Page 72 of Ravage
He huffs and shakes his head. “You’re a great actress, I’ll give you that. I stole the birth certificate and validated it here. There is no Raegan LaRoux that ever lived in Alaska. Or any of the states for that matter. I checked. Which means everything you told us was a lie. You weren’t kidnapped like the rest of us. You were born there. Probably conditioned since birth, too.”
“Stop it!” I snarl and jab a finger into his chest. “You don’t get to find a piece of paper and accuse me of something like that. I didn’t lie to you. And you don’t get to erase the years I had with my gram just because you don’t believe me. I know my past. That piece of paper is the lie.”
He snatches my wrist. “Oh really? Then what happened to your parents?”
“Car accident when I was little. Or didn’t you look into them from my birth certificate?”
“Their names were redacted.” Well, there you go. Suspicious as fuck. “Why did they have pictures of you on that very island as a little kid?” He yanks something from his pocket and holds it up for me to see. It’s a photo that’s worn around the edges and dirty, like it’s been dragged through the dirt and seen things. A little blonde girl, no more than four or five, waves her arms and grins widely. Behind her is the mansion we’d all lived in for eight years.
My anger stutters when I look at the girl’s face.
It’s me.
My hair, my eyes, my expression.
What. The. Fuck.
“I…I don’t know.” He gives me a look, and I tighten my lips. “But I’m not lying. I know I was in Alaska and lived there with Gram. And I was taken from her.”
His brow furrows, and I silently will him to believe me. There was no way I’d been brainwashed or raised on that island. I remember being taken.
“What else?” he asks instead, pocketing the picture of me.
“What do you mean?” I ask distractedly, my eyes still on the pocket as if I can see the picture there while wondering why he didn’t just give it to me. What use does he have for it now?
“What other secret do you have that made you have a panic attack? Is it about Vera?”
My heart rate picks up again at the reminder. “No.”
It’s wishful thinking he would be satisfied with that and move on. But, of course not.
“Gifted Enterprise?” he presses on.
I squeeze my eyes shut and my breathing shallows.
“Raegan…”
I jump back and open my eyes before his hand reaches my leg. “Please. Stop asking. It’s...personal. It doesn’t matter.”
“Then let me—”
“No!” I shout reflexively.
Besides, it has nothing to do with them. Or Vera.
Just me.
And Gifted Enterprise.
It’s between us.
His brows pinch as he studies me. At last, he sighs and leans back. “Back to the other matter, I think you believe what you’re saying, but it doesn’t explain the birth certificate or the pictures.”
He stands and moves to touch his wrist where a sleeve normally is, then clears his throat when he must realize he’s not in his suit. “Until I know one way or the other, it’ll be best if you stay out of our way. And stay away from Kellan and Jackson.”
Chapter nineteen
Raegan
