don’t know what you’re—”
“You don’t know?” He laughs once. “I find that hard to believe. You’ve spent the whole day cooped up in here with him. The room smells of alcohol, soap, and sex. He didn’t tell you? How stupid do you think I am?”
I throw my legs over the edge of the bed and slide off, clenching the blankets around my naked body. “I don’t think you’re stupid at all. I can’t face your accusations or answer your questions appropriately when I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
The angry red swells in his cheeks drain and his eyes soften into cautious slits. “There will be serious repercussions if you and Kaden Sario are found conspiring to sabotage the Secret Ribbon.”
I flinch. Sabotage? What is he talking about? He doesn’t trust me? He thinks I could betray this cause? My cause?
“I would never. We would never.” Angry heat prickles up the back of my neck. “If you could clue me in as to what this inappropriate visit is about I might be able to help you.”
“Fine. I’ll humour you.” John saunters across my room and over to the bar.
I wait, patiently, while he rubs its surface with the fabric of his sweater. I blush. Is what we did that obvious? After the couch, we washed again, and had food. After the food…well, let’s just say our energy levels were replenished. It is our honeymoon, after all.
John Milano grabs a clean glass and Kade’s bottle of whiskey. He tips the liquid into the cup and offers it to me. Ick. I grimace and shake my head.
“Suit yourself.” Opening his mouth, he tips the liquid down his throat and swallows hard before wiping his mouth on his sleeve. “Kade left earlier this evening to blow the mine.”
Dread punches me in the gut and knocks me off balance. I drop against the edge of the bed and sit, holding the blankets tightly. He wouldn’t. Kade wouldn’t do that. Not ever.
“No.” I swallow, desperate to keep myself from heaving. “He wouldn’t—”
“He did. I checked in with the moderators. He received clearance from the city to cross the fence. He didn’t appeal it. He didn’t dispute it.”
“How do you know?”
“Oliver—”
Ding. His name rubs me the wrong way. “Oliver? Oliver is—”
“—just as mad as I am.”
I stand up. “He has a problem with Kade.”
“Maybe rightfully so.”
“Rightfully so?” I glare at John. “Kaden has done nothing to you.”
“Not personally, no, but he doesn’t have to.” John singles out a button on his jacket and does it up. “The point of the Secret Ribbon is to stand up for those who don’t have voices. It’s about living in a more humane and sustainable society. If he has brought down that mine…he has murdered seven women, four men, and four children. There is no redemption for that and there will be no place in our new world for him.”
My heart quivers. Children? He’d never hurt a child. Why didn’t he tell me?
“When will he be back?” I ask, pushing myself to my feet once more.
John crosses my room, his long, thin legs carrying his hefty frame over to the door. “He left quite a few hours ago. He should be back by now.”
“You haven’t spoken to him?”
He grips the handle in his hand and turns it. “Oliver and I discussed it, but we figured it’s less suspicious if you were the one to talk to him at this hour.” He opens the door and pauses, sparing me a frown over his shoulder. “If he did it, Anna…there’s no protecting him.”
My stomach sinks like a brick that’s dropped in water and I nod, somehow managing to keep my face placid and calm. They might not think the best of Kaden Sario, but I do. There were bad things in this world that he had to force himself to do, but I know in my heart he would never hurt a child.
But if he did…
How can I justify that? How can I idolise a man who could bring himself to hurt something so weak and innocent?
I can’t.
I won’t.
∞
I plan my argument over and over in my head as I walk to the Sario house. It’s the last place I want to go, especially when it’s so dark and cool out. My bare feet patter along the footpath as I pass the oak tree to the left of the Sario mansion. I’m the only one outside. The only one on a mission for the truth.
What will I say? What will I