“You came home barely alive the other night, so you’re going to make time to do this with me right now.” Jade plants her hands on her hips, but it looks more like she’s trying to hold herself together than be intimidating.
I don’t want to do this with her right now. I don’t want to stand here and argue about the things I know I can’t change because there’s no point in doing so.
She lets out a shuddering breath, swiping away the first tear that falls.
For a moment, there’s a rush of guilt through me.
I don’t want to be the reason she cries, but she needs to know that she’s not the one running things here. She needs to accept that I’m going to do what’s going to keep us both alive.
She needs to trust that she’s the only person in the world I care about enough to keep going through this hell.
I sigh and head into the kitchen, opening the fridge and grabbing a leftover slice of pizza from last night. “I’m doing this to keep us safe.”
“Keeping us safe isn’t going to come at the expense of you ending up dead.” Jade hauls herself up to sit on the counter, looking like she’s calmed down a little. She looks down at her hands, toying with one of the rips in her jeans.
“It’s going to come at whatever cost it comes at.” I take a bite of the pizza as she looks at the knife block.
If she’s going to grab one and threaten me, it’s not going to end well for her. I’m not in the mood for tantrums tonight, and she’s already pushing me too far.
Jade looks at me and shakes her head. “You said you want to be something with me. Something more than just an obsession, and here you are, racing toward death instead.”
It cuts deeper than I’d like to admit, but she doesn’t know what she’s dealing with.
I’ve kept the worst of it from her, and she should be glad for that.
I toss the pizza on the counter, moving closer to her, hands gripping the edge of the counter on either side of her legs. “I am doing what I have to. If I want to be something more with you, then that means playing Noah’s fucking game and staying alive for as long as possible, whether you like it or not.”
“I don’t.” She leans back from me. “And if you keep trying to intimidate me into falling in line, I’m going to stab you.”
“Fucking try it.”
She kicks me hard in the balls, and I groan, stumbling to the side.
Jade flings herself off the counter, grabbing a knife and holding it at my throat, the blade digging in. “You’re going to sit down and fucking talk to me about this. You’re not going to keep trying to intimidate me. If you want this to be anything, you’re going to treat me like a partner.”
I swallow hard, the blade grazing against me. “Fine. But I’m going to be late.”
“I don’t give a shit. Sit your ass down.” Jade steps back and motions to the couch.
Though I head into the living room, I stand near the bookshelf, glaring at her as she follows me and sits cross-legged on the couch.
She doesn’t say a word at first, just looking at me like she’s trying to get the right words sorted in her mind first. “You know, I thinkthis is going to be a disaster if you keep trying to live life this way. My family can help. We could get you out, and they would keep us safe from Noah.”
“You think I want your family to take care of me?”
“I don’t think we have much of a choice right now, do you?” She runs a hand through her hair, looking out the window as another tear slips down her cheek, and she wipes it away angrily.
There’s a hand wrapped around my lungs, squeezing the air from them as I watch her. “I don’t think we have much of a choice on the matter.”
“That’s the problem with you right now. You can’t see that my family is an option. They’re going to protect us if I ask them to, even if they have no reason to trust you.” Jade looks back at me, pleading in her eyes. “This could be the answer if you’re even willing to even talk to them about it.”
“Sure, let’s just go ask your family—who also want to kill me—if they would be willing to protect me from Noah. Let’s just waltz over there and pretend that we wouldn’t be creating more problems by me turning my back on my own family.”
“You do realize you’re asking me to do the same by keeping me here?”
I grit my teeth. “Here is where I can protect you. Where I’m not watching over my shoulder for your brothers to stab me in the back the first chance they get.”
“No, instead you’d rather wait for your own cousin to do it.” She scoffs and gets up, going to the window and looking out over the city. “I can’t believe this is the life you want for yourself.”
