“Fuck,” Jae whispered, dropping his hands to his sides. He sagged back against the counter, his eyes staring off into nothing.
“I know. I know. I…She looks like she's been trained how to use it properly. I mean, she clearly knew how to use the weapon yesterday.”
Jae flicked his gaze to mine. “What do you mean?”
I chuckled half-heartedly with a shake of my head. “I went into her apartment with her yesterday, and someone knocked on the door. She told me to hide and grabbed her gun, before checking to see who was there.”
Jae blinked in disbelief. “Damn.”
“I can’t even fathom what kind of fear she lives with daily. Always worrying that someone is coming to kill you…I mean, how the hell does she live like that? It’s no wonder she wants to leave.”
Jae shook his head with a frown. “I don’t know. Does that-does that meanweshould have a gun? Wait, is she leaving?”
“She says they’re not going to move her, so…for now, she’s staying.”
I hopped onto the island, leaning on my palms as I thought about it. Legally, there was no reason why we couldn’t own andkeep a gun in our house. My dad owned several guns, but they were always locked away in his gun safe. My mom was always worried that us kids would get ahold of his weapons, and the compromise was that we would be trained how to use them safely to reduce the risk of one of us getting hurt. When we moved to Texas my uncle and dad started taking Eden, Jae and I to the gun range. From the age of thirteen, we’d go to the range every few months, but it was never with the idea that I would ever actually have to use a gun outside of the range.
They instilled a healthy level of fear in Eden, Jae, and I about the lethality of firearms. I had never considered owning a personal firearm as an adult, because I never had a reason to. I didn’t hunt and until recently I was living in a dorm that prohibited keeping firearms.
But now…
“I’m thinking it might not be a bad idea.”
Jae drummed his fingers against the counter. “Have you asked her about WITSEC? Like, how much danger she’s actually in?”
“It sounds like as long as she isn’t exposed, and the people from her past don’t find her, she’s safe here. Which means, me and you, us knowing about her, is a big fucking risk for her to have taken. And I understand why she’s pissed about me wanting to remain in contact.”
“We can’t just leave her though,” Jae said, eyeing me as if he actually thought I might disagree. “Not after everything, not when she’s clearly blaming herself still for things that were out of her control. We’re the only people that actually know about her past, and we have an opportunity here to help her.”
“Of course. And I’ve told her as much. She’s just…” I sighed, dragging a hand over the top of my head. “She’s stubborn and needs us to knock some sense into her. Prove to her that whatever lies she believes are just that—lies. It’s like she’spunishing herself and by staying away from us, she thinks she’s doing the ‘right’ thing. But, I dunno about you, but I’m not going to walk away from this. I understand the risks and I’m making the decision to stay. You…you can still walk away from this though. I wouldn’t fault you for it. This isn’t…it isn’t going to be easy.”
Jae shook his head with a sigh. “No. I’m not walking away either. I’m just worried about the toll this is taking on you.”
“It’s hard, more than hard, it’s shitty and fucked-up. But I love her. And I know that we have a chance at a future once she’s able to forgive herself. I don’t know what that will look like, with needing to keep her identity a secret, but…”
I trailed off, unable to finish that sentence. When the truth was, I couldn’t think much farther than the present, than keeping her alive, than loving her now and helping her to see the distant possibility of marriage, maybe even kids one day if the circumstance allowed and she wanted them too.
“You’re probably not going to want to hear this then.”
I cocked my head with interest. “Hear what?”
Jae winced, “My mom called last night.”
I raised a brow.
“They want to come out for the grand opening.”
“Oh.”
“Um, it gets worse. Your parents and EstyandBaba and DedandEdenandSebandthe kids are coming too.”
I scrubbed my hand down my face with a groan. “Fuck’s sake.”
“I know. I’m sorry, brother.”
I shook my head, “No, man. This is good. This is great. You deserve to have our family come celebrate your opening.”
Jae reached for his coffee mug and took a sip. “What are you going to do about Shiloh, though?”
