“Fuck that.” She glared up at me. “I don’t want to know who my father is. I don’t even know why you’d think I would.”
Of course, she didn’t realize there was a financial fortune involved. She thought I’d set out to find her father for altruistic reasons.
“I can’t go back to my mother’s, but I just need a day or two to find a place to live. Then we’re done.”
“Laikyn…”
She shot to her feet. “I’m done with you, Rule. And you, too,” she snarled at Jinx. “I don’t know why everyone in my fucking life thinks I can’t handle my own shit. If I wanted to know who my DNA supplier was, I would’ve figured it out. It’s none of your damn business.”
I could feel Jinx’s eyes on me. I knew he wanted me to tell her. It was the perfect time to do it. Once she was armed with that knowledge, she could do whatever she wanted with it.
But I couldn’t. I couldn’t bring myself to say the words. Once I did, Laikyn would be gone. She would disappear from my life and…
And what? And I couldn’t live without her?
The thought pissed me off. I’d sworn to myself a long fucking time ago that I wouldn’t depend on anyone for my safety, security, or happiness. People didn’t stick around. They bolted when shit got too real. They disappeared because they only cared about their feelings. Laikyn was no different. She didn’t need me, but somewhere along the way, I’d started to rely on her being here. Looked forward to it, even.
“You know what?” I huffed and headed for the door. “You do whatever the fuck you wanna do, Laikyn. I don’t give a shit anymore.”
It would only be a matter of time before I believed it.
* * *
Jinx
Shit.
I knew this would happen. From the day Rule married her, I knew it was going to end like this. But somewhere along the way, I thought we could find a way to explain it so that Laikyn wouldn’t think we were evil, manipulative bastards.
Too late.
“Why does he get to be pissed?” Laikyn snapped. “He’s not the one who was lied to.”
Technically, we hadn’t lied to her. We’d omitted a few things, so perhaps different sides of the same coin, but…
Shit.
I started typing a message to Laikyn.
—If you let him walk away, that’s it.
Her phone was beside her, so she didn’t have to pick it up to read my message.
“I don’t care. I’m done.”
— I’m serious. Once he’s convinced you’re done with him, there’s no second chance.
“I don’t want a second chance.”
Because I knew she was being petulant and didn’t truly understand the gravity of what I was telling her, I crouched beside her, grabbed her arm, and tugged so she was forced to look back at me.
“I heard you, Jinx,” she hissed, jerking her arm away. “I. Don’t. Care.”
I stood tall, sighed, and typed out one last message.
— He’s got abandonment issues, Laikyn. You really should think this through.
This time, I didn’t give her a chance to respond. I went inside to look for Rule. The good news was he had left. I mean, it wasn’t good in the sense he’d run away, but it was better than if he’d come inside and expected one or both of us to follow. Since neither of us had, there was a good chance Rule would be on his way to another state to start a new life.
