happen,” he swears. “I was meeting up with Jay when the news broke that Sibby
escaped. She happened to be hiding out in the area. Helicopters and shit everywhere. I went looking for her and found her trying to get into a sewer drain. It was a split-second decision.”
“Okay,” I say, offering a tight smile to let him know I’m not angry. Despite
Sibel’s presence being a little disconcerting, I understand why Zade made that decision.
She took all the blame for what they both did, and she never ratted him out.
That’s something very few people would do, especially when they owe you
nothing. And that, I can respect the hell out of.
Sibel holds up a wicked, pink knife. “And he got my knife back! The police
had it as a murder weapon, and Zade got it out for me.”
“She was literally losing her mind over it, and didn’t give me much choice,”
he clarifies dryly.
She shrugs, content with having her knife back regardless of how it happened.
I stare at her and toss around an idea in my head, a little hesitant but deciding
it’d be easier for Zade to only be in one place. He’s pretty much moved in with
me, and it’s been oddly comforting. The selfish part of me doesn’t want to give
that up.
“There’s plenty of room here. Sibel can stay.”
She yips loudly, bouncing on her toes and clapping her hands like a little girl.
Her reaction makes me feel slightly better, only because it’s a little cute.
“My friends call me Sibby,” she says, and based on the eager look on her face, it seems like she's hoping I’ll consider her as one.
“Or demon slayer,” Zade cuts in. She pins him with a sassy look in response.
“Okay, Sibby. Welcome… home.”
Her dark eyes snap back to me, pure delight radiating from them. A wide smile takes over her face, resuming her bouncing once again, and it eases my concern a little more.
“Addie, you don’t have to do that.”
I wave a hand. “It’s fine. She said she’s not going to hurt us, and if you trust
her, that’s enough for me.”
He looks like he wants to kiss me, which makes me a little nervous, but he quickly smooths out his expression and offers me a simple, appreciative smile.
“The second you want her gone, she’s out. No questions asked.” While Sibby
doesn’t look too thrilled to hear that based on how she stops bouncing and glares
at him, Zade clearly gives no shits.
I nod, the last of my tension bleeding out.
“Sibby is already really good at fighting. Partly because she’s—”
“— Not crazy,” she cuts in, narrowing her eyes.
Zade shoots her a look, one that says, yeah, okay, and I’m Jackie Chan.
“Regardless, she can fight. She could help you with training.”
My heart softens, hearing what he’s not saying.
You can’t stand my touch, so here’s someone who can give you what I can’t.
“Thank you,” I whisper. Now more than ever, I’m frustrated with myself. I will take him up on that offer because I recognize it won’t change overnight. But I vow to try harder, so I can give Zade what he deserves, too.
All of me.
Zade plops an ice pack on my shoulders, and I groan both from the freezing
temperature and how good it feels. Training has been taking a toll on my body,
but also in the best of ways. I’m stronger than I’ve ever been, and that feeling is
addictive.
Since Sibby arrived a couple of weeks ago, I’ve only gotten better. She’s smaller and moves with a quickness even Zade doesn’t quite possess, and she’s far more unpredictable.
We’ve been sitting around my kitchen island for the past several hours,
working out the kinks of drawing Claire out of hiding. Not only did everyone in
Francesca’s house disappear, but she did, too. And now that Zade has me, there’s
not a damn thing in this world that’s stopping him from finding her.
Zade believes the best way to locate her is through her lawyer, Jimmy Lynch.
He’s been working for Claire and her late husband for twenty-seven years, making him a trusted friend.
He also has a taste for children.
Last week, Zade was able to hack into his phone, noting the copious amounts
of child pornography he has downloaded. So, he started pushing ads on the child
porn sites Jimmy uses, waiting for him to take the bait. Unsurprisingly, he did, both on his phone and laptop over a period of three days.
Of course, Zade designed the virus, so unbeknownst to Jimmy, it was released
on his devices as soon as he clicked on the ad. Within seconds, Zade was able to
infiltrate his system and implement spyware on them.
From there, he watched the email interactions between him and Claire. While
he could try to implement a virus onto Claire’s computer through a phishing email, she’s too intelligent for that, so Zade’s only other option is to manipulate her into putting a drive into her computer, which will contain the virus. And our
best way to do that is to create a massive lawsuit against her. It’s common practice for lawyers to transmit information through drives, especially if there’s a mass amount of evidence stacked against them.
Unfortunately for Claire, since she’s gone into hiding, she’s fired a lot of staff
who’ve worked at her estate. Cleaning crew, a couple of chefs, and a
groundskeeper. Evidently, she has no plans to return to her mansion—or to keep
it.
Zade has spent the last week contacting these staff workers, asking them
about their experiences, and ultimately encouraging them to sue Claire for workplace harassment as well as assault.
In return, Zade will offer his protection and money. Thankfully, they all agreed. Because honestly, their lack of safety and resources was the only thing keeping any of them silent. Mark sexually assaulted many of his employees and threatened to harm them and their families if they spoke out. And Claire was physically abusive and prone to getting violent when something didn’t meet her standards.
They've already filed their lawsuits, so tomorrow, we’ll be putting the second
step of the plan into action by replacing Jimmy’s drives with Zade’s.
Once Zade has access to Claire’s laptop, he’s going to take his time watching