Page 32 of Restitution

“Kade?”

Fuck. Her voice. She has no idea how much she soothes the darkness within me. It’s like the fragments of my heart slowly join back together – until I hear the soft whimper of her trying to hold in her tears, and everything comes crashing down again, because I caused those tears.

“Kade? Are you there?”

Can she hear how uneven my breathing is?

If I talk, I’ll fuck this up. She’ll know I’m upset.

She’s met with my silence. “I don’t know what’s happening with you, but if you need to do this assignment for your freedom, I’m willing to let you do it. I…” Her voice breaks, and so does my heart. “I don’t have anything to live for, but you do.”

Swallowing, I close my eyes, still refusing to speak.

Her voice is so soothing without her even realising.

Stacey Rhodes. My girl. My anchor that sank to the bottom of the ocean without me.

“Send me the location and I’ll come. Just… get this over with.”

The line cuts out, and the phone slips from my ear.

10

STACEY

Everyone sits around the table, talking, bickering, trying to figure out how to help Kade. All I can do is stare at my fingers fidgeting in my lap.

“I’ve been working with him for years, and I’ve never seen him like this.”

Aria wipes her eyes and leans forward. “He’s having withdrawals. Has my son always been on drugs?”

Barry looks at Tobias, then at me and Aria. “Not willingly. Kade didn’t want any involvement in these activities. But I noticed closer to his departure to Russia a year ago that he was losing weight, wasn’t eating or working out like he used to, and his body spasmed a lot. I put it down to trauma, but I laterfound out that Bernadette’s husband had been injecting him daily before…” He trails off, not wanting to continue.

“Before what?” Tobias pushes.

“I’m not comfortable disclosing any further details,” Barry says, crossing his arms. “If Kade knew I’d told you half the stuff I already have, he’d kill me.”

Jason, still bruised from earlier, speaks up. “What did Archie do to my brother?”

Barry stays silent.

But it clicks.

Archie abuses Kade too.

I feel like I’m going to be sick.

Except for Cassie arguing her father wouldn’t sexually assault a man, silence fills the room, and my heart slowly shatters into millions of fragments that only Kade can mend.

Tobias stands. “I’m not sitting around here any longer. I’m going to find them both and make it fucking painful. You” – he points at Cassie – “get out of my sight before I blow your fucking brains out.”

Barry, bold as brass, stands in front of him as he heads straight for Cassie. “Going after the Sawyers isn’t a good idea. Trust me, I’ve been trying to get Kade away from this from the start. You’ll only put a target on his back if you insert yourself.”

He scoffs. “You expect me to do nothing while my son is being fucking drugged and raped?”

Everyone flinches at his truthful words.

“I’m asking you to work with me and your son’s team to get him out alive, not go in and cause a riot and get everyone killed in the process. Your daughter might be safe from the Russians thanksto Prince, but with the control the Sawyers have over everything, Luciella’s flight won’t land in Edinburgh tomorrow. You’ll never see your son again, and Aria will be next. Are you willing to risk them all?”