“We didn’t mean to hurt you,” Ace tries.
“Stop!” I hold up my hand. “You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to say it was about feelings when you were orchestrating everything.”
“Your safety was always our priority,” Rhodes adds.
“I know it was about my safety!” I’m practically screaming now. “That’s what makes it worse! You could have asked me. You could have told me no or told me my only option was you...”
Then it hits me. The stalker is caught, and the threat is over. There’s no reason for them to keep protecting me. I stop my pacing mid-stride.
“You’re going to leave me,” I mumble.
“Maddie.” Ace takes a step toward me.
“You’re going to leave,” I repeat, my voice shaking. “Now that he’s caught, you’re going to leave. There’s no reason to keep the security detail anymore.”
“That’s not—” Rhodes tries, but I cut him off, putting all the pieces together.
“That’s why Vander came to get me.” I can feel the panic rising in my chest. “That’s why you’re telling me the stalker is caught. Because you’re going to tell me the job is done and you’re finished and I’m supposed to go back to my life like none of this happened.”
“We’re not leaving,” Ace says firmly.
“You have to,” I say, tears rolling down my face. I’m not ready for this. “Your job is done.”
“Listen to me,” Ace says as he strides over and grips me by the shoulders, forcing me to look at him. “We. Are. Not. Leaving. Not unless you tell us to.”
“You’re lying,” I whisper.
“I’mnot,” he says. “I know we lied before, and I know we have no right to ask you to trust us. But I’m telling you the truth. We’re staying.”
“For how long?” I ask, my voice soft and croaky. “Until my father decides he doesn’t need you anymore?”
“We will stay for as long as you want us to stay,” Rhodes assures me.
“I don’t believe you.”
Vander sits down on the couch and runs a hand over his head.
“Your father spoke to us tonight,” Ace says. “He told us that our contract can extend as long as we need it to. That he trusts us with you.”
“He did?” I say, with an embarrassing amount of hope in my voice.
“He did,” Vander confirms. “We’re not going anywhere, Maddie. Not unless you ask us to.”
“I need time to process all of this.” I am overwhelmed, my body exhausted and wrung out.
“Okay,” Ace says.
I sink onto the couch next to Vander, my legs unable to support me anymore.
“But you’re staying,” I say.
“We’re staying,” Ace confirms, and he sits down across from us.
“Even if I tell you I don’t want to see you for a while?”
“Even then,” Rhodes says.
“Even if I’m pissed.”
