Chapter 7
My question hangs in the air between us.
Spencer stands still as a statue, staring at me as if he’s never seen me before.
I know he’s never been my biggest fan, but with the guys running around all over the city, coming back to the house was my best option.
It’s not my fault he doesn’t leave. Or maybe he’s upset that I bested his security, again.
Either way, his silence is unsettling. Spencer’s never at a loss for words with me. It’s kind of our thing at this point, and after he destroyed my room, I thought for sure he would have some choice words.
I watch him as his eyes roam over me, his face unreadable as he steps forward. His phone casts him in just enough light for me to see what a mess he is.
Dark shadows ring his eyes, and I know it’s not just from a lack of light.
They’re darker than I’ve ever seen them before, and that’s saying something, considering I’ve seen him go without sleep for days.
His shirt’s wrinkled, and his jeans aren’t much better.
He’s never taken as much care in his appearance as Rick, but even when he wears jeans and a simple t-shirt, they usually seem clean, but not these.
If anything, I’d bet he’s been wearing the same thing for at least a few days, if not longer.
His hair is a mess, and his face has more than just a hint of growth, far past the five o’clock shadow that I’ve seen in the past.
“Demon?”
His voice is quiet, and I second-guess if he even said anything at all, as his face scrunches up in confusion. I’ve never heard him so soft-spoken, and I’m unsure what to say.
Is he hoping I’m really here, or praying I’m not?
If I had to bet on it, I’d assume the latter. I almost feel bad about disappointing him. I watch as he approaches, half expecting him to pull his gun or lunge at me, but he doesn’t. He stops before me, his frame large enough to block out the low light at his back, throwing us both into shadows.
“Demon?” he repeats, his voice louder but still so soft.
He reaches out as if in disbelief. His finger brushes over my cheek, his touch so soft that I fight the urge to lean into it.
Spencer’s been nothing but an ass to me, but I can’t deny it’s been fun.
And no matter how he feels about me personally, he’s damn good at his job, damn important to Vengeance.
“Did you miss me?” I ask, and while I meant to tease him, I can hear the hint of a real question in my voice that I’m sure he won’t miss. No, Spencer rarely misses anything. He’s always been the one I’ve been most careful around, even in the days when I was just Froggie to him.
His fingers trail down my cheek before he wraps his hands around my throat, pressing me into the wall at my back. His confusion melts away as anger burns in its place, and all I can do is smile.
Guess not.
“Where the fuck have you been?”
He spits the words at me, but I still see the relief in his eyes as he looks down at me, holding me still without actually cutting off my airway.
There’s the Spencer I know; this I can handle.
“Oh, you know, I just needed a break from all the testosterone around here,” I say with a shrug as if I wasn’t kidnapped. Technically, I went for Charlotte, not exactly willing, but I still think I could have gotten away had they not played dirty. But Spencer doesn’t know that.
His hand tightens as he presses forward, so close that we're almost chest to chest. His brows furrow and his lips thin into a hard line, letting me know he didn’t find my joke funny.
“You think this is a joke?” he spits, all of his earlier softness gone as I push his buttons the way I do best.
“Who said I was joking?” I ask with a smirk that I’m counting on pissing him off with.
Each of the guys is so different from the others that I knew my showing back up would have a different impact depending on who I ran into.
I’d hoped Rick or Trent would have been at the house tonight, but I had no such luck.
It’s not like I can’t handle Spencer. It just would have been easier if he were literally anyone else.
“So help me God, Jade, do you know how crazy we’ve been going, trying to find you? Everything’s a mess, and you think it’s funny?”
His hand tightens further, still not hurting me but stopping me from taking a full breath, and I know I’ve hit a nerve.
“No, I don’t think it’s funny. I find it rather annoying, honestly, but I can’t change what happened, and I wouldn’t,” I bite back, pressing into his chest so that there’s no space between us. His hand presses hard enough on my throat that I know I need to speak quickly or risk running out of air.
“Zander’s life depended on the choice I made, and Charlotte needed me more than you guys did. I did what I had to, and now I’m back. Just like I promised, and I won’t apologize for that.”
I stare up at him, letting him see everything that lies below the surface, everything that I work hard to hide to ensure I keep the element of surprise.
All the anger, determination, but most of all, the fact that I won’t be backing down.
They can be mad. I’m not stupid. I had no delusions that they would be happy about this, at least not K and Zan.
The rest were a toss-up, but given the state of Spencer, the guy who usually hates me enough that I wouldn’t even bat an eye if he tried to kill me in my sleep.
I’m guessing the others might just be worse than I thought.
He opens his mouth but quickly snaps it closed again, and I can see the conflict in his eyes. His need to yell at me for making them worry, mixed with his understanding of the situation and…
No way.
I’ve either lost my mind or my earlier hit to the head was worse than I thought, because I swear I see genuine relief in his eyes as he looks down at me.
Geez, if I had known all I had to do was disappear for a few weeks to make him miss me, I would have done it earlier. I guess when he’s not the one taking me, it’s different.
I almost say as much. Is it a poor joke? Absolutely.
Would it still be funny? Well, if I have enough air left, I’d be laughing, even if he doesn’t.
I don’t get the chance to see how he would react, though, because something changes in his eyes, halting my thoughts.
His lips crash against mine, slamming me back into the wall before I can say a word. His hand loosens but doesn’t fall away. My head hits the wall, but if it hurts, it doesn’t register as my brain short-circuits.
Spencer is the most closed off of the guys.
Some might argue that’s Rick, but his eyes give him away pretty easily if you know what to look for.
Spencer, on the other hand, hides behind his laid-back facade, acting as if nothing matters.
He watches, waits, gathers information, and uses it however he needs to keep the people closest to him safe.
Somewhere along the line, I became one of those people he would keep safe, even if it started for the sake of his brothers and then because I was his boss.
His fiercely protective nature now includes me, and I think that might be what pissed him off most—well, that and probably my mouth too.
The same mouth that he is now kissing with a bruising force.
It only takes a moment before my brain kicks back into gear, and I lean into him, kissing him back just as fiercely as we fight for dominance.
Everything between Spencer and me is push and pull, so why would this be any different?
He doesn’t pull away as I match him, so I push him further.
Bringing my arm up, I thread my fingers through the short hair at the base of his neck.
It’s too short to grip, but I’m not really trying to.
Instead, I pull him impossibly closer. He could pull away at any moment, and I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about doing just this multiple times when we fought.
What that says about me, I’m not sure, but I don’t really care either. If he’s going to feed into this fantasy for me, I’m not going to complain.