Page 40 of Beautiful Scars: Unshakeable (The Beautiful Scars Duet #2)

Chapter Thirty-Five

Sunny

I float somewhere between waking and sleeping, time slipping past me like water through my fingers. The ceiling above me blurs, comes into focus, blurs again. My body feels heavy. Someone's talking in the hallway—updates about another dead end.

Three days. Jade's been gone three days.

I close my eyes against the burning sensation of tears I can't shed anymore. The mattress dips beside me, and Zane's familiar scent wraps around me as he pulls me up against his chest.

"Angel, you need to drink something."

I hear the words but I don't care about them. I know I should respond, should take the water he's offering, but my muscles don't want to obey. Everything feels too hard, too heavy.

"Please, sweet girl."

The glass touches my lips. I swallow automatically, the cool liquid sliding down my throat. Somewhere downstairs, something crashes. Colt's voice rises in frustration, followed by the sound of breaking glass.

His pain? All that wasted concern? My fault. All my fault.

I want to tell them I'm fine, that they shouldn't waste time worrying about me when Jade is out there somewhere with him . But the words stick in my throat, trapped behind the crushing weight of reality.

How stupid I was, thinking I could have this—have them. Thinking I deserved love, safety, family. Garrett's voice echoes in my head, years of whispered truths I've fought so hard to deny—to not believe.

But, I was wrong. About all of it.

You're mine or you're dead, Princess.

I've always belonged to him. Always will.

Later, minutes or hours, I can't tell—I'm in the shower. Levi's hands are gentle as he washes my hair, but I flinch anyway. Not from him—from the memory of other hands, cruel hands. Hands that have owned me for as long as I can remember.

"I've got you, baby." His voice breaks on the endearment.

But he doesn't. Neither of them do. They never did. They only thought they rescued me. I've never been anything more than a puppet, dancing on the strings that Garrett pulled. Every moment, every breath, every everything —he was there.

The water turns off. Zane wraps me in a towel, helps me dress in soft clothes that smell like him. They're so careful with me, and I know they love me, but…

I'm toxic. Contaminated. I'm destroying them little by little just by existing. I shouldn't be here.

"Angel?" Zane tilts my chin up, trying to catch my gaze. "Please come back to us."

But I can't. Because this—all of this—it was never real. I was never meant for gentle touches or tender words or soft kisses. I was meant for basements and bruises and breaking.

I can hear the noise from outside. Trucks being loaded with equipment and men. They're heading out to continue searching. Again. It's pointless though. They won't find her until he wants them to.

"She needs to eat something." Levi's voice from behind me, raw with exhaustion.

"I know." Zane sounds equally drained. "But we can't force—"

"The fuck we can't. She's barely here anymore, Z. We're losing her."

You can't lose something you never really had.

The thought hits me with such clarity it hurts. That's what I've been doing wrong this whole time—pretending I could belong to anyone but him. Pretending I could love and be loved back.

Downstairs, Colt yells in frustration again.

Jade is suffering because I overstepped. I reached for more than I deserved.

"Please," I whisper, my first word in hours. "Just let me go."

"Never." Levi's arms wrap around me from behind, fierce and protective. "We're not giving up. Not on Jade, not on you."

But they should. They all should. Because Garrett won't stop—not until everything I love is in ashes. Not until he's stripped away every good thing, every good feeling I have that exists without him.

I close my eyes, sinking back into the fog where feelings can't reach me. Where I don't have to see the pain in their eyes or hear the desperation in their voices. Where there is nothing. Where I am nothing.

Eventually, I surface from the heavy darkness, awareness trickling back slowly. The mattress shifts beneath me as someone sits on the edge. Through half-closed eyes, I make out Z's broad shoulders, his dark hair falling forward as he leans over me.

"Angel." His deep voice rumbles through me. "We need to handle some things, but we'll be back soon."

I try to focus on his words, but everything feels far away. His calloused fingers brush my cheek and I fight the urge to nuzzle against them.

"Here." He presses my phone into my palm, curling my fingers around it. "Here. I want you to keep this with you, okay. Hold on to it. Don't let go."

It feels heavy in my hand. I want to tell him I don't need it—don't deserve their concern—but my tongue feels thick, useless.

"Message either of us if you need anything." His thumb traces my cheekbone. "Anything at all. We'll be right downstairs in the security room with all the guys, okay?"

Levi appears in the doorway. "Z, we need to move."

"I know." Z's voice carries an edge I rarely hear. He leans down, pressing his lips to my forehead. "Always, sweet girl."

The word catches in my chest, a reminder of everything I'm going to lose.

Levi crosses to the bed, his fingers threading through my hair. "Rest, my Angel. We won't be long."

I close my eyes, the weight of their concern crushing me. The mattress rises as Z stands. Their footsteps fade, followed by the soft click of the door.

Sleep pulls at me, dragging me under despite my best attempts to stay awake. The phone remains clutched in my hand, a lifeline I don't deserve. I chase fragments of dreams through my mind—Jade's laugh, the warmth of being held between two bodies that love me.

I jolt awake, heart hammering against my ribs. The room is darker now—late night shadows stretching across the floor. My fingers are cramped from clutching the phone, but I can't make myself let go. Z's words echo in my head.

Don't let go.

I don't know how long I've been drifting in and out. Minutes? Hours? I catch distant murmurs from downstairs.

The emptiness of the room settles over me. This is how it should be for me. Alone. No one else getting hurt because of me. No one else suffering for my selfish attempts at happiness.

The phone buzzing startles me. I pause and take a deep breath before looking at the screen. I know it's Levi or Z checking on me.

I also know that if I don't respond, they'll come back. They'll look at me with those eyes full of fear and determination—and sadness—and it will break my heart a little more.

Reluctantly, I swipe the screen to check the message. The name that appears stops me cold.

Jade.

My fingers shake as I click the notification. An image loads and a scream builds in my throat, trapped behind clenched teeth. I bite it off before it can escape.

It's Jade. My strong, beautiful friend who never backs down from anything or anyone is gagged and bound tightly on some filthy mattress.

Her usual perfect makeup runs in dark rivers down her cheeks.

Her eyes—God, her eyes. I've never seen her look scared before.

Not like this. Raw terror radiates from the screen.

There are marks on her skin. A dark purple bruise blooms across her cheek. Red welts and scratches cover her arms. But she's alive. She's alive and mostly unharmed and—

The message beneath the photo makes my heart stop.

"Trade?"

The phone slips from my numb fingers, landing face-down on the bed. The room spins around me as his voice fills my head.

You're mine, Princess. Always have been. Always will be.

He's right. He's always been right. Everything else—the safety, the love, the family I thought I'd found—it was just a beautiful lie I let myself believe.

It's not something I was ever meant to keep.