There’s a knock at the door, saving him from the earful I plan on giving him. I haul open the door, and Ellie is standing on the other side with Sean hovering close beside her.
Ellie’s gaze rakes up and down me like she’s taking an inventory to make sure I’m okay. “Where is he?”
I step to the side, letting them in. “Thanks for coming. He’s in the living room. I had agreed to meet with Summer, but I’ll push that off.”
“No!” Ezra shouts from the other room.
I roll my eyes. “You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
He groans and within a couple of seconds, he’s standing in the hallway, his body swaying as he struggles to hold himself upright. “You’re going out. If you want me to let Ellie deal with the arm and everything that needs stitches, you’re going to get cleaned up, and then you’re going out for drinks with Summer.”
Looking at him for a moment, I nod and go to get changed. As soon as I’m cleaned up, I head out, needing a drink more than anything.
I don’t think I’ve ever dealt with a more stubborn man, which is impressive because Aiden has never been anything other than an asshole at the best of times.
The night air is cool against my skin, neon lights shining off the dewy ground from the rain a couple of hours ago.
I step into the bar, dodging the bodies dancing, and head for the table in the back Summer is sitting at.
She looks up from her drink with a smile. “I didn’t know if you were going to be here or not. You’re late.”
“Sorry. Ezra came home looking like he’s been put through a meat grinder. I can’t stay long. He refused to be treated unless I left, but he didn’t say I had to be gone a long time.”
Summer pushes her cocktail over to me. “You look like you need this more than I do.”
“Yeah.” I down the rest of the cocktail. “Sorry I can’t stay for much longer. He’s going to be giving Ellie hell, and you know Sean isn’t going to put up with it.”
She laughs and shakes her head. “Meet me for brunch tomorrow, and we can catch up then.”
“Done.” I get up and hug her tight, but it feels like I’m falling apart inside.
As I head back to the apartment, riding up in the elevator and trying to sort through the millions of thoughts in my head, all I can really focus on is what’s going to happen to Ezra if Noah doesn’t call off his men the next time.
Things have just started getting good between the two of us. The last thing I want is for him to end up dead.
The doors slide open, and I head to our door, stepping inside to find blood trailing from the hallway to the living room. I follow it, heart plummeting to my feet, trying to prepare myself for the worst.
Sean has Ezra pinned to the ground, and Ellie is covered in blood, looking like she’s ready to go home and never see Ezra again.
“I was gone for ten fucking minutes. Ten fucking minutes, and the three of you can’t be bothered to get along?” I glare at Ezra who does nothing but wince and shrug as if he didn’t say something to provoke them.
Ellie sighs, her shoulders slumping. “I’ll deal with this, Jade. Why don’t you just go to bed?”
“Happily.” I cast Ezra another angry look before walking down the hall to the bedroom and shoving open the door.
I slam it shut behind me, getting changed into an oversized shirt before throwing myself down onto the bed.
There’s no way I’m going back out there and getting in the middle of whatever the hell that is. I’m not going to be spendingthe rest of my life fighting for him and my family to get along. They can all figure it out on their own.
But I don’t even know if this is something that’s going to last the rest of my life. I feel like I’m being torn in every direction, and I don’t know what to do.
With a groan, I grab my phone off the nightstand and call the realtor. If everyone else around me is going to do what they want and behave however they want, then I may as well do the same.
Summer wavesme over to a table by the fountain, already pouring me a giant glass of mimosa.
I sit down across from her, taking the glass and sipping it, excitement bubbling in my veins.
She leans back in her chair, opening her menu and scanning through it. “I heard the family put on quite the show at your apartment last night.”
