Chapter 15 Zander
The moment I see Jade, I know something’s wrong. Her hair’s a little all over the place, and her clothes are slightly out of whack, which leads me to believe she hasn't been up long, but that's not the problem.
No, the problem is how she’s holding herself.
Even across the room, I can see her body is racked with so much tension that I feel like the smallest thing might shatter her.
She crosses her arms in front of her as if she's using them as a form of defense; her focus jumps around the room to take in each of us. But the worst part is her eyes. Those green eyes, which usually convey so much, meet my own, and there’s nothing there.
No happiness, no spark, nothing. It's almost as if she's dead, a zombie left in her place, and everything that makes her Jade was drained away.
Even when she was hiding herself behind that mask, there was something.
She’s never fit the part of Froggie more than she does in this moment, and that thought scares me. I don’t want to follow a shell; I want to follow someone worth following.
I don’t know what I missed, but clearly, it was something huge because just yesterday, she was almost a different person. This Jade who stands in front of me now is a stranger.
I can’t just stand here. I need to fix this; at the very least, I need to know what's happening.
I move forward to talk to her, but the moment I do, she takes a step back. Leveling her gaze on me as if watching a threat, she stops me in my tracks.
Ouch.
“Jade.”
Her attention turns to Kratos, and I’m not sure if I’m happy to have her dead eyes focused on someone else or upset by it.
What the fuck is going on?
“What good is going to see Randall? How does that help with shutting down the rings?” he asks, and I can’t believe that’s what he’s focused on right now.
Kratos holds up his hand to stop me even before I get to question him, and I let out a huff of frustration that he ignores.
Annoyance burns through me quickly, but I know Kratos knows Jade better than I do.
I know I need to follow his lead, no matter how much I might not want to.
Clenching my hands into fists, I stomp around the island to plop down on a stool as far from Jade as possible, hoping she will join us if I give her some space.
It works. The moment I sit, she steps into the doorway again, though this time, she seems more on guard, opting to stand instead of leaning on the frame.
We all watch Kratos and Jade. I don’t dare say a word after she reacted so badly to me moments ago, but I’m not sure what has the other guys so quiet. For a long moment, I don’t think she’ll answer him, but as I watch her, I can see just the slightest bit of recognition shine in her eyes.
“He has connections to Sin.” That’s all she says, but it’s enough to fill my head with a million questions, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.
Randall is an ass, and he runs this city in a shitty way that keeps him wealthy and looking good, while most people are actually worse off after everything he does.
But he's a damn good politician, and by good politician, I mean he could probably sell a mother her baby back at the hospital after she just gave birth; the asshole has a way with words.
It’s fucked.
Kratos nods, and I turn my attention away from Jade to watch him.
He hasn’t made a single move toward her since she stepped into the room. Everything he’s said is calm and collected with no hint of emotion, and while closer to his usual attitude, it's strange to see him like this with her.
“How?”
It’s a simple question, but her reaction lets me know it's not a simple answer. I wouldn’t have thought it was possible for her to become more rigid, but she does. She’s so still that I wonder if she’s even breathing.
“Jade.” Kratos's voice is low, barely even louder than a whisper, but his pleading tone is hard to miss. He’s treating her like a wounded animal, keeping his distance while also keeping his cool, both hands raised as if to show he’s not a threat.
Jade finally cracks.
Until now, Jade and Kratos had been having a stare-off, but the moment he said her name, she backed down. Even from where I sat across the kitchen, I watch the single tear as it trails down her cheek.
She does nothing to hide it, doesn't even wipe it away.
When she looks back up, her eyes dance with so many emotions I can’t possibly grasp them all. More than anything else, she’s angry, and while I hate to see her upset, I can’t even pretend I don’t let out a breath of relief.
Seeing her blank was kind of terrifying, if I’m being honest.
“Randall...” Her voice quivers, and she pulls in a sharp breath before closing her eyes as if she’s in pain. It only lasts a moment before she opens them again, and this time her eyes are hard with a mix of determination and anger.
