divide between us has widened. One false step and I’ll fall to my death. I always thought Julian would keep me from teetering on the edge of sanity.
Instead, he’s nudged me toward it.
I scan the room for Zane. At least he’ll stick up for Faith. But he’s nowhere to be found, either. Again, I stand as the lone wolf.
Until Zane comes flying in the room from the back of the house cursing at the top of his lungs, his phone clutched tightly in his hands. He stomps to the front door, jerking it open to the protests of every badged uniform in the room.
“Shut the fuck up, all of you!” he yells as he pushes through the flashes of cameras.
No one in the room speaks. We barely breathe as we watch him fling open the driver’s side door of the red BMW sitting by the curb and drag out whoever is sitting behind the wheel. As they move, I recognize the mane of blonde waves trailing down her back. Taking off his T-shirt, he drapes it over her head and barks obscenities as he pushes his way back into the house.
Kicking the door shut with his boot, he throws his phone and punches the door. “Goddamn assholes! Go fuck yourselves!” He tries to lead her out of the room, but I place my hand on her arm.
“Faith?” She stops moving.
“Not now, Phoebe,” Zane growls, grabbing her by the shoulders and ushering her forward.
I step in front of them. Time is running out for Iris. I need answers.
“Faith?” I ask again, this time with more force. “Talk to me.”
She lets out a shuddered breath and pulls the T-shirt off her head. Tears stain her face, and I gasp as black and purple bruises shine beneath them. Fist marks mar her beautiful face—around her eye, on both cheeks, and on her chin.
Someone has brutally beaten her.
“Shit!” I want to help her, but I don’t know where to touch that won’t hurt her. “Oh my God, what happened?”
“Mottola, that’s what fucking happened,” Zane roars, his eyes wild with hatred. “I’m gonna kill that motherfucker!”
I touch her hand gingerly. “Armando did this to you?”
She nods, a wave of tears somehow making it out of a crack in the swollen mass of her eyes.
“Why?”
“The press ran a story on Mottola and Associates.” She tries to shrug, the motion causing her to wince in pain. “I went to confront my assistant. She admitted she found Penelope”— she turns to face the FBI agents—“that’s the intern, Penelope Hammond, in my desk drawer replacing my keys. She didn’t think much of it. Penelope made up some story about borrowing them to move my car.” She lowers her head as tremors shake her. “I didn’t know, Pheebs. I don’t do the hiring. Armando handles that. I had no reason to question her. I guess that’s when she made a copy of your key. I also found out she used a fake name, transcript…shit, a fake everything.”
I squeeze her hand, anger filling me as I force myself to look at her face again. Snapshots of memories replace her face. Me as a child. Me as a young girl. Me as a teenager. All of them looking in a mirror with the same face, ashamed at what I’d allowed to happen.
“What did he do, Faith?”
She bites her blood-caked lip. “He was so angry. He screamed about how I’d disgraced him and his name in Hollywood. He swore I’d ruined him.” She shifts her eyes to the floor.
Unleashing his anger, Zane shoves a finger toward the agents. “This ends now. No more investigating her, do you hear me? You think she beat up her own face? Do you?”
Agent Young stands with his hands in front of him. “Mr. Tierney, let’s just all calm down…”
“Fuck calm!” Zane stalks forward and slaps his hands away. “You’ve been here for days. Jag’s baby is still missing, Phoebe’s two hours away from a padded room, and Mottola just used Faith as a goddamn punching bag. What the fuck are you people doing?” Cursing again, he wraps his arms around Faith and guides her down the hall, slamming the door of the guest room.
For the next few hours, Julian and I pace, talking to everyone but each other. Jaxon tries to mediate but gives up after half an hour, joining his FBI friends at the makeshift office they’ve created in the dining room.
Julian and I play a visual game of tug of war. I can feel his