Chapter 2
Nothing about tonight has made any sense, and it’s making me feel like I’m losing my mind. The longer I stand here, the less I understand, but I know I’m missing something.
We all are.
Spencer taking Jade might have started all of this, but whatever we’re dealing with now is an entirely different situation.
I took in everything around me the moment we entered the office.
In our few years as a part of Vengeance, we have yet to step foot in this office.
I’m not sure what I expected, but this isn’t it.
My brain had painted a picture of the old-school mafia-style office like they are in the movies.
I expected guns and drugs, dark and well-used, but what I got was a barely used office space.
It feels fake, like a decoy.
I was so focused on the space itself that I hadn’t even noticed Jade creep up behind Spencer until she was already on top of him.
I would like to say it shocked me she got one over on all of us, but it didn’t.
After our time with her, we’re all very aware of her skills.
If anything, we should have been expecting some kind of retaliation after what Spencer put her through tonight.
I don’t think she actually plans to kill him. If she wanted to, she would have, and none of us would have been able to stop her. No, this is all for show, and judging by the look on Spencer's face, he knows that too, but I still see the fear that shines in his eyes.
Good, he deserves it.
I ignore them in favor of dealing with everything else that's going on. Kratos sits in front of the desk, watching them with a smile on his face that's not only out of place for his usually stony expression but also seems strange given the fact that Spencer is supposed to be one of his top guys.
I’m missing something here, but I just can’t put my finger on what it is.
I’m pulled from my thoughts as Zander and Kratos engage in a heated standoff. I don’t know what I missed, but judging by the way Kratos is blocking Zander’s path, I can only assume it has something to do with Jade.
Jade doesn’t let them go for long before she steps in, and Kratos backs down. He looks at Jade with a softness to his gaze that might have shocked me if I’d had the ability to be shocked any further, but I’m pretty sure I’m tapped out at this point.
Kratos sits down before telling Zander to do the same. He listens, and then Kratos turns his attention back to us. Spencer closes the door, and together, we move further into the room with Trent lagging just a few paces behind us, as though he doesn’t really know what to do.
Join the club. At this point, I think we're all just as lost as he is.
I look from one person to the next as we all stand around the room, waiting.
Zander’s restless in his chair, bitching about how Jade doesn’t need to be here, and he’s not wrong.
Jade being here is dangerous but also unnecessary, and that thought sends up even more red flags in my mind as I think about why.
I saw how Kratos looked at Jade, so what could be so worth it for her to be put in this kind of danger?
I can’t imagine Kratos would ever be okay with this if there wasn’t a good reason.
Spencer stands next to me with his hand to his throat and a sneer on his face that lets me know he's not happy about this either, though why he’s unhappy could be for any number of reasons.
I don’t care enough to look deeper and try to figure it out right now.
He’s the least of my concerns, and I’m still annoyed with him.
Trent stands off to the side of me, looking like he’s moments from bolting.
I’m sure he would’ve by now if not for his piqued curiosity.
He’s always been a lot like me with the need to understand.
Trent’s gaze is fixed on Jade, and I wonder if he’s only here for answers or if it’s something more than that.
“What could you possibly be laughing at right now, Demon?” Spencer finally snaps, drawing my gaze back to Jade, who sure as shit is sitting on Froggie’s desk, giggling behind her hand in an attempt to hide it.
Too bad everyone in this room is damn near laser-focused on her.
She never had a hope of it going unnoticed.
She fucking loses it, then. Laughing harder than I’ve ever seen her laugh before, and while I would typically think her being more carefree is a good thing, now doesn’t feel like an appropriate time for this.
How can she be so calm?
What could possibly be so funny?
Why can’t I figure her out?
The overwhelming feeling of frustration slams into me as I try and fail to piece this puzzle together.
I curl my hands into tight fists at my sides, digging my nails so far into my palms that I can almost guarantee I’ve drawn blood.
The need to lash out and hit something is so damn strong that I’m just barely able to fight against it.
I watch almost through a haze as Jade pulls herself together once again, waving off Spencer's comment as if it’s nothing, as if her laughing isn’t a big deal.
I’m going to lose it if I stand here much longer. I need to leave and get myself under control before the boss shows up to find my ass going off like a loose cannon and decides to deal with me himself.
Something clicks at the thought, and just like that, some of the haze clears.
Fuck!
“It’s you.” The words spill out of my mouth without my permission, but I know I'm right as soon as I’ve said them.
Jade turns her attention to me. Her eyes sparkle, and her radiant smile once again takes on a wicked quality as she meets my gaze.
“I knew it would be you, Roderick,” Jade announces, beaming at me, and I see in her eyes that she means it. Try as I might, I can’t help but feel a rush of pride at those words.
“What’s her?” Zander asks from his spot in the chair, looking back and forth between us in rapid succession as if he’ll get an answer just by looking at us.