Her eyes sweep over us without staying on anyone for long before she blows out a breath and throws everything we thought we knew out the damn window.
“Randall runs the auction,” she says, and all hell breaks loose.
We sat in the kitchen for the better part of the day.
Kratos and Spencer filled me in on what I missed last night.
The only time any of us has left is to use the bathroom, and when I drove down to the gate to get Kratos’s new phone from one of the guys.
Apparently, he’d shattered his when Dom told him about what happened last night.
He’d come with me and driven his bike back to the house.
I hadn’t even realized it wasn’t here when I came in this morning, but considering I didn’t notice it at the gate either, I’m going to blame it on lack of sleep.
Kratos had pieces of the story from Dom that Spencer hadn’t been there for, and by the end, all I could do was kick myself. I should have been there with her.
After that, we argue about what Jade is going to do.
None of us wants her anywhere near Randall, and for a damn good reason. Even Kratos is team no Randall, but he also isn’t going against Jade. Instead, he keeps copping out, saying she’ll go either way. It's driving me nuts, but I can’t say I think he’s wrong.
None of us can.
We’ve all seen how fiercely protective she is of those girls, and we all know Randall might be the key to taking this last ring down.
The problem is, none of us seems to be able to make the choice to prioritize the ring over Jade’s safety. Well, she can, but I’m not really counting her vote in this right now. Not only is she finally out of that hellhole, but she’s also the leader of Vengeance. We can’t afford to lose her.
It’s a bullshit excuse, one she’s happy to shoot down, reminding us that nobody but us and Trent knows that.
That Vengeance has been doing just fine without her and going so far as to say that should the worst happen, it’s now well enough established with Kratos that nobody would so much as bat an eye should he have to take over.
She’s not wrong, but we argue against her as if she is.
I don’t even know how long has passed while we talk in circles before Jade finally can’t take it anymore.
“Enough!” Her voice cuts through the room as we all try to talk over each other to find a better solution. She doesn’t yell, but her voice has a hard edge that not only gets our attention, but shuts us all up with just that one word.
She leans forward, placing her hands down on the counter, sighing, as if she’s sick of us. Honestly, she probably is by now.
“Randall has been running the auction for at least the last five years. I’ve seen him there more than a few times, and I’ve been in his company enough to know that dinner won’t be an issue.”
Rick opens his mouth, and I can’t hold back a groan of frustration, but she holds up a hand to cut us both off before we can do much else.
“Randall is all about his reputation, but this could be exactly what we need to get information. I can go in, and he won’t even suspect I’m up to anything because this dinner is on his terms. He expects me to be there.”
She drops her hand back to the counter, and before she even touches the granite top, Spencer’s talking. “We could just as easily pump Jake for information. He lives there, for fuck's sake. If there is anything worth getting to, he can do it.”
“Or Leo,” I offer. “He might not live there, but he’s there a lot with Jake since he’s family.”
She’s shaking her head even before I finish, and it makes me want to bang my head against the countertop.
“No. Neither of them will work. I saw the way Randall is with Jake, and we won’t get anything important from him. If anything, Jake would probably have the hardest time, and Leo is an outsider. He probably only sees Randall the same way the public does.”
I fucking hate that she’s right. We're grasping at straws here, but I can’t stop. I need to know that we've explored every option before I can even consider her going, and even then, I don’t like it.
“What about Amanda?” Rick asks. He hasn’t said much in the way of deterring her, but he’s given plenty of alternatives, which lets me know that while he’s not outright saying he hates this like we are, he does.
It must be killing him to go against her, knowing she’s the boss. I know if this had happened last week, he would have been just as adamant about her not going as the rest of us. I’m not sure if that’s funny or sad, though.
“Amanda is his princess. Everyone knows she gets everything she wants.” I can’t help but add in before Jade can shoot the idea down. I can’t stand Amanda, but I can’t deny it might be a good idea.
“No. I don’t think Amanda is smart enough for this. She would have no clue what to look for or how to keep her mouth shut.” Jade says, shooting down yet another idea with a valid reason.