Page 13 of Fearless

She studies me as if I’m some kind of out-of-world creature, not a much weaker, broken version of her.

I shake my head, sniffling.

“You’re doing perfect,” I blurt, my voice rough with emotion.

“I didn’t do anything.”

“You didn’t need to.”

“I’ve grown up around men. Men who wouldn’t dare show an ounce of emotion. I’ve been trained to— Sorry, this isn’t about me,” she says, cutting herself off.

“You can talk if you want. Maybe though… just tell me what happened first. Are they really okay?” I ask, pushing myself up against JD’s headboard, his pillow still clutched to my chest.

Looking much more put together and elegant than I’m sure I do, Aubrey rests back beside me and reaches for my hand.

She might not think she’s very good at this, but right now, aside from three certain men, she is everything I need.

“They’re okay. Or at least, if they did what they were meant to, then they’ll be fine.”

A sad laugh tumbles from my lips. “Do as they’re told? You do know who we’re talking about, right?”

“Yeah,” she agrees fondly. “I do. And I also know how hard they’ll fight to get back to you.”

I swear my heart stops at her words.

“How? How did they find us?”

I turn to look at Aubrey before she manages to mask the pain and regret that washes through her system.

Then she says one word that turns my blood to ice.

“Jude.”

“No,” I breathe.

“I thought?—”

“Yeah, so did I,” she snaps, clearly hurt by his betrayal. “I don’t know the details but somehow Victor got wind of him treating you and pulled him in. Stupid motherfucker thought he could make a deal with the devil and survive.

“Even if it did work, Victor will have killed him for being an untrustworthy piece of shit.”

“You known him long?” I ask curiously.

“Nah, not really. I just thought he was one of the good ones, you know.”

“You have a thing going?”

“What?” She balks. “Nah, don’t shit where you eat, Alana. Especially in an industry like mine. One of you will inevitably end up dead for one reason or another.”

Sadness engulfs me when I glance over at her pained expression.

“We lose people daily. It’s just how it is. No one needs to lose someone they care about as well.”

“You enjoy it though, right?” I ask, curious as fuck about how she ended up doing what she’s doing.

“It’s all I’ve ever known. I couldn’t do anything else.”

“But—”