Chương 4
“They want me angry.”
“Yes.”
“They want me searching.”
“Yes.”
“They want me to know she’s alive.”
Malcolm stopped.
Rafe continued.
“Which means they need something from me.”
Tessa watched him.
He was not calm because he was fearless.
He was calm because panic had never helped him before.
That was different.
“Call,” she said.
Both men looked at her.
Rafe raised an eyebrow.
“You agree?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because if they wanted you dead, they would not send proof she is alive.”
Malcolm looked uncomfortable.
“That does not mean they are safe.”
“No.”
Tessa looked at Rafe.
“It means they are confident.”
Rafe dialed the number.
It rang once.
Twice.
Three times.
A man answered.
“You took longer than I expected.”
The voice was distorted.
Rafe’s expression hardened.
“Where is my sister?”
“She is alive.”
“I can see that.”
“Then you know I’m telling the truth.”
Rafe gripped the phone tighter.
“What do you want?”
A pause.
Interesting enough that Tessa noticed.
The person on the other end had expected something.
Not that question.
“Your family has taken many things from people.”
Rafe’s eyes moved slightly.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
“You’re not after money.”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“You really don’t know.”
The line went quiet.
Tessa watched Rafe’s face.
Something changed.
A small crack in his certainty.
“I need proof she is safe.”
“She is.”
“Put her on.”
Another pause.
Then a voice came through.
“Rafe.”
His entire body went still.
June.
Not a recording.
Tessa knew immediately.
Real conversations had imperfections.
Breathing.
Timing.
Small sounds people could not control.
“June.”
“I’m okay.”
Her voice shook.
That frightened him more than screaming would have.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Are you alone?”
The line went silent.
The man interrupted.
“That’s enough.”
Rafe’s voice became colder.
“If you touch her—”
“You’ll do what?”
The question was not mocking.
It was curious.
“You’ll destroy me?”
Rafe said nothing.
“You already did that to someone else.”
The call ended.
Nobody moved.
The room stayed silent for several seconds.
Then Malcolm spoke.
“Boss.”
Rafe lifted a hand.
Not now.
Tessa watched him.
The man who could intimidate an entire room looked suddenly uncertain.
Not because someone threatened him.
Because someone accused him.
“What did he mean?” she asked.
Rafe did not answer.
“Rafe.”
He looked at her.
“I don’t know.”
She believed him.
That was the problem.
Because she was starting to realize he had spent years surrounded by people who never allowed him to be uncertain.
Everyone around him expected answers.
Nobody asked what happened when he did not have them.
“Tell me about the person he thinks you hurt,” she said.
Rafe looked away.
“I don’t know who he is.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
The room became uncomfortable.
Malcolm stepped forward.
“Maybe we should handle this privately.”
“No.”
Rafe’s answer was immediate.
Tessa looked at him.
He took a slow breath.
“Everyone who has worked for me knows pieces of the past.”
“Not you?”
“I know the facts.”
“Facts are not always the truth.”
Something in that sentence bothered him.
Maybe because he knew it.
Maybe because he did not want to.
Rafe sat down.
It was the first time Tessa had seen him choose to sit without being ordered.
“My father had enemies.”
“That is not surprising.”
“He made decisions.”
“What kind?”
“Business decisions.”
Tessa waited.
He rubbed his thumb against the edge of his phone.
A nervous habit.
She stored it away without meaning to.
“People got hurt.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“My father handled things before they reached me.”
“That sounds convenient.”
“It was not.”
“No?”
Rafe looked at her.
“You think I enjoyed not knowing?”
“I think you benefited from not knowing.”
The words were harsh.
They were also fair.
He looked down.
“Yes.”
That answer surprised her.
Most people defended themselves when confronted.
Rafe accepted the accusation.
Not completely.
Not without pain.
But enough.
“My father taught me that distance kept my hands clean.”
“And did it?”
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
Tessa saw something shift.
A man who was used to being feared admitting guilt was different from a man who was used to being wrong.
“You’re not your father,” she said.
Rafe looked at her.
“You don’t know that.”
“No.”
She picked up the photograph again.
“But I know people who become exactly what hurt them.”
A faint sadness crossed his face.
“And people who don’t?”
“They usually suffer trying.”
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
The hospital sounds continued outside.
A cart rolled past.
A child laughed somewhere down the hallway.
Someone complained about insurance paperwork at the front desk.
The world kept moving.
It always did.
Even when someone’s life was falling apart.
Malcolm’s phone buzzed.
He checked it.
Then immediately turned it off.
Rafe noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Rafe looked at him.
Malcolm sighed.
“Your security team found something.”
“Where?”
“At the house.”
“Whose house?”
Malcolm hesitated.
“June’s.”
Rafe stood.
“What?”
“They found a room.”
“A room?”
“She had been keeping records.”
Tessa looked at the folder on the table.
The documents.
The photograph.
The message.
“She was investigating something,” Tessa said.
Malcolm nodded.
“Looks like it.”
Rafe stared at him.
“My sister was investigating me.”
Nobody answered.
Because nobody knew if that was the right conclusion.
And because sometimes silence hurt more than confirmation.
“I want to see the room,” Rafe said.
Malcolm nodded.
Tessa grabbed her bag.
Rafe noticed.
“No.”
She stopped.
“No?”
“You are not coming.”
“Why?”
“Because this involves my family.”
“And?”
“And you have already done enough.”
The words were meant to protect her.
They sounded like rejection.
Tessa’s expression changed.
“You think I’m helping because I feel sorry for you.”
Rafe did not answer.
That was answer enough.
She stepped closer.
“I don’t pity you.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
His face tightened.
Tessa lowered her voice.
May you like
“You are used to people seeing your size, your money, your reputation, and deciding what you are before you speak.”
Rafe looked at her.
