“I think you might be giving yourself a little more credit than you should,” he argued. “Do you really think she’ll be that devastated that she won’t be able to move on?”
“You said yourself I would be breaking her heart.”
“Because I wanted you to think with your dick for once! Everyone else does it. Why can’t you?”
“Because I fucking love her!” I shouted, my heart racing as I broke out in a cold sweat. “Just the thought of her being in danger makes me want to puke. And if she can’t pretend that I broke her heart, then I might as well put a bullet in her head because Austin will see through it. He will go after her, and he won’t stop until he’s killed her.”
I shoved my fingers through my hair, yanking on the ends to add to the pain.
“He won’t stop until he’s ruined all of us, and this is how he’s going to do it,” I snapped.
“Alright,” Jeff said quietly. “Alright, I get it.”
“She can never know. It would only put her in danger.”
“What about Archer?”
“He can watch her.”
“He might fall for her. Hell, did you think about the lengths he’ll go to?—”
“Yes.”
Fuck, I’d thought about it. I knew what he might do, but I would have to be okay with that. If it meant keeping her safe, I’d do anything.
Sighing, Jeff finally agreed. “What do you need me to do?”
“I can’t be seen with Archer—not if he’s going to protect Bailey.”
“If Austin sees me talking to him, do you really think it’ll go any differently?”
“Make it look good. As for Bailey…”
Give me updates? Tell me how she was? Would that really make anything better? No, it would be so much worse. If I had to hear about how she was moving on, I’d be fucking devastated.
“As for Bailey, what?”
“Nothing,” I shook my head. “Don’t tell me a damn thing unless it’s necessary.”
“You’re sure?”
“Positive. As for our breakup, you act like everyone else. You don’t understand what the hell I’m doing. You think I’m an asshole…all the usual stuff.”
“Well, I can sure as hell do that. I already feel that way.”
At his smirk, I grabbed him by the shirt and forced him to look at me. “If anything happens to me, you get Bailey and you get the fuck out of here. I don’t care where you have to take her, but you get her away from Austin.”
The smile on his face vanished, replaced only by a solemn look that matched the gravity of the situation. “I understand.”
Slowly unclenching my fingers from his shirt, I took a step back. Relief at his promise slid over me, putting my fears in the back seat for tonight. As long as I knew he would watch over her, I could handle the shit with Austin.
I didn’t know how I was going to remove him from the equation or how I was going to keep my family safe, but I’d find a way.
And then I’d pray to God that Bailey still wanted me.
22
BAILEY
