“Julia,” he whispers. I can hear the anger in his voice that he is barely containing. “Why didn't you go to the police?”
I shake my head instantly. “You can't go to the police about someone like him. They either work for him or fear him. And if they don't…” My stomach twists. “He makes them disappear.”
Heavy silence falls around the room.
Kai runs his thumb over the inside of my thigh, slow and steady. “So you’ve been living like this… Alone… In the same city as him?”
“Yes.” I swallow hard. “I’ve been saving money to leave Chicago for good. I almost had enough, but I needed time, and I needed him to think I was compliant so he wouldn’t notice.”
Mikey’s eyes close for a second, like the thought physically hurts him.
“And tonight,” I finish quietly, “when I saw those men… I realized he might already know I’mplanning something. That’s why I panicked. Because if he thinks I’m pulling away… if he thinks someone else has influence over me… he is going to go straight for them.”
My breath catches. “And now he is going to come after you two.”
Mikey’s fingers tighten around mine immediately, “Let him. I’m not afraid of him.”
Kai leans forward, eyes dark and steady. “You’re not alone anymore, little dove. Not even for one second of your life, ever again.”
Terror rips through my chest. “I don’t want him ruining your careers,” I whisper. “Your lives.”
Kai shakes his head slowly. “He’d have to survive us first.”
Mikey nods, sliding an arm around my shoulders and pulling me against him.
“And I’m not letting you go,” he murmurs. “Not back to him. Not back to the fear. You are staying here tonight.”
My heart stutters. “Here?”
“With us,” Kai says simply.
My lips part, but I can't get any sound to come out.
“We’ll keep you safe,” Mikey whispers, brushing a tear from my cheek. “You don't have to run anymore.”
And for the first time in years, the weight in my chest loosens just a little bit. Just enough to breathe… to hope…
Chapter 12
Kai
Julia is sitting between us on the couch. She looks so small when she is shaken and she is trying so damn hard to hold herself together.
But once Mikey pulls her into his side and her breath trembles against his chest, something in me detonates.
MINE.
The word hits me like a gunshot to the chest.
This isn’t the ownership in the sense of her father. But in the protective sense. I’ll burn the fucking city down before anyone touches her again.
She looks up at me, her eyes still red from crying, her lips parted. I can tell she is still trying to hide the unshed tears.
And right then and there, I’m completely gone for her.
I move before I think.
Before Mikey can say her name, I’m already in front of her, gripping her chin between my fingers, tilting her face up to mine.
