Broken(50)

Kyla lifted her chin and sniffed indignantly. “Why in the world would I lie about something as horrific as that? I shouldn’t be telling you in the first place, but I thought you needed to know. Was I mistaken to think that you might still care about her?”

Cade shook his head wordlessly, unable to deny that particular claim. He grabbed her by the forearms. “Where? When did this happen? Tell me what you know.” In his shock, he shuddered Kyla with each word. Cade’s body shook from all the emotion coursing through him. Jocelyn violated? Raped? Why hadn’t he been told?

“Wait. Let me go and I’ll tell you everything. Just calm down.”

When he realized what he’d done, he released her. “I’m sorry.” He raked his hand through his hair. “But you have to admit that’s a helluva allegation you’re tossing around. Why would she keep something like that to herself and why would that prevent her from coming home? I mean she would have told me, right? I loved her.”

“Whoa, cowboy, I’ll answer all your question as best as I can, but first, I’d rather us go to a spot where there’s no chance of anyone coming by. This is no one else’s business. I shouldn’t even be telling you, but—”

“Like hell you shouldn’t. Come with me. We’ll take a walk.”

Once they were a good distance away from the barns and stables, he halted, unable to take another step without finding out the truth. “Okay, no one is around.”

Kyla released a resigned sigh, her eyes downcast. “Jocelyn and I met about five years ago, and even though she hadn’t started her own label yet, she was starting to make quite a name for herself in the fashion industry. I don’t really open myself up to a lot of people, but I saw something in her and Jocelyn in me so we clicked. Anyway, one night at a launch party, she went into a full-blown panic attack. She locked herself in a bathroom, and it took me over an hour to get her to open the door for me.” She closed her eyes with a shake of her head, as she relived the memory.

“What happened next?”

Kyla released a deep breath. “She was a mess. Jocelyn clung to me and cried like she wouldn’t stop. Once she’d managed to calm down a bit, I took her home and after a little persuasion, she told me what had happened to her. Apparently, one of the guys at the party reminded her of one of the men who attacked her.”

Anger ripped through his gut. It felt as if he’d stepped into an alternate universe. Men in the plural? His Jocelyn? How could this have happened? “There was more than one of the motherf*ckers?” he roared.

Kyla nodded. “From what I understand, she was in Dallas at the time for an internship and she’d gone to a party with a few friends from work. That’s where she met this guy. He and a couple of his friends held her hostage in a room and…” Her dark eyes glistened with unshed tears. “I think one of them drugged her drink and she barely had the strength to fight back.”

Cade balled his fingers into fist before relaxing them. He still had a difficult time wrapping his mind around what Kyla had just told him. “But…I don’t understand? Why? Why didn’t she tell me? I loved her, worshiped the ground she walked on. I was sick with love for her. Sick with it!”

“That’s exactly why. She knew you loved her and Jocelyn didn’t feel she deserved you after what happened. She blamed herself for the incident and continues to do so. She lives in shame and it haunts her. Jocelyn told me she couldn’t face anyone at the ranch, especially you.”

“Oh, my God,” he whispered, allowing Kyla’s words to finally sink in.