Chapter Fifty-One
The silence that stretched between us felt miles wide, despite the crowded, rowdy room around us. The laughter of the returning riders seemed to fade into a dull, echoing hum as I stared at the woman standing beside Jake.
Jake’s smoky gray eyes held mine, his expression unreadable but entirely focused on me. Slowly, he let his hand slip from her lower back, stepping half a pace closer to the bar.
"Ava, this is Vivian," Jake said, his gravelly voice remarkably calm. He gestured toward her, though his eyes never left my face. "We found her locked in a basement container at a warehouse near the northern border. The local cartel crew up there was holding her hostage after a trade went bad. We took the place, cleared them out, and got her out of there."
"I see," I whispere
