Jade’s eyes flashed with fury, her tears mixing with spit as she growled. “No, Finn was going to be the father, but not you. Definitely not you.” She spat at me, the glob landing on my cheek.
The room went still, my men holding their breath, the air thick with tension. I wiped the spit off my face, the wetness smearing across my skin. Some part of me wanted to rip Jade limb from limb for the disrespect, but the other part…
Finn: Don’t hurt her. Please.
Finn pleading with me was terribly entertaining but I needed to know how he knew.How?I asked him. He went quiet, retreating almost immediately. I returned my attention to Jade, warring with my own emotions. My kid, or Finn’s, but still a piece of me was growing inside her. I couldn’t kill that. I couldn’t destroy another fragment of myself.
Jade’s voice shook as she spoke again. “I don’t care what you need to tell yourself, just don’t hurt me. We won’t ever bother you. I promise.”
I opened my mouth, words tangling on my tongue, when Samael grabbed my arm and dragged me off to the side, out of earshot of Jade. He held my face in his hands, his thumbs pressing into my cheeks, his dark eyes searching mine. It was the first gentle touch we had shared since I surfaced and I fought hard not to lean into it. We had time for that later. “I’m glad to see you still have some conflict in that dark heart of yours. I was worried you’d have no emotion. Let her go.”
I shook my head. “But she needs to die.” The plan was to cut off everything from the old and start in with the new. The problem was she was currently creating the new, that baby in her belly.
Samael nodded, his wry smile curling. “She will. Of old age. Don’t worry, I’ve got a few guys who can make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid like go to the police.”
“She wouldn’t do that. I’ve kept everything. If she tried to get to them, I would let them see everything she’s done for me.” I thought for another minute or two before Samael planted a light kiss on my forehead.
Finn: I definitely thought I was going to have to fight you harder on that.
Killian: It’s because he’s holding back the entire truth. There’s something you’re not telling us, isn’tthere, Runo? You would never do something if it didn’t benefit you.
I threw him a metaphorical middle finger before stalking back over to Jade. “I’m going to let you go.” No explanation, no back and forth. There didn’t need to be. Plan B would work just fine, especially if Samael was going to donate a man or two to the cause.
Jade just watched, wary as I began undoing the knots on her ropes, the silence in the room stifling. Until Brent decided to grunt from where he was sitting, stealing my attention toward him. “We’ll get to you in a little bit. Samael and I are going to have so much fun with you, I promise. For now, just wait. I have to drop off Finn’s girlfriend—or ex? I’m not sure—and then I have to go to work. But after? We’re going to have fun. We would’ve done it last night, but Slash got a little carried away. I love that for him.”
Brent’s eyes narrowed, his muffled curses vibrating through the tape. Jade flinched as the last rope fell away before I gathered her up, half-carrying her trembling frame toward the stairs. Samael slowly stole her from me, throwing me a curious glance. “You shouldn’t even be standing, let alone awake right now, but if you’re going to be stubborn, the least I can do is make sure you don’t tear your stitches.”
“Sothoughtful,” I purred as I gestured to the bathroom down the hall. “Get a shower, Jade. I can’t send you off looking like that.” I waited until she scurried away from us before facing Samael. “Why are you all being so good at this?”
“You mean, letting you lead? Because we don’t know what fucking game you’re playing,” Aeron pushed out as he returned up the steps. “When we play, everyone knows the rules. Here? No fucking clue. Also, Jade’s pregnant with Runo’s child? How the fuck—”
Slash cut in. “I have a better question. Why the fuck is Jade not screaming? How do you know she’s not calling the police?”
I threw up a hand to stop his questions. They didn’t know Jade like I did and while this part of the plan was a little flimsy, I know it would work if we didn’t spook her further. Did I still want to meet the part of me I had created? Sure. And one day I would. But right now, the task was to get her to where she thought she was safe. “She listens very well. You remember Nyla at Bondage Palace, right? Jade wasveryhelpful. She knows that if she doesn’t do what I say, her entire life is over. Besides, some part of her hopes that Finn will resurface.”
Aeron’s face scrunches up in disgust. “Did Finn even like her?”
I shrugged. “At some point, I suppose but it’s my body so it doesn’t matter.” Anger flared in my chest as I tried to temper down the reaction I wanted to give. Why were my men questioning me?
Killian: Because you haven’t really explained anything to them. You’ve given them information and demanded they take it at face value. You’re bad at this. Switch with me.
Fuck no. Slash’s voice pulled me back. “What gamearewe playing? What’s the end goal, Runo?”
“The end goal is when my dad finally understands.”
Samael jostled my shoulder lightly. “Bullshit. Try again.”
“The end of the game is when my dad gives up trying to be so damn perfect and owns up to the fact that he failed my mom. But the end goal? When I get you all to love me again. You fell in love with pieces of me. I want you to loveallof me.”
Silence followed, each of my men wearing slightly different expressions of confusion. The moment was ruined when Jade returned, damp hair clinging to her shoulders. She had slipped into a shirt and a pair of shorts, most likely Aeron’s, the womanwrapping her arms around her chest as she waited for me to say something.
I grinned at the fear still lurking in her expression, even as Finn told me to dial it down. “I know everything about you,” I purred while reaching for my phone. A few taps later, I grabbed a scrap piece of paper and scribbled down a confirmation number. “I would’ve never trusted you otherwise. You’re going to run back to your mother and we’ll never see each other again.”
We won’t?
Jade shakily took the piece of paper. “How do you… you know everything about me, don’t you?”
“I don’t do things half-assed, Jade. I needed… well, Finn needed to trust you. We know all about that cute little cottage and that ex-boyfriend you’ll probably shack back up with. You’ll probably work at the little café there or start teaching.”
