“Fuck,” Miller said.
“I know,” Trev said. “You said it yourself… act smart, right?”
Miller turned and started barking orders.
“There, Jenn,” Trev said. “It’s just us. You and me.”
“Why’d you bring her there?” Jenn asked. She broke down in tears.
Trev took a step closer. When Jenn looked down, Trev made his move. He grabbed the gun and easily twisted it from Jenn’s hand.
“No!” she screamed.
A second later, nails scratched across his face. It hurt like goddamn fire. Trev grabbed for Jenn’s arms and turned her, walking back to a car, putting her on the hood. He needed to be aggressive but he didn’t want to scare her any more than she already was.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Trev said. “I need you to believe me. Christ, Jenn, what the hell happened.”
“Get away from me,” she said.
Trev backed up and unloaded the gun. He put the gun and the clip on the ground.
“Look. It’s just us talking.”
“You fucking brought my daughter up there.”
“Yeah, I did. She’s terrified right now. She was almost killed. Then she came here thinking her father was alive.”
“Oh, Griffin,” Jenn said. She started to weep harder. She lowered her head and lost all control.
Trev looked to his left and saw Blaine standing at a distance.
Blaine mouthed What the fuck?
Trev waved him off.
“Look,” Trev said. “Nobody here is going to hurt you. Whatever happened in the past is done. You and Griffin had a thing and it was… whatever.”
“It was real,” Jenn said. “It just couldn’t come out.”
“Okay. That’s something to talk about with Eden. She was really hurt that you pretended like you didn’t know her.”
“What was I supposed to?” Jenn asked. “Look at my face.”
“Ripper did that?”
Jenn slowly nodded. “Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Because of Eden.”
“You told him.”
“He knew,” Jenn said.
“Shit,” Trev said.
“He lost it on me. He always accused me of having an affair with Griffin. There were so many times we almost got caught. But we never did. Then I got pregnant. I had to play it all off, you know?”
“Does Ripper think he’s Eden’s father?”
“As far as I know, yes,” Jenn said.
“That’s why he smacked you around?”
“Yeah. Because she was supposed to be gone from all of this forever. When she showed up… Ripper is in a bad place, Trev. Okay? I’m here because I need help. He lost his mind.”
“Okay. I’m going to take you inside. We’re going to get you cleaned up. Jenn, we will protect you. But listen to me carefully. You’ve been around this life for a long time. Longer than me.”
“You’re still a pup,” Jenn said.
“Yeah, right. A pup. You need to tell us everything. What Ripper’s doing. Who he’s with. Why he’s doing it. If there’s something internal…”
“You’re going to kill him,” Jenn said.
Trev gently touched Jenn’s shoulders. “I didn’t say that.”
“No, I did. It was a statement, Trev. I want you to kill him. I want you to kill Ripper. For all he’s done. For all he’s taken from me. For what he did to Griffin.”
“What did he do to Griffin?” Trev asked.
Jenn touched her eyes and wiped away tears and blood. She then laughed. “I just thought if Eden was safe, I could live this life out. That’s what I told myself. That’s what I believed. I kept my promise to Griffin. I sent the letter when he died. And then I…”
“You sent the letter to Eden?” Trev asked.
“Yes. That was our agreement. Because if Griffin was dead, he wanted her safe.”
Trev felt his stomach and heart flip at the same time. “Okay. Let’s get you inside and cleaned up. Jenn, this is all about honesty.”
“I want to see Eden.”
“You will. Just not like this. Okay? I promise you. Get cleaned up and then we’ll go see Eden.”
Jenn looked at Trev and she started to cry again. She clutched at Trev’s arm. “Please, Trev. Tell me… tell me you love her and you’ll always protect her.”
Trev slipped an arm around Jenn to keep her standing. “Yes… I love Eden. And I will always protect her.”
__
twenty.
Eden hated the apartment. But she didn’t mind the company. Baby Caine was on the floor, sitting up, playing with blocks. Eden was on the floor across from Caine, rolling the blocks to him. When two blocks smacked together Caine would crack up laughing.
“He laughs at the silliest things,” Jessa said. She was on her knees behind Caine, making sure the baby didn’t fall back.
“That’s what babies do,” Eden said. “It’s so good to hear something happy.”
Eden smiled big and rolled another block. It hit two blocks and Caine threw his head back, cackling. Jessa put a hand to Caine to keep him steady. Caine then instantly stopped laughing and got a mad look on his face. He grabbed two blocks and started to smack them together. Then his face turned red.