By seven Sunday morning, I was standing outside her apartment building, a leather box tucked under my arm and my heart lodged somewhere in my throat. I’d planned what I was going to say. Rehearsed it on the ride over.Someone’s targeting you because of me. You need protection. Please trust me.
But as I raised my hand to knock, I knew those words wouldn’t be enough. Indira was too smart, too perceptive. She’d hear the gaps in my explanation and recognize them for what they were.
Secrets. The same secrets I’d promised never to keep from her again.
She answered the door in a soft gray robe, her hair still damp from the shower. Beautiful and relaxed and completely unaware that her world was about to shift.
“Jacob.” Surprise flickered across her face. “I wasn’t expecting you this early. Is everything okay?”
“No.” I stepped inside when she moved aside, closing the door behind me. “Can we sit down? There’s something I need to tell you.”
Her expression shifted, concern replacing surprise. She led me to the couch and sat, tucking her legs beneath her.
“What’s going on?”
I set the leather box on the coffee table—the one containing both cuts—and tried to find the words.
“Someone’s targeting you because of me,” I said carefully. “Last night, after what happened with Crystal in the parking lot, there was... a situation. The club has a situation, and you’ve become part of it.”
Indira’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of situation?”
“I can’t tell you everything.” The words scraped against my throat. “Club business. But what I can tell you is that a rival group knows about you now. They know you matter to me. And they’re using that as leverage.”
“Leverage for what?”
“To pressure the club into giving up something we can’t give up.”
She was quiet for a long moment, her face unreadable. Then: “You’re being deliberately vague.”
“I have to be.”
“Why?”
“Because the specifics involve club business, and I—”
“Club business.” Her voice had gone flat. “I see.”
The disappointment in her tone hit me harder than I expected.
“Indira, I want to tell you everything. You have no idea how much I want to be completely honest with you right now. But there are rules—”
“Rules that come before the promise you made me?”
I opened my mouth. Closed it. She wasn’t wrong.
“Complete honesty, Jacob. That was my condition. No more compartmentalizing your life into club business and personal business.” She stood up abruptly, wrapping her arms aroundherself. “And here we are, less than two months in, and you’re already drawing lines about what you can and can’t tell me.”
“This is different—”
“How?” She spun to face me, and I saw the anger now, burning behind her carefully controlled expression. “How is this different from before? You came to me with half-truths and vague warnings, expecting me to just trust you.”
“I’m trying to protect you.”
“By lying to me? By making decisions for me?” Her voice cracked. “This is exactly who you used to be, Jacob. This is exactly what you promised you wouldn’t do anymore.”
I stood up, reaching for her, but she stepped back.
“Don’t.” Her eyes were bright with unshed tears. “Don’t touch me right now. I need you to answer me honestly—are you keeping secrets from me?”
