Lila

She slept again after the detective left, and woke with a start to find Chris sitting in the chair next to her, bent over, with his head in his hands. He looked like he was grieving.

​​

Adrenalin cut through her like a knife. "What? What is it? Did something happen to Dane?" she gasped, sitting up too quickly, and then losing her breath to the pain.

"No, no, Lila, sorry. I'm just… I'm just tired is all. I was resting." He was on his feet and touching her shoulder, concern painted all over his face. "Are you okay?" His big hand covered the back of her shoulder and he squeezed gently, his blue eyes pained for her.

She shook her head. "I'm fine," she winced. "I just wish men would stop showing up looking dramatic and then having nothing dramatic to share," she said through her teeth.

Chris frowned. "Who else showed up?"

"No one. A doctor. But if you'd seen his face…" she rolled her eyes and grimaced.

"Cynical fuckers," he muttered. It was so unexpected, Lila huffed a laugh, then had to breathe for a while again because her rib hurt so badly. Chris looked like he was going to, as Dane would say, have kittens before she was able to calm down and breathe normally. But she just glared at him when he suggested calling a nurse.

"Okay," she said a couple minutes later. Chris relaxed a hair and sat in the chair. "What's going on? Catch me up?" she said, laying back on the pillow and not looking at him.

He sighed. "What do you want to know?"

"Did they clear out the apartment?"

"What apartment, yours?"

"The one I was in when… when he came for me."

Chris hesitated. "Dane never revealed it to us."

Lila blinked, but pretended she just needed to rub her eyes. "Okay. I guess… I'll take you to it when I get out."

"You can't just tell me?"

"No."

He stared at her a second, but she was just staring at the ceiling and couldn't find the energy to meet his eyes and give him any kind of reassurance. She was only hours into this, and she was already exhausted.

Dane, how do you do this all the time? She wondered silently. How do you hold so many secrets without them stepping on each other?

"Are you sure you're okay, Lila? I know Dane's dad. He's a sick motherfucker. If he… if he did something and you just don't want to talk about it…"

"No, nothing like that," she said quietly. "He just… he just talked most of the time. And the things he says… they stay with you."

Chris huffed. "I know what you mean," he said darkly. "I'm sorry we couldn't get Dane out too."

She didn't even respond to that. "How bad is it?" she said in a small voice.

"It's bad," he said a breath later.

Lila's lip trembled. "Any clue where he is?"

"A clue? Maybe. Enough to be confident about a shot at getting him? Not even close."

She looked up at the ceiling, blinking back tears. "I can't believe he did that?" she said, her voice high and thin. "It was literally his worst nightmare—like sending a soldier back into a warzone—to go back under his father's control. I can't… I can't believe…."

"He was determined. He was more afraid of losing you than he was of his dad. That says something, Lila," Chris said quietly.

"Trust me, I know."

They sat there in silence for a couple minutes before Chris ran a hand through his hair and sat forward. "Are you sure you want to see everything, Lila? Because his dad's still stirring the pot. And… it's not pretty."

"I don't care. I have to know. I have to help. I have to know what he's dealing with—and I have to help the company so it's still there when he comes back."

Chris sat up quickly, his eyes wide. "You can't be serious?"

"Of course I'm serious. I'm down right now because of this stupid rib, but I won't be for long. I can work from home until I can be on feet for a while comfortably—did you really think I was going to stop?" she said, surprised.

"I thought… I mean… you're his wife, Lila. You don't have to work. He's filthy rich—you know that right?"

She gave him a look. "I'm aware."

"Then why—"

"I love what I do, Chris," she said quietly, turning her head to meet his gaze. "And I love Dane. Doing anything that feels like it's helping him will help me now."

Chris looked away, clearly thinking about something. "The thing is…" he said slowly, "I'm not sure he deserves the kind of devotion you're giving right now." He didn't say it with glee, he sounded almost afraid.

Rage swelled in Lila's chest. "Don't you date give up on him now, Chris," she said through her teeth. "I can't believe you—"

"No, it's not that. I just… his dad sent something and… it's different than the other stuff. I always knew his dad put him in some fucked up situations. But I didn't know… I didn't know he liked it."

"What?" She was more careful this time to push herself up slowly with her weight on the good side. "What are you talking about?"

Chris looked at her and his eyes were red from the way he'd been rubbing them. "I need to show you something if you're sure you want to see it. Something that came through today. But I have to warn you, Lila, even I hadn't seen this side of him before. It's… it's scary. And sick."

Lila felt her entire body tense. She swallowed hard. Chris didn't look like he was lying. "Show me," she said after a minute.

"Are you certain?"

"Absolutely."

Chris sucked in a deep breath and leaned down to a backpack at his feet that she hadn't noticed. He pulled out a tablet and cued something on the screen, then placed it on her lap. "Don't say I didn't warn you," he said carefully.

*****

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