Zayden tensed up. "What video are you talking about?"

"The one that Alpha sent to me. When, when he had Ayla." Aylin’s voice completely broke. "In Turkey. He abducted her and used her to blackmail me. And Selina—" She couldn’t finish her thought.

Azalea felt a chill run through her. "What did Selina do?"

Aylin took a shaky breath. "She ripped Ayla’s clothes in front of the guards. Let them touch her while Ayla was tied to a chair, crying and pleading for them to stop." Aylin looked up, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I witnessed it. Alpha forced me to watch it. He made me see what he would do to her if I didn’t come to the warehouse."

The silence was deafening.

Leo lowered his head. His hands were clenched into fists on the table.

Liam’s jaw was locked so tightly it looked painful. Ayla had shared this with him, but hearing it again and seeing Aylin break down—

Reyes remained very still, his expression carefully blank.

Zayden embraced Aylin, holding her close. "I am so sorry. I am truly sorry that you had to see that."

"I can’t erase it from my mind," Aylin whispered against his shoulder. "I see it whenever I shut my eyes. Ayla crying. Selina was just standing there, treating it like it was nothing."

Azalea glanced at Leo. "You still want to defend her?"

Leo remained silent.

"She didn’t just ruin random girls’ lives," Azalea continued, her voice firm. "She harmed Aylin’s sister. Our Ayla. The girl who’s living in this house right now is still trying to heal from what they did to her."

Yet, Leo still said nothing.

Liam finally spoke, his voice quiet. "Selina was wrong. There’s no doubt about that. What she did to those girls, to Ayla, cannot be justified. It cannot be undone."

"But?" Azalea challenged.

"But she is assisting us now," Liam concluded. "We need her. Whether we like it or not, she has access to information that we don’t possess, information that is crucial for us."

Azalea shook her head in disgust. "So we simply overlook what she did?"

"No," Zayden replied firmly, still holding Aylin. "We do not overlook it. After this is all over, once we handle Alpha and Maksim, we will determine what happens to Selina. She will face repercussions. But for now, we need to make use of her."

He looked at Leo when he said that, raising an eyebrow, a silent inquiry.

Leo nodded once but remained silent.

Azalea threw her hands up in frustration. "Why are you being so quiet, Leo? Do you really think she’s innocent?"

Leo finally looked up. His eyes were tired and sad. "I’m not saying she’s innocent. I’m just saying she left that path a long time ago. She was manipulated, sure, but she’s also guilty. And when this is all over—" He paused. "When this is over, we’ll deal with it. Just like Zayden said."

He stood up suddenly. "Excuse me."

Then he walked out of the dining room.

Azalea threw her hands in the air, exasperated. "What was that about?"

Zayden didn’t say anything.

Azalea turned to Aylin, who just shrugged, still wiping away tears.

"I don’t even know," Zayden finally said. It wasn’t exactly true, but now wasn’t the time to get into it.

The rest of breakfast was eaten in a really awkward silence.

One by one, everyone wrapped up and left the table. Liam went first. Then Reyes. After that, Azalea, still muttering to herself.

Eventually, it was just Zayden and Aylin left.

*****

They moved to the study, where Zayden settled into his chair and pulled Aylin onto his lap without saying a word.

She curled up against him willingly.

They stayed like that for a while, just breathing together.

Finally, Aylin spoke up. "Why didn’t you tell Azalea what was really going on?"

Zayden instantly knew what she was getting at. "About Leo and Selina."

"Yeah."

Zayden sighed, rubbing slow circles on her back. "Because Azalea is my sister, and I love her. But she can be really stubborn and sees things in black and white."

"That’s not a bad thing," Aylin said.

"No," Zayden agreed. "It’s not. But it means she has a hard time with the gray areas. Selina is definitely a gray area. What she did was wrong, totally unforgivable. But now she’s trying to make things right. Azalea will need some time to accept that."

Aylin was quiet for a moment. "And what if you had told her that Leo loves Selina?"

"She could have totally taken him out at the breakfast table," Zayden said flatly.

Still, Aylin let out a small, watery laugh.

Zayden smiled and kissed her on the forehead. "Azalea can’t stand lies or shady people, even if they’re trying to make things right. She just needs some time to wrap her head around the idea that people can change, even if they can’t undo their past mistakes."

"Do you think people can really change?" Aylin asked quietly.

Zayden paused for a bit. "I think people can decide to stop doing bad things. I’m not sure if that wipes away what they’ve done, but choosing to change does matter."

Aylin nodded against him.

"Are you okay? Like, really?" Zayden asked.

"No," Aylin admitted. "I don’t think I’ll ever forget that video. What happened to Ayla. What Selina did."

"You don’t have to forget," Zayden said gently. "And you don’t have to forgive her either."

"But you want me to work with her."

"I want you to use her," Zayden corrected. "There’s a difference. You don’t have to like her or trust her; you just need to let her give us info until we can take Alpha down."

Aylin pulled back to look at him. "And then what happens to her?"

Zayden met her gaze steadily. "That’ll be up to all of us to decide together."

Aylin studied his face. "You already know what Leo will want."

"I do."

"He’ll want to save her."

"Yep."

"Even after everything she did?"

Zayden didn’t answer.