Page 131 of What We Don't Say: Part Two

Theo points.

“Milk?” she asks.

He nods and Callie passes it to him without another word and goes right back to stirring the dough. Theo’s shoulders loosen. He pours what she needs, then leans against her arm again as though the interruption never happened.

Her happiness shifts with each small contact, rising when Theo asks before taking another piece of her cardigan and softening when Dash moves a stool behind her because he has noticed her weight settling unevenly against the counter.

No one tells her to sit. Dash places the stool within reach and returns to the sink, leaving the choice with her.

Callie notices it a few minutes later. She looks toward him, then lowers herself onto the seat without interrupting the story Sloane is telling about Kade’s reaction to the assistant account.

The affection that passes through her tightens my throat.

Garrett tried to make care feel like surveillance and protection feel like confinement. Here, Dash notices what she needs and gives it to her without turning the need into a weakness she must defend.

The first tray goes into the oven shortly before Zana calls. Dash carries the laptop into the living room while Sloane bringsthe bowl of remaining cookie dough, and Theo follows Callie closely enough that his fingers remain hooked in the back of her sweater.

We settle without assigning places. Callie takes the center of the couch, Theo curling against one side while Sloane sits on the other and pulls her legs across his lap. I take the chair closest to them, and Dash lowers himself onto the rug near the coffee table so he can manage the laptop without placing a screen between Callie and the rest of us.

Zana appears first. Her hair is pulled back, and several folders are stacked beside her while she adjusts the camera. Kade joins seconds later from the Rourke office, the verified access logs open on the monitor behind him.

“I have the preserved chain,” Kade says. “The account pulled Callie’s calendar from Garrett’s home network. It also accessed the three older transition files we identified yesterday.”

Zana lifts one of the folders. “The assistant has retained separate counsel. Through that attorney, she has denied giving Garrett her credentials and stated that he had access to her work laptop during their relationship.”

Callie shifts beside Theo. Sloane’s anger reaches me immediately, hot enough to tighten the new bond before he takes a breath and contains it.

“When did that relationship end?” Callie asks.

“Four months ago,” Zana answers. “She changed her personal passwords afterward but did not realize her firm credentials had been saved on an older device he still possessed.”

Theo’s fingers tighten around Callie’s sleeve. She covers his hand with hers and waits for Zana to continue.

“The account access gives us a direct link between Garrett and the campus confrontation,” Zana says. “The older files matter because each contains a transition in which a Beta was removed shortly before or after an Omega joined. In two cases,the records include dissolution documents that don't match the court’s retained copies.”

Theo’s fingers tighten around Callie’s sleeve, Theo’s unease sharpening through the bond. His mind reaches for the old structure, for every time Garrett told him Callie was dangerous or unnecessary, and I move from the chair to the couch before the feeling grows.

Theo makes room without being asked. I sit beside him and place one hand on the back of his neck while Callie keeps hold of his fingers.

“Do those Betas know?” she asks.

“Not yet,” Zana says. “I will not contact them until I know what I am asking them to revisit and what protections are available. Their cases strengthen yours, but they are not evidence to be used without consent.”

Callie nods slowly. Relief passes through the bond because Zana did not reduce strangers to useful files, and I feel my own respect for her deepen.

“What happens next?” Dash asks.

Zana glances toward him on the floor before answering. “Tomorrow morning, I file the expanded complaint with the access logs, the campus footage, and the witness statements. Kade will provide the verified digital chain directly to the investigator. Callie’s records will only be included after she approves the exact documents.”

Dash looks toward Callie. “You should see every page before it goes.”

“I intend to,” she says.

Sloane’s thumb moves over her knee. He is impatient to act, but the bond carries the effort he is making to wait for Callie’s decision rather than rushing ahead of it.

Zana opens another folder. “Theo, I also need to discuss your statement.”

Theo goes still beside me. His first reaction is old and instinctive, but he does not disappear into it.