“You… You want us to take you to one of those places…?” He whispers.
“Yes.”
Kai runs a hand through his hair.
“You know we have money, we can take you anywhere. That’s not a safe house, Julia… It’s barely a roof.”
“I don’t need comfort, I need to be invisible.”
Mikey shakes his head; I can tell he is getting overwhelmed, and he probably needs sleep.
“Julia… if he figures out we tricked him—”
“He won’t,” I cut in, “not until it's too late. And when he comes for us again, we’ll be ready.”
Silence falls again around us. But this time it feels loaded.
Kai again breaks the silence. I swear the man doesn’t know how not to talk. “... Fuck. She’s right, Mikey.”
Mikey’s head snaps up toward him. “You’re agreeing with this? Are you fucking insane?"
Kai shrugs. “She’s done running. And she’s not wrong… De Luca expects her to fold. If she doesn’t, we get the upper hand.”
Kai then turns to me. “And if this is the plan… then we’re doing it together.”
Mikey exhales slowly, looks between us, then nods once. “Fine,” he mutters.
My chest tightens with pride and a little bit of fear. These men, who could choose anyone in the world, are standing by me. Through my bullshit. Against him.
“Okay, then we have until midnight.. After that, we make him regret ever trying to own me.”
The twins exchange a look. Looking something like,for her, we choose war.
Chapter 23
Kai
Julia's words won't leave my head.
We outsmart him.
I thought we were out of this lifestyle. Even after my mistake, I didn’t know Mikey took the fall for that; I felt that they just let it be when we went into hiding with Mom. I guess I was fucking dumb and naive.
I’m pacing the kitchen, my bare feet padding against the marble in a dangerous rhythm.
My mind is circling around every way this can go wrong. One wrong move and I can lose not only Mikey, but also Julia.
I glance over to the hallway towards Mikey’s bedroom. I keep thinking about Julia… She's safe... for now.
And god help me, I will burn the fucking worldbefore I let that change.
"You still awake?" I mutter to Mikey. I need to know his head is on straight before he goes out to the pits of hell… Alone.
"Yeah," he answers quietly. "You?"
I snort, "Do I look asleep?" I stop my pacing and raise my hands at him. I am literally walking in circles… absolutely not asleep.
Mikey sits up on the couch and rubs his hands down his face. I see a small wince as he stretches; his ribs have to be killing him.
