Jace lets Daniel go the next time he jerks his arm.
“You reach for her again,” Jace warns, leaning in, voice calm and only loud enough for the three of us to hear. “And I’ll make sure you don’t have hands to touch anyone else.”
Every word lands with a precision cut. There’s no posturing or anger in Jace’s promise. Daniel hears it as the threat it is and freezes. He looks at me, searching for something soft. Something familiar he can warp and manipulate.
There’s nothing left for him to find.
Surprisingly, Daniel gives a small smile and turns to leave, weaving through the crowd until we lose sight of him.
No dramatics.
No last word.
Just gone.
But he’s not that simple…
I don’t realize Roo’s hand is pressing between my shoulder blades until her exhale ruffles my hair.
“Holy shit.”
I snort at her in reply.
I’m thrumming with the violent urge to end this mess with Daniel, and my hands shake from pure frustration. Every time he shows up and gets close, it’s too public to kill him… And I have too many eyes and cameras on me when I think I’m in private.
Privacy is a joke.
The only time I’m alone is when I’m in my bathroom.
Jace stands at my side, still staring in the direction Daniel disappeared, like he’s preparing for round two. Or ten. He’s calm, a solid wall of muscle and strength I didn’t know I would lean against until now.
Roo doesn’t say a word as she tucks my buzzing phone into my hand. I’m not even surprised by the HimLock app notification on my phone.
Locke:
He won’t touch you again.
Not while we’re breathing.
I don’t reply.
Because for the first time in a long, long time… I want to believe it.
Roo doesn’t care to stay at the bar for another minute.
“Matt says he’s gone,” she murmurs in my ear. “He had another bouncer follow him to his car.”
“You texted Matt?”
“Fuck yeah,” she growls at me. “We’re not leaving until he’s gone. And now that he’s gone, we can kick fucking rocks.”
Roo grabs my wrist, gently but with purpose, and mutters something sharp to Jace that I don’t catch. He turns his intense stare toward the two of us, but he shakes his head instead of speaking.
She steers me toward the door like we’re escaping a burning building. I don’t argue or look back to gauge Jace’s expression.
We don’t say a word about the events of the night… not as we venture through the carpark or on the drive to my apartment. The lights of Crimson Bay’s nightlife blur past us in gold streaks, keeping us company.
We acknowledge nothing aloud until the front door of my apartment is closed and locked behind us. Roo leans her hip against the breakfast bar and observes me as I breathe so fucking deep, I make myself light-headed.
