"Trust me... I'm the only one who stayed."
Dakota's heart clenched painfully.
Her fingers slowly tightened around Kade's hand.
"He never..." she whispered, her voice breaking under the weight of realization. "He never let anyone else answer my questions."
She looked up again, tears spilling freely now.
"He always spoke for me."
The certainty she had carried for years began crumbling piece by piece.
If Ethan had lied about Takoda...
If he had lied about her death...
Then what else had he lied about?
The thought struck her so suddenly that every trace of color drained from her face.
Her blood ran cold.
Cooper...
He was still at Silver Ridge.
If everything Kade had told her was true... if Ethan had lied to her about Takoda... then what if he had done something to Cooper as well?
A wave of panic surged through her so violently that she almost rose from the bath.
"Kade..."
Her trembling hands reached for him, her voice shaking with fear.
"We have to bring Cooper here."
