteris missing.” She chokes over the words. “Nothing else matters except finding her.”
I nod in complete agreement before my gaze slides to Royce. “You’re quiet.”
He scrubs his hand over the dusting of scruff along his jaw. “I think the timing makes a lot of sense,” he muses aloud. “Lydia was clearly trying to get Aurora out of the picture before your dad was released—whether or not she knew he was getting out earlier than we expected.”
“You think Bertram has no idea Aurora exists?” Logan questions, brows furrowed in thought. “That Lydia kept that secret from him?” His eyes widen. “Damn, that would be something.”
“I think she’s incredibly insecure,” Royce states. “In her mind, she lost him once to Riley. She would definitely be concerned about the same thing happening again.” Royce’s attention shifts to me. “And if he and Lydia have been in contact this entire time, it could explain how he knew Riley was at Halston. I can’t imagine Lydia being eager to give him information on Riley, but if he asked, she might have handed it over.”
“The Christmas card,” Riley gasps.
Royce nods.
“So what, Lydia—because I refuse to refer to that woman as my mother given what she’s done—” Riley sneers, “has been waiting for Bertram to be released so she can get her old life back? If she knew Aurora would become a… problem… why fight to have custody of her at all?”
“For control. A bargaining chip. To keep you in line, and in case Bertram decided he was done with her,” Royce supplies. All theories, of course, but given what we know about Lydia, it stacks up. Even if it is all incredibly fucked up.
On the plus side, instead of breaking her further like I thought this conversation might, a furious spark has ignited in Riley’s eyes. They’re still dim and lifeless, but her depression has been overshadowed by anger—an emotion I’m all too familiar with using as a crutch.
“So what do we do now?” Logan asks the pinnacle question. “We could go to Lydia and demand information on the buyer.”
Riley recoils at his words, and he grimaces, pressing a quick kiss to her shoulder.
“I’m going to The Depot to talk to Dax and get his tech guy to look into it. See if he can find anything,” Royce states. “I think we should hold off on interrogating Lydia just yet. Riley isn’t supposed to know that anything is wrong with Aurora. If we go asking questions now, it will only raise her suspicions as to how we know. Let’s keep it quiet while I look into it.” Staring at Riley, he says, “You could call your mo—Lydia—if you’re up to it. Ask to talk to Aurora.”
“We usually only talk on the weekends, but yeah, I can do that,” Riley agrees. Her voice comes out strong, but the anxiety in her eyes belies her true feelings.
“What do the rest of us do?” Logan asks, glancing my way.
Sighing, I scrape my hand through my hair. “With my dad out, I need to go into the office. I don’t trust him not to start pulling strings behind my back, and I’d been putting off informing everyone of his release… guess I can’t do that any longer.”
“Guess Riley and I will have a Netflix and chill day, then,” Logan says with a frown.
Riley shakes her head. “I can’t sit around this house and do nothing. It’s a school day. I’m going to class. Or at least to campus. I just… I can’t sit here. I’ll drive myself crazy wondering…” She tears up before sucking in a steadying breath and turning to Logan. “I’m going to campus if you wanna come.”
“Like I’d let you go alone,” he murmurs, cupping her cheek before pressing an affectionate kiss to her temple.
With that decided, everyone goes their separate ways to prepare for the day ahead. Not at all looking forward to breaking the news to my shareholders and staff, I head for a shower and to get dressed.
2
ROYCE
“Blue’s keeping an eye on all methods of transport out of the country. Any mention of a little girl matching our description, and it’ll be flagged,” Dax states with a grim expression. We’re sitting in Xander’s office at the back of The Depot. By the looks of things, Dax has been here all night, talking to Blue and looking into everything. I vaguely recall him saying something to that effect yesterday, but honestly, I was so fucked up after realizing I’d failed Riley that I couldn’t take any of it in. “We’re looking into Lydia, too. Trying to identify the buyer and figure out how they communicated. We missed something somewhere,” he states in frustration, “but we’ll find her.”
“We have to.” My voice is choked. No other outcome is acceptable. Not after I had to watch Riley irreparably shatter in front of me last night. The second we walked through the door without Aurora,she knew.
The sound she made, as though she were physically dying, will haunt me for the rest of my days. I don’teverwant to hear that noise again. Never want to fail her like that ever again.
“How is she?” Dax asks, lips pursed.
Sighing, I lean back in my chair. “Putting on a brave face, but she’s… wrecked.” It feels wrong to share Riley’s vulnerability with him. Based on the darkness that creeps into Dax’s expression, he doesn’t need me to say anything more.
