Page 102 of Tell Me Why
“My guy got it from his contact in the Sheriff’s Office,” I say, my hand smoothing over her thigh, lending her my strength, because I know this will split her open. “So it clearly wasn’t destroyed.”
Eyebrows pinched, she reads the report. Seconds feel like years as I watch her face, heart in my throat, waiting for her reaction. Tears stream down her cheeks as she silently takes in the information.Goddamn.I want more than anything to wipe them away, take her pain, and make it mine.
When she’s done, she looks up at me, shell-shocked. “This isn’t true,” she says, shaking her head, rejecting the information that’s right in front of her. “There’s no way.”
“There’s one more piece of the puzzle,” I whisper, indicating the last group of stapled papers. “It’s about your birth mother.”
Her dark eyebrows pinch. “My what?”
“The woman you thought was your mother...she adopted you,” I say softly, watching a fresh wave of confusion and disbelief cross over her face. “Your biological mother was actually a seventeen-year-old girl named Elena. She was kidnapped and trafficked…” My words trail off because that’s not even the worst of it, but I can’t bring myself to tell her the rest.
“Kidnapped by who?”
“Shadow and Ash. Twenty years ago, they had a human trafficking ring. It’s been disbanded, but back then, several local girls went missing. Elena was one of them.”
With a curt nod, she flips through the documents. My brave Little Fox. Seeing her like this—vulnerable, in pain—feels like a fist through the chest, squeezing the breath from my lungs, ripping me to shreds from the inside out. And the worst part? There isn’t a damn thing I can do about it.
She quickly reads through the documents—DNA results, witness statements, and an article about Elena’s disappearance. Eve’s finger traces over a photocopied picture of a young woman that looks so much like her—same eyes, same dark hair. There’s no question Elena is her mother.
“This article says Elena’s last name was Rush,” she says, glancing up at me, startled.
“She was Roman’s aunt,” I say quietly. “He never met her. She went missing when he was just a toddler.”
“What about my dad?” Her voice breaks with each word, and I hesitate, knowing what I’m about to say will destroy her.
“Your dad…” My jaw clenches when I remember Vaughn’s report and the way he laid this whole twisted thing out. At first, I didn’t want to believe it, but his research was extensive, and the backup documents confirm everything. “He was the one who killed your birth mother when she tried to escape. And years later, when your adoptive mom discovered the truth…” Again, I can’t bring myself to finish the sentence.
The blood drains from Eve’s face. “He killed them both…” she whispers, horror filling her eyes.
I nod, wishing none of this were true. “They were about to charge him with murder, but then he took his own life…”
“It wasn’t grief…it was guilt,” she says, nearly choking on the words.
“I’m sorry.”
Sobbing, she buries her face in my chest. I wrap my arms around her tightly and whisper, “You’re okay. It’s going to be okay,” over and over, not even knowing if it’s true, just trying to ease her pain in any way I can.
This is all so fucked up. I have power, money, and influence, but right now, in this moment, all that’s useless—I never thought I’d say that. But nothing can take this pain away from her. Nothing. And that makes me feel fucking helpless—an emotion I’ve never felt before.
Her tears soak my bare chest, and I just hold her, rocking gently, whispering against the top of her head as I try to anchor her.
When she finally lifts her head, her eyes are rimmed red, and she struggles to catch her breath. She wipes the dampness from her cheeks, sniffling. “I just...I don’t understand why my family would lie to me.”
I stroke her arm, the tips of my fingers brushing over her soft skin. I could tell myself it’s to comfort her, but I know better. Eve Savano is a force I can’t fight, and I’ve stopped trying. I need to touch her, breathe her in, devour her....and still, that wouldn’t be enough. It will never be enough.
And that’s when it hits me with terrifying clarity—this feeling I have for Eve isn’t just an obsession. It isn’t just a need to be with her, around her, inside her. It’s love.
Fuck, I love her.
I’m in love with Eve Savano.
The revelation nearly stops my heart. Aside from my brother, I’ve never loved anyone. I’ve neverbeenloved—not even my parents could muster up that emotion for me.
Suddenly, I feel vulnerable, exposed—because the truth is, I’m at this girl’s mercy. She has my whole heart in the palm of her hand.
Vulnerability is pain.
But…is it? Honestly, I’m willing to find out…
