“And I don’t know if I can be the one to pick him up and put him back together again.”
I want to be there for him when I can, but there’s a thought that lingers in the back of my mind. It tells me that things aren’t going to be good between the two of us soon. It keeps telling me that somehow, I’m going to lose him, and there’s going to be nothing I can do about it, even though I want to.
Sooner or later, I’m going to come face-to-face with two options.
I leave my family to stand by Ezra’s side or I lose Ezra.
Neither of those options seems like a choice I’m willing to make, but in the end, it’s going to be inevitable.
Chapter Twenty-Three
EZRA
I’m barelythrough the door after another long day of training when Jade comes barreling down the hall, looking like she’s ready to tear my head from my shoulders and feed it to the wolves that are her family.
I drop my bag to the ground. “What now? I don’t have time for this. I have to get some shit together, and then I have to go back out for another training session.”
Jade’s eyebrows climb high. “Another training session? Don’t you think you’re pushing yourself hard enough?”
“You don’t understand.”
She stuffs her hand into her back pocket and pulls out a folded piece of paper. “I know you’re killing yourself for this shit, and you’re not going to stop, even though you should.”
“What do you want me to do?” I dump the dirty clothing into the laundry machine and start it, my entire body tense.
It was a hard enough training session. My body is covered in even more cuts and bruises than it was the other night.
Everything aches, and though my ribs aren’t broken yet, they probably will be by the end of tonight.
And Jade is standing here, asking me to give it up, not caring that this is the only thing I live for. This is what’s kept me alive for this long. It’s what’s keeping her alive right now, even if she doesn’t like it.
She unfolds the paper and pushes it into my chest. “What the hell is this?”
I grab the paper from her, scanning over it. “Where did you get this?”
“That’s not what matters right now. What matters is that you’re thinking of going out and getting yourself killed while fighting for someone who doesn’t even give a shit about you!”
I chuckle and shake my head. “You don’t know the first thing about what’s going on here if you think that.”
“Sure, go out tonight, fight, maybe survive, and then go out in a week for this shit.” She jabs the flyer in my hand. “See if you come back alive. He is going to bury you without a second thought, and the fact that you can’t see that is what’s scaring me the most.”
I crumple the paper and throw it to the other side of the room, advancing on her, tension radiating through the room. “You think I don’t know that? You think I don’t know that he’s looking for the right chance to kill me? That this isn’t going to end until I either submit fully and finally fucking kill you, or I let him kill me? I’m not a fucking idiot, Jade, and I think it’s about goddamn time you remember that.”
Fire blazes in her eyes, and her hands curl into fists. “You’re going to want to remember who the fuck you’re talking to. You don’t get to shout like a child.”
“And you don’t get to act like a spoiled brat who has any control over what I do with my life,especiallywhen I’m keeping you alive.”
Her eyes are watery despite the anger bubbling there. “You don’t have to do this.”
I step closer to her again, trapping her body between mine and the wall, my hand wrapping around her throat and holding her in place. “You don’t know what I have to do, and what I don’t. You don’t know the first thing about what life is like with the Rinaldos.”
“And you don’t know the first thing about living life for yourself.”
I stare at her, fingers tightening on her throat before I let out a deep breath and release her. “I’m not going to stand here and fight with you about this.”
“Yes, you are. We’re not done talking about this, and we’re not going to be done talking about this either.” Jade puts her hands on my chest and pushes me back a step. “Now, get the fuck away from me.”
I press my fingers to my temples, trying to massage away the headache that’s already forming. “I don’t have time to do this with you right now.”