“And what do you mean you knew it would be him?” he demands when neither of us answers him, his voice almost sounding sad.
I can’t force my eyes away from Jade’s as she continues to stare back at me.
I can feel Spencer and Trent's eyes on me as well. I can almost hear all of their questions even without them voicing them. But I don’t have all the answers yet.
Some things fit together so well, but in other places, there are gaping holes that I can’t make sense of.
The biggest one is how.
Jade looks away first, turning to look down at Kratos, who still sits in front of her. “Did you want to explain, or me?” she asks, her tone serious, lacking its usual playfulness when she calls him Daddy. It’s almost strange to hear her say his name.
I know what he’s going to say, but even as he stands from his chair, I can’t quite prepare myself to hear the words spoken out loud. I can’t see how this is going to go over well.
“Boys,” Kratos barks. That one word commands the room, and everyone’s attention turns to him. “I’d like for you to meet Froggie,” Kratos announces, gesturing to where Jade sits. When their eyes meet, she gives him a small smile that he doesn't hesitate to return.
It’s almost as if time stops as everyone attempts to process the bomb of information Kratos just dropped. The room’s so quiet that you could hear a pin drop for all of a minute before chaos erupts.
Spencer calls bullshit while Zander laughs, telling Kratos how he really had him going for a minute.
Trent looks over at Jade before asking the one question I want the answer to as well.
“How?” he asks without raising his voice, but somehow, it cuts through everything else and grabs Jade’s attention.
“Honestly?” she asks, and when Trent nods, she answers with a shrug. “I’m not entirely sure,” she admits, only making everything even more confusing.
Spencer barks a cruel laugh, “So you want us to believe that she runs this whole thing and doesn’t even know how she does it?” Spencer spits, but his tone lets me know he wouldn’t have believed her no matter what she said. This just so happened to work out in his favor.
“Show some respect!” Kratos snaps, whirling on Spencer so quickly that he snaps his mouth shut in surprise.
Spencer might have made a dumb choice tonight, but he generally isn’t stupid.
The look Kratos is giving him clearly spells out the world of pain he’ll be in if he should continue on the way he is right now.
“You can believe whatever you want, but at the end of the day, you will respect her. Jade has been putting her life on the line for far longer than you can imagine, and I will personally gut anyone who stands against her.” Kratos looks around the room at each of us, meeting our eyes as he speaks his demand to ensure we receive the message. We do, loud and clear.
The room falls silent before he continues. “The fact still stands whether or not you choose to believe it, though; Jade is Froggie. Vengeance has always been and always will be hers, and anyone who has a problem with that is more than welcome to leave.”
Kratos makes a point to look at Spencer as he says that last part, raising his arm toward the door.
Nobody moves, and at first, I think it’s out of fear. If they decide to leave, there's no guarantee that they will do so alive; nobody else has. But as I look around, I find that nobody looks afraid. Spencer still looks angry, but is no longer ready to go off, which seems enough for Kratos.
He sinks back into his chair, and Jade hops off the desk before rounding his chair and throwing her arms around him, burying her face in the side of his neck.
The moment she makes contact with him, it’s as if the tension all but leaves his body.
It’s strange to see, but it’s also impossible to look away from. It’s so natural between them.
“Don’t kill them, K. I like them,” Jade whispers while she nuzzles into his neck, and he huffs a laugh that he tries and fails to hide.
He reaches a hand up and gently runs it through her hair. “I don’t plan to, Killer,” he tells her, and her head pops up, a bright smile on her face. “Why don’t you run and find Dom? Have him help you order something to eat. I’ll handle this shitshow until you get back.”
Her smile dims a bit at that. “You want me to leave?” she questions, and for the first time tonight, I can hear the uncertainty in her words.
“No, I want you to eat. You lost a lot of blood with your little show earlier, and while I see you stitched it up nicely, you still need to eat to make sure you won’t pass out.
” His words are both comforting and stern.
I feel like I’ve fallen into a parallel universe as I watch these two brutal and deadly people be soft for one another.
She searches his eyes for a moment before she gives a nod and straightens up. “Should I get food for everyone?” she asks him without so much as looking at anyone else.
“Yes, Dom knows what everyone likes,” he assures her as he straightens in the chair, falling back into his usual hard mask right before my eyes.
“Okay, Daddy,” she says with a teasing smirk, before she leans forward, pressing her lips to his cheek.
He stiffens up for a moment from the nickname or the kiss.
I can’t be sure. But then she’s moving toward the door, and every eye in the room follows her as she skips away, disappearing from sight as the door falls closed behind her.
I turn back to Kratos. I have so many questions that I can’t even think of what to ask first, but I don’t need to.
“Get comfortable, boys. Let’s start from the beginning.”