Chapter Eight Ezra
Chapter Eight
EZRA
The little voice in the back of my mind, that addictive one that always seems to be turned to Jade, is telling me to go back to the cabin. It insists that I can’t trust her. That she’s going to be causing problems behind my back and that sooner or later, I have to deal with her.
That I’m going to have to make a decision one way or another.
I might have told her two days ago that I wasn’t going to kill her, and I intend to keep my word. But I have no idea what will happen once the boss finds out I have her.
He doesn’t know yet, but he will eventually. So, I have to come up with the best way to play this when time comes.
I dodge the jab, feinting to the side before delivering a solid kick to Tyson’s ribs.
He groans and stumbles back, his gloves dropping for just a moment.
That’s when I lunge on him, fists flying. I land shot after shot, managing to get in a solid hit to his stomach too before he gets his hands back up and hops out of the way.
I move side to side, keeping myself light on my feet, but I’m off my game.
Tyson arches an eyebrow. “Something wrong with you?”
“Too much.” I force a cocky smile, but the hair on the back of my neck stands as the door to the training gym opens.
A warm breeze blows in with the two women, allowing me to relax slightly.
It’s not the boss, and that’s a small thing to be grateful for. I guess.
Tyson thumps my shoulder with his glove. “Come on, your head isn’t in it today. What’s going on?”
I take off my glove and bite down on the wrapping, loosening it up until I can stop unraveling it. “Dunno. I’ve got a few fights coming up, so I need to get my head back in it soon.”
Not to mention that I have no other choice than to fight. It’s either fight or lose the life I have. Fight, or everything I’ve done and the people I killed will be for nothing. And the way things have been lately, it won’t be long until it’s fight or die.
“You’re going to have to. You know there’ll be hell to pay if you don’t.”
“And more than enough money on the table to lose.” I sigh and toss both gloves to the side, unwrapping my other hand. “Not going to be home tonight either. I have other things I have to do. Probably going to come back here and do some more training too.”
Tyson arches a brow. “Are you sure that’s a good idea so close to a fight? You have a routine that you like to stick to, and if you deviate outside that, you might not do as well.”
“Don’t have much of a choice. Some things have changed, and I have to attend to them.”
Like the woman chained in a bedroom at my cabin because I can’t trust her to roam the house yet.
Not that Tyson needs to know that. We might share my apartment, but he doesn’t know about the cabin and all that hides there. I can’t risk him turning against me and reporting everything to the boss.
Tyson has been my friend for a long time, but with all the life I’ve lived, I know people can never be trusted. Even those closest to you have a way of screwing you over when you least expect it.
Tyson shakes his head as he follows me out of the ring. “I don’t know what things changed, but you need to watch yourself if it’s going to draw you away from the fights. You have too much riding on them to lose.”
“I know that. You don’t need to tell me all that’s riding on this. I’m well aware of it and in time, I will handle it. But for now, I have other things I have to do.”
“Fine, your funeral.”
I stuff my gear into my bag before grabbing my water and taking a long drink.
Yeah, it’s likely going to be.
I open the door to the apartment, heading down the hall to my room and tossing my gear inside. When I turn back, I make my way to the living room.
It’s there that I see him.
Noah sits on the couch with his arm slung over the back, a glass of bourbon in his hand. “I was wondering when you were going to come home so we could have a little chat.”
“What about?” I stride to the fridge and open it, pulling out a bottle of water.
The hair on the back of my neck is standing straight up, and warning alarms are going off in my head.
Noah has done nothing but treat me like family, but he’s still the boss, and there’s still a concern there for everything he’s capable of.
After all, the man faked his own death and both his half-sisters turned against him.
There are whispers about him slowly losing control. It’s only made him that much more unpredictable.
Noah swirls the amber liquid around in his glass. “You lost the sparring with Tyson today. You backed down and stepped out of the ring even though you had the chance to finish him. Which brings up a problem for me.”
“Why would I finish him when we were just sparring?”
Noah puts the glass to the side, standing up and pacing across the room, drawing closer to me. “You’ve barely been winning fights these last couple of weeks.”
“I’m still winning.”
His eyes narrow. “Not the way I taught you to. You’re leaving these men less than broken. You’re allowing them to walk away. That’s a problem for me.”
“You told me you wanted your fighters to be left in fighting shape, so that’s what I’m doing. Besides, it’s not like I’m a killer, and you know that.”
The corner of his mouth curves. “Well, now, that’s not quite true, and you know it as well as I do.”
“I know that you’re implying that I’m not doing the job you pay me to do, which is wrong.”
“Have you forgotten where you stand in the hierarchy, cousin?” Noah’s tone is low and dangerous. “I have enough family turning against me. If you’re to be another, I’ll kill you.”
“When have I ever been anything but loyal?”
“I used to think the same of Zoe and Gia. I’m not going to ignore the warning signs anymore. If you keep barely putting in any effort to these fights, then I’m going to see that there’s punishment in your future. You either fight or you fall. Your choice.”
I swallow a swig of the water. “I’ll fight more, then, but I’m not going to wreck them. That’s only going to get the entire operation found out, and you know that as well as I do.”
Noah smirks and leans against the counter. “I’m glad we’re on the same page.”
“Is there anything else?” I want him to get the hell out of my home so I can go check on Jade.
My little minx is going to be wondering where I am soon, and she’s likely going to be hungry.
I don’t want her to think that I’m a complete monster. Not yet at least.
Noah clears his throat, pushing up and stepping closer to me.
I tower over him, but there’s something about the look in his eyes that makes him seem all the more imposing.
“You’re going to want to watch the way you speak to me, Ezra. You might be family, but like I said, my patience is wearing thin. Win the next several fights properly, or else.”
He doesn’t bother to specify, and I don’t ask as he turns and walks out the door, slamming it shut behind him.
That could’ve gone better, but it could’ve gone a hell of a lot worse too.
Jade is sitting in the middle of the bed, her long legs crossed and the shirt I gave her swallowing her whole. She looks like she wants to kill me, which is just the way I like her.
That fire burning in her eyes is always a turn on.
The chain still runs from her ankle to the bedside table. It’s moved, like she’s been pacing around the room.
There’s a loose corner of the board that’s hammered to the window, not that it matters. If she manages to get the board off, she’s only going to find the bars on the other side.
She could do some damage with the nails, though. So I’ll have to take the board off the window and have the glass replaced with plexiglass. Less chance of her being able to do any real damage.
Jade glares at me as I lean in the doorway. “Come to tell me what the fuck it is you’re going to do with me?”
I toss the bag of food in my hand into her lap. “Figured you could use something to eat.”
“Bastard.” She isn’t too proud to eat the food, though.
Unwrapping the burger like she thinks it’s going to be her last meal, she starts shoving it down. She takes a big bite of the burger, still watching me like she doesn’t trust me.
I can’t entirely blame her for that. I wouldn’t trust me either.
She polishes off the burger and reaches into the bag for the other one, unwrapping that as well. This one, she eats slower.
“What do you want from me?” she asks between bites.
I thought she’d never ask.
“I just want you to be happy.” I study her for a moment, knowing that happy is the last thing she is at the moment. “But how can I do that when your family is at war with mine? When you and your siblings took Zoe from me?”
“Zoe?” Jade looks at me like she’s even less sure of me than she was before.
“She’s my cousin. Gia, too, though I haven’t spoken to her in years.”
Jade takes another bite of the burger, chews it, and swallows it down. “You’re not going to be able to make me happy if you keep me chained up like this. You know that, right? Nobody wants to be chained. I certainly don’t. I have things I’m supposed to be doing with my life.”
“Sure, sure.” I nod to the bag. “There are fries in there, too.”
She pulls out the container of fries and stuffs a couple in her mouth. She analyzes them like she’s just now checking to see if I poisoned them.
I didn’t. Killing her isn’t part of the plan.
“I’m not going to keep you chained forever.” I look at her.
I know she’s going to try and manipulate me. I can’t blame her for that. I would try and do the same if I were in her position. I’d do everything I could to try and get free.
Jade takes another bite of the fries. “Why do you follow me?”
“You don’t think it’s weird?”
Her lips press together like she’s considering how to answer that.
A slow smile spreads across her face. “I think it’s sweet to know that someone out there cares for me.”
She’s lying.
I can tell by the way her gaze drops from mine. I’m sure she’s pretending that she’s shy, especially with the blush coloring her cheeks, but I’m not stupid enough to fall for that.
It’s fine, though. In time, she’s going to see that we belong together. She’ll want to be with me. And once she sees what life could be, once she’s willing to play by my rules, I know she’s never going to leave.
Because no matter how much I threaten to kill her, that is not really what I want. I’m sure I could, if I had to, but it would kill me to do it.
“If you’re related to Zoe, you’re related to Noah, too?”
“Through marriage, but not really.”
Jade hums and nods. “And if that’s true, then, what are you going to do when this shitstorm comes to a head and he dies?”
“He’s not going to.”
Amusement flickers in her gaze like she knows something I don’t. “Let’s say the choice was between me and him. You call me love and you want to make me happy. So, if there has to be a choice, who will you save?”
“I’ve had enough of you trying to manipulate me and root around for information for one day.”
“I’ve barely asked you anything.”
“And that’s why we’re done for the day.” I grab the garbage from her, half-expecting her to try and attack me. “We’ve got a date tomorrow night, love. I’ll see to it that you have something nice to wear.”
As I shut the door behind me, I’m still not sure about my choice to take her to the party tomorrow.
People are going to see me with one of the Lyndes, and whispers of it will get back to Noah. However, this might be what I need to get him to believe that I’m on his side. Because I am.
After what the Lyndes have done against our family, they deserve to die.
But if Noah believes that Jade is on our side, that she’s cut her ties with her family, he may just allow me to keep her.