Chapter 14 Ezra
Chapter Fourteen
EZRA
I pull up outside Jade’s new university, waiting for the shocked expression I know is coming. Along with the threats. Although, I like those. I like her thinking that she has some power here.
“This isn’t my school. Where did you bring me?” Her tone is low, a little bit of fear seeping in.
I chuckle and drum my fingers on the wheel. “You didn’t think I’d take you back to the old school where you had people to contact. Did you?”
“What about making me visible, so my family knows I’m fine and they don’t come after you?”
“You’re going to be visible if they look hard enough. You didn’t think I was just going to let you waltz right into the school where your sister is, did you?” I lean a little closer to her, taking her chin between my thumb and forefinger. “I told you before, love. I’m not going to let you go.”
“You should. This is going to be nothing but a bad time for you. It’d be a good idea to just leave me somewhere and move on with your life. I’m not worth the effort you’re going to. Especially not when it’s going to piss off your family and mine.”
I brush my thumb over her bottom lip. “I don’t give a shit what you think your family is going to be able to do with me. I’ll kill them all where they stand if it means that I get to keep you.”
“I’m not some thing to be kept.”
Smirking, I drag out her bottom lip for a moment before leaning back in my seat. “I know you think that, love, but you are very much someone to be kept and cherished. Now, get to class before you’re late.”
She stares at me for a moment, like she isn’t sure what to think, before she nods and gets out, grabbing her tote bag and leaving me there.
I wait until she’s walking away before turning back out into traffic. I head to the parking around the corner, my phone ringing incessantly.
Tyson’s name flashes on the screen as I find a parking space and back into it.
I shut off the car and answer the call. “What? I have something I’m doing.”
“Does that something have to do with the fact that you moved out?” Tyson sounds incredulous on the other end of the call. “What the hell is going on, Ezra? If you’re playing games with Noah, this is going to get messy, and I’m not going to be able to help you. You know that. I need the Rinaldos.”
“If I cause any problems with him, he’s going to come after me. He’s not going to bother with you. You’re not high enough up the pole to matter to him. You’re a good fighter, but you don’t bring in the money I do.”
“Okay, let’s stop pretending that this has anything to do with the fighting.”
I get out of the car and pull up the hood of my sweater, doing my best to blend in with the students heading out of the parking and to the courtyard. “It doesn’t have to do with the fighting.”
“He didn’t see Jade that night, but he knows about her.”
“I know.” I shoulder past a couple of people, weaving through the crowd and going to find a good place to sit outside the building Jade’s classes are being held in.
She’s going to try something now that she has this little bit of freedom. I just don’t know when she’s going to try it or what she’s going to do when she has it.
Tyson sighs. “Man, you’re playing a dangerous game and as much as you say you’ve thought about what’s going to happen, I don’t think you have. Not really.”
“Look, what did you really call me to talk about?”
He makes a strangled noise in the back of his throat. “You’re really not going to shut this shit down, are you?”
“I think we both know the answer to that.”
“Fine, then I wanted to talk to you about the training schedule you have with all these fights coming up.”
I settle onto a bench, stretching my legs out in front of me and pulling out a tattered copy of Dracula from my pocket. “Sure, talk about it all you want, but I think the one I sent you is going to have to be good enough with everything else I have going on this month.”
“If you’re only sticking to training five out of seven days, you’re going to get your ass handed to you.
” Tyson shuffles something around. “And I know you think that it’s enough, but two of those five days, your training is allegedly just running a couple miles and jumping some rope.
You and I both know that’s not going to be enough. ”
“I have other matters that I have to attend to.” I flip to the page I was last on, smoothing out the dog-eared page.
Tyson lets out another irritated noise. “Ezra, you need to get serious about this.”
I glance up from my book, scanning the windows until I see Jade walking by. She’s talking to a woman beside her, laughing like she’s known the woman for some time, but I did my research into the class. Jade doesn’t know a soul in there.
She’s going to have to push past her boundaries if she’s going to make a friend and borrow a phone to call whoever it is she’s going to call.
I’m not stupid enough to think she isn’t going to call anyone.
I know her too well. Besides, it’s the first thing I would do in her position too.
She doesn’t know that I’m watching her, though. And that’s going to make this game of cat and mouse all the more fun.
