Page 135 of Beautiful When He Breaks

Eli doesn’t react much, which worries me more than if he had. “And where is she?”

Mara opens the file then, only enough to glance at the top page. “At present, missing.”

My hand stills against the back of Eli’s neck.

Killian speaks before anyone else can. “Define missing.”

Mara looks at him. “No current address. Phone disconnected. Blackthorne records show withdrawal paperwork filed electronically. Financial activity has become sparse and difficult to trace, possibly deliberately so. Her parents have been trying to locate her since I informed them she wasn’t enrolled, but as of this morning, they do not know where she is.”

“She disappeared,” Eli says.

“Yes,” Mara confirms. “At least for now.”

I feel something cold and violent move through me. Celeste gone, somewhere outside everyone’s reach with God knows what money, what connections, what insidious lies ready to use if cornered. Celeste, who left Mila on the doorstep and vanished before anyone understood the full scope of what she’d done.

My first instinct is not rational or legal. It’s pure protective fury, hot under the skin and cold in the bones. Find her. Drag her back and make her look at what she did. Eli shifts under my touch, and I force myself back into the room.

Mara sees all of us reaching our own versions of that reaction and continues before anyone spirals too far. “With the evidence on the drive, the pattern of conduct, the recordings, and the documentation we’ve already preserved, Celeste is facing serious criminal exposure. So are the sorority members who knowingly participated, assisted, distributed, recorded, or concealed evidence of assaults and blackmail.”

Ryan sets his mug down too hard. Coffee sloshes over the rim. “Good.”

His voice is so vicious that even Damon looks over from Roman’s side.

Mara nods once. “It will take time. I need everyone in this room to understand that. Criminal investigations are not immediate, and the institution will try to protect itself where it can. We will push. The authorities will have to collect and review the evidence from original sources, which they’re doing now. More victims may need to be identified or contacted. Some may not want to come forward publicly. There may be delays, and there will likely be attempts by counsel on the other side to minimize, discredit, or shift blame.”

Eli flinches at that last part. I move before I can think, my hand sliding from his neck to his shoulder, grip firmer now. “They won’t touch him,” I say.

My voice comes out rough enough that several people look at me.

Mara holds my gaze, unshaken. “I understand your concern.”

“No,” I say, and I hear the edge in it. I know it’s too sharp for a lawyer giving us necessary information. I know that, but I can’t soften it. “You understand legally. I’m saying they don’t get to put him on trial for what she did.”

Eli’s head turns slightly toward me. “Jules.”

I hear the warning in his voice, gentle but real. He’s trying to pull me back before I bare my teeth at the woman helping him. I know that too. I breathe in slowly.

Mara doesn’t look offended. If anything, respect flickers over her face. “Julian, part of my job is making sure that does not happen without consequence. I cannot promise no one will attempt it, but I can promise Eli will not be left exposed or unsupported if they do.”

The answer is good. It’s not enough, because no answer would be enough. But it’s good.

I nod once, my jaw tight. “Okay.”

Eli reaches up and covers my hand where it rests on his shoulder. That quiets me better than anything else could have.

Mara turns her attention back to him. “Justice will be served, Eli. I don’t say that lightly, and I’m not promising it will be easy or fast. But with what we now have, and with what investigators are already finding, Celeste and the others involved are in serious trouble. Prison is a very real outcome for her.”

Eli closes his eyes.

Then Mila, who has had enough of legal justice and adult trauma, grabs Eli’s shirt again and lets out a small grunt of effort as she tries to climb him. Eli’s eyes open, and he looks down at her with an expression so raw it makes my chest hurt.

Prison. Evidence. Missing. Forged letter. Sorority conspirators. Grandparents who didn’t know she existed. All of that falls around this tiny person who has no idea she’s at the center of a storm that started before she could breathe.

“What about custody?” Eli asks, voice hoarse.

Mara’s posture eases by one degree, and I can tell this part is better. Not simple, but better. “On that front, we are moving in the right direction. The inspectors will be coming within the next week.”

Eli’s grip tightens again. “Inspectors.”