She inhales a deep breath, holds it for a few moments, and then exhales the world’s heaviest sigh. I can’t tell if she’s giving in and agreeing to trust me, or if she’s accepting her fate—thatI’m going to drag her back to the city and hand her over to her aunt with no questions asked.
She has to know I would never do that, not now that I have the full story. If she doesn’t feel safe with her aunt, then that’s all I need to know.
“Okay, fine,” Jess eventually says. “Call your boss. Just…” She pauses and sighs again. “Promise me Asher and Mason won’t get in trouble.”
“They won’t. My boss will contact the police and smooth things over with them. I promise.”
She waves me off and marches away, and I take that to mean I’m free to untie my ankles. I bend forward and work to loosen the knot, and what would you know? Jess’s knot was way better than Mason’s. It takes me longer to undo the sheet around my ankles than it did to shimmy my wrists free.
I stand and pull out my phone, dialing Darius.
Well, this certainly didn’t go how I expected it, but I can’t say I’m sad about it. It fills me with a certain kind of rage, knowing the kind of house she had to grow up in these last few years, but I’m going to do my best to make sure she doesn’t have to return to said house.
No, I’m going to protect her. Even if she never becomes mine, it’s the least I can do for her.
Chapter Thirteen – Jess
I meet Mason and Asher in the upstairs hall. Asher is the first to say, “What’s going on?” Beside him, Mason is a stone wall. A stone wall with an intense frown that informs me of his thoughts on the subject of the alpha downstairs.
Rourke Cunningham. Even now, I still can’t believe he’s the one who came after me. It’s a small world.
And, beyond that, I can’t explain why I feel as though I can trust him. I don’t know a thing about the über alpha, other than he respected my wishes and didn’t write me an offer that night at the Omega Garden—and what set him apart from the other alphas was that, even when I insulted him and pushed him away, he was still interested in me, whereas the other alphas were too put off.
I don’t know what to make of him.
“I let him go,” I whisper.
“What? You—you realize that by letting him go, we are so fucked, right?” Mason hisses out, which earns him a glare from his brother, but he doesn’t seem to care. “Shit. This is ten kinds of bad, and it’s all your fault.”
I don’t have the heart to argue with him right now. Normally I would, but after that talk with Rourke, I’m feeling… almost depressed. Depressed and confused. The former for having to rehash the not-so-fun aspects of my life, and the latter because, yes, I do feel something deep inside when it comes to that Rourke guy, only I don’t know what it is and I can’t explain it.
I say, “He’s calling his boss. His boss can talk to the police or whatever, stop them from coming here and arresting you two.”
Asher steps forward, and he lifts an arm with the clear intent of touching me, but he stops short and lets that arm fall back to his side. “Does that mean you’re going with him?” The sorrow inhis tone is laced with each word, tiny little knives in my heart. I don’t like hearing him so sad.
“No.” The moment the word leaves my lips, both alphas before me visibly relax, though I don’t quite know why Mason would care. “He said…”
“What?” Asher is breathless with the possibility I won’t be taken.
“When I told him about my aunt and the will, he said if he can stay and make sure I don’t run again, I can stay here until my first heat passes.”
Mason says, “Why would he care? Isn’t bringing you back his only job?”
I nod. “Yes, but… it sounds like Alabaster Security isn’t just about security anymore. It sounds like they help omegas who need it. And besides that, I think he—” I swallow hard before I say this next part. “—likes me.”
The moment those words are out of me, both Asher and Mason start posturing, like the mere idea of Rourke liking me puts them on edge. As if they need to scare him off or something.
Like I belong to them.
But I don’t. I belong to no one but me.
“Stop it,” I tell them, regaining my composure somewhat. “Don’t puff out those chests and act angry on my behalf. I believe him. I don’t think he’s lying to me. I don’t know that I trust him completely, but I do think he’s on my side.”
Whether or not my words convince them, they do their part and stop acting all macho. Mason mutters, clearly unhappy with the whole thing, “We should get back down there and make sure he’s upholding his end of the deal.”
Probably a smart thing to do, regardless. I spin on the heels of my feet and am the first to lead, much to the chagrin of the über behind me, but I don’t care. For some reason, I can’t get what Rourke said out of my head.
Something’s between us. He feels it, and he knows I feel it, too.
