He clasps his hands behind his back, shaking his head. “She’s going to school on your dime. If she doesn’t think she owes us something already, then you haven’t been doing your job.”
“Aren’t you the one who preaches patience?” I fight the urge to punch him. It’d help with some of the anger boiling through me right now, but in the long run, it would only fuck up my plans.
What those plans are, I’m still not sure, but Jade is supposed to be in them. I didn’t work this hard for her not to be.
And I’ll be damned if Noah is going to take her from me because he thinks he can.
She’s mine to do with as I please. Mine to fuck. Mine to kill.
Noah moves closer to me, but I don’t flinch, standing there and holding my ground like nothing he could do is going to bother me. Showing weakness is only going to make everything worse.
He stops in front of me, that smile still in place. “You didn’t think I was going to know about that, did you? You didn’t think I was going to have your every move watched, but here’s the thing. After two of my own blood have turned against me, I’ve learned that there’s nobody in this world you can trust. Not even your champion fighter.”
“You want me to get her to trust me without giving her something she wants?” It’s a desperate answer, playing right into the way he likes to deal with people.
He is a benevolent bastard, enjoying people down on their knees and begging for his mercy. If he thinks I’m going to beg for forgiveness, he’ll relax.
Noah shakes his head. “Don’t even try to spin this in your favor. I should’ve known your obsession with her was going to get us in trouble. I saw this coming, but I believed you might have been telling the truth. After all, you’ve been a good solider. You killed your family for me. And now, you’re going to kill that whore you’ve been fucking, and you’re going to remember who the fuck you are.”
“You’re making a mistake with all of this. You know having one of the Lyndes on our side is going to be vital to winning the war. Aiden isn’t going to kill his own sister.”
“You don’t know what he’s capable of because you haven’t been doing the work to find out.” Noah’s tone is sharp, his voice growing a little louder. “I’m tired of waiting for you to get your shit together. This ends today.”
“Well, you’re making a mistake. One that could cost us a lot in the end.” I try to loosen up, not wanting him to know what’s coming. “You’re the patient one. It’s only been several weeks. I thought you were interested in playing the long game.”
“You think I’m going to let you stand here and try to manipulate me for whatever your game is?” Noah laughs and shakes his head. “This is over. You’re going to kill her in the morning, or I’m going to make your life hell.”
“As if it’s not already. You had me beat to shit. You’re stalking me, and here I thought I was the one with the obsessive issues, and now you want me to make this war worse.”
“Are you arguing with me?” His hands drop to his hip where a gun is no doubt hidden beneath his jacket.
“I am.” I shrug, tucking my hands in my pockets, slumping in on myself. “Look, you want us to succeed in this. Sure, family has been killed before, but if you go after his sister, you know there’s going to be no turning back from that. We just need to wait a little while, and then when we have more information, you attack.”
Noah’s glare rips right through me. He motions for the beatings to continue.
I’m not going to get a better chance. I lunge.
I don’t think about anything else. There’s not another option. His minions can’t stop me as I shove him back hard into the wall.
My hand slams into the side of his face, the other one going around his neck and holding him there.
His knee rams up into the side of my thigh.
The second my grip loosens, he jerks forward, slamming his head into mine.
With a drop of his shoulder, he rams into me, sending us both to the ground.
I scramble to get on top.
The only problem with training me from a young age to be lethal in a fight is that he’s never been able to keep up. Every time we sparred, I always had the upper hand.
And I have it again.
I’m on top of him, knees on either side of his arms, keeping them pinned down. One shot to the face follows the other.
I don’t know whose blood is covering my hands, and it doesn’t matter. They’re stained red regardless.
Within a couple of seconds, I’m hauled off him and thrown to the other side of the room.