Tyson huffs. “You’re not even listening to me.”
“I told you that I have other things to do today. If you want to talk about this, then we can talk about it later.”
“Ezra!”
I end the call, uninterested in listening to more. For now, life is about watching my love and waiting for her next plan to escape.
The doors swing open around lunchtime, and Jade jogs down the steps. She at least looks for me, but I can tell she doesn’t see me. If she did, she wouldn’t keep walking toward the street like it’s her mission in life to get away without looking too panicked.
I push off the tree I’m leaning on, tucking away my book and following behind her.
I keep my distance, head down, hands in my pockets, and hood up.
We weave through the students walking down the street, heading around the corner.
I pause, stepping into a doorway when she looks over her shoulder.
The moment she turns back around and keeps going, I continue to follow her.
She’d almost be good at this escaping thing if she could figure out there’s a tail on her. I would’ve thought that her family trained her better than this.
At least it makes hunting her down easy.
She steps into a coffee shop and orders something at the counter. She’s sitting down at the table with her latte—because god forbid she try anything a little stronger—when Haven walks in.
I lean against the brick wall across the street, opening my book and facing slightly away. Jade won’t be able to see my face if she looks this way, but from the corner of my eye and the reflection of the blacked-out shop window in front of me, I can see everything she’s doing.
She leans closer to Haven, whispering something before leaning back. The two of them start laughing as they settle down and have lunch together.
I wait for more Lyndes to swarm the area, but none of them do. Not from the moment Jade sat down until the moment she gets up and hugs Haven tight.
There are tears in Jade’s eyes as she heads back to school.
Interesting.
She and I need to have a little conversation at the end of the day.
“How was the first day of being a chef?” I ask as Jade slides in the car after her last class is done.
She tosses her books in the back. “About as good as it could be, I think. We just worked on knowing the different kinds of knives today and how to clean the kitchen. I don’t know when we’re going to get into cooking anything, so it might be awhile before you’re having homecooked meals.”
Does that mean she’s thinking about staying, then?
I swallow hard and pull away from the curb, heading toward home. “I’ve been thinking about the fact that you believe you’re being held captive—”
“Because I am.” She leans back in the seat, her gaze burning a hole in the side of my head. “If this is going to keep going like it is, then we may as well call it what it is too.”
“Fine. While you’re in captivity, as you like to call it, I was thinking that you should be able to bring a friend back to the house if you’d like.”
“Why? You don’t trust me, and I don’t trust you, so why the hell would you let me bring someone over?” Suspicion is clear in her voice.
“Because I want you to be happy.” Telling her the truth can’t be that bad.
She scoffs at that. “If you wanted me to be happy, I don’t think you would be ordering me around like this.”
I pull up to a red light and turn to look at her for a moment. “Well, I let you sneak out at lunchtime to go see Haven, didn’t I? I could’ve put an end to that if I wanted to.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“I want you to be happy,” I repeat, wishing that she could see the honesty.
I might have mixed feelings about holding her hostage and all that goes with it, but at the end of the day, I do want her to be happy.
However, that happiness has to be with me. I know that I’m the only one who’s going to encourage her to follow her dreams and be happy. She makes me happy too.
Or at least, as close to happy as I can be.
If letting Haven come over is going to be the one thing that keeps Jade in my life, then I’m more than happy to allow her over on a trial basis.
Jade presses her lips together. “Well, thank you. I guess. I’ve been missing having her around, and it would be nice to have someone to talk to.”
Excitement crackles through the air, rolling off her in waves. She’s downplaying it right now, but with my fight schedule picking up, I know Jade is going to be lonely.
“Have her over all you want. It’s our home.” I put my hand on her thigh, picking up the way her legs press closer together. “But if either of you step out of line or bring the Lyndes to my door, I’ll kill Haven. And I’ll make you watch.”
Jade’s eyes get big and watery as she stares at me.
The light turns green, and I take off again, letting the threat hang in the air between us.
I might not have killed Jade like I threatened to do, but I have no attachment to her friend.
And if watching me murder her friend is what it’s going to take to finally get Jade in line with my vision for our future, then I’ll happily do it. I’ll make it slow too, just to remind Jade who she’s fucking with.
By the time I was done, there would be nothing left of Haven, and Jade wouldn’t