Page 298 of Cross Checked
Maybe because everyone knew rest had become a fictional concept. Maybe because Harrison Mercer had spent his days here moving through the hospital with controlled devastation and the kind of influence that made administrators appear out of nowhere with keys, security badges, private hallways, and apologies. Maybe because whatever was about to happen had been building behind Knox’s eyes since the moment he took that second call outside the arena.
The world had its story now.
Harrison had given them enough truth to keep them satisfied and enough lies to keep us safe.
But the real truth was still waiting.
And from the look on Knox’s face, it was going to hurt.
44
Bliss
Harrison led us into the smaller consultation room attached to the private waiting area. His lawyer followed. Knox came in. Dad came with me because no one in my family was stupid enough to suggest I sit through anything alone. Ryker and Ryan followed without asking permission. Then Lyon, Emmitt, and Kellen came too, because the Bennett brothers had never respected the concept of limited seating in a crisis.
Aura started to rise, but I shook my head once. Not because I didn’t want her. Because I didn’t know what this room was about to hold, and I needed to hear whatever was coming before I figured out how to explain it to anyone else.
Charm squeezed my shoulder before I followed the wall of mean-mugging men into a room almost identical to the one we had just left.
The room felt too small for what it held.
Harrison stood by the window with one hand resting on the back of a chair. Elenore stayed in Cade’s room, refusing to leave him again after he opened his eyes that second time and she whispered his name so softly I almost fell apart watching it.
Lansen set a folder on the table, then stepped back as another lawyer opened it.
Maren Vale had silver hair cut to her chin and eyes sharp enough to make lying feel dangerous. She had arrived sometime after the surgery and somehow looked like the kind of woman even Harrison Mercer would listen to when the world caught fire.
Knox stayed standing, and that told me enough.
Dad sat beside me. Ryker stood behind him, arms crossed, face carved out of rage. Lyon and Emmitt sat across from me. Kellen leaned against the wall, pale and silent beside Ryan.
Harrison looked at me first.
“Bliss,” he said, and the way he said my name had changed since the chapel. Softer now. Less formal. Like somewhere between his son’s surgery and the press conference, I had become something he understood belonged in the room. “Before anything else is said, Cade is the priority.”
My throat tightened. “I know.”
“No,” Harrison said quietly. “I mean all of us are aligned on that. Everyone in this room. Everyone involved who has any decency left after learning how deeply my son fought for his life and survived an attempted murder Friday night. Everything else is secondary.”
Attempted murder.
The words did not feel dramatic.
They felt obvious.
Maren opened the folder. “There will be questions. There will be press. There may be inquiries from outside agencies simply because Mr. Mercer is a public figure with professional prospects and because Mr. Dempsey died at the scene. What we are doing now is making sure the truth that matters is protected from becoming fodder for public consumption.”
“The truth that matters?” Ryker asked, voice flat and dangerous.
Maren looked at him without flinching. “Luke Dempsey stole Cade’s phone to lure him away from witnesses. Luke Dempsey entered a restricted area armed with a knife. Luke Dempsey attacked first. Luke Dempsey stabbed Cade Mercer twice, causing life-threatening injuries. Cade fought for his life. That is the truth that matters.”
My hands curled in my lap.
“And the rest?” I whispered.
Knox finally moved. Not much. Just enough that his gaze landed on mine and stayed.
“There’s video,” he said.
