Tried for Love (TSATD)

Chapter 49

Leah

  It was that slow flow of coldness that went through my veins that seemed to had startled every person in the room as well.. From eyes wide with shock, to parted lips, we looked at one another, until the bare, sore reality settled deep, until we were certain of it in our bones, that this was true.

  Or perhaps not all of us. The emotion I saw cross Ethan's face could not be described, or repeated. The swiftness in his moves as he reached towards Stephen and snatched the phone from his hand could hardly be explained in simple words.

  "Jenna?" Ethan said into the phone, his voice almost weak.. Almost. His gaze rose and for the next few seconds roamed around the space as he took in whatever Jenna started telling him. "Woah, woah, hold on. Stop. Tell me you're alright first."

  I folded my hands tighter together, feeling the angst settle deep inside me.. Feeling it like an acid sickness in my stomach. This could lead nowhere good.

  Ethan's once cold, icy blues were filled with concern and bewilderment as they met mine. "Yes, she's present." He told Jenna, and only after a few, silent seconds did I realize he was referring to me. "Alright, hold on."

  I noticed Gabriel's attention on me; the confusion of the three men present in the room matching mine. And the worry as well. Gabe gestured something to Stephen, making him almost trip over the desk and swiftly fumble with a bag until a computer was drawn out.

  Somewhere in the back of my mind I was aware of what they were doing, of what the cable that was quickly connected to Ethan's phone was.. But at the same time, I was simply focused on Ethan putting Jenna on speaker.. And on her voice.

  Her hushed, panicked voice as she started talking. "De Moray wants to break the partnership he has with Dows.. Something he mentioned was connected even before Dows' feud with Leah's father." The words came tripping over one another, quick and hardly connective. "He means to blackmail his way out of it. And for that he needs the written proof that St. Clair had against Dows, hidden somewhere in the bricks of St. Clair's estate."

  It seemed the air was knocked out of my lungs with the realization. With the meaning behind this entire situation. I looked back at Gabriel, and he knew it as well. In that moment, it was clear to all of us that the reason behind Jenna leaving was to gather information from de Moray.

  A man whose claws no one could escape. Especially when crossed.

  "Damn it to hell," It was Ethan's harsh curse that snapped me somewhat back to reality, even though the ludicrously rapid beating of my heart had somehow left me dizzy, a bit wobbly on my legs.

  I grabbed onto the chair in front of me, holding myself somewhat upright as Jenna continued. "...the—the basement?" She was saying. "Perhaps the cellars.. I didn't quite understand, but what matters is that you have to get there before him.. You have to—"

  In a split second, Ethan put her off speaker, and had the phone against his ear. "Stop that," His voice muted in my ears as I looked back at Gabe that stared at me with the same realization.

  Jenna had left Ethan, went with de Moray, to gather information. She had disobeyed their orders, risking her own life for the supposed greater good. No, not risking. Giving up. Giving up her own life, everything she had managed during the year she had been with Ethan, in order to help.

  How she had gathered the information, none of us knew. Despite myself, the worst crossed my mind. No, de Moray was calculated. He wouldn't had spoken any valuable information and allowed to be overheard. She had done something to earn his trust again. Or perhaps he had told her as a test to see whether—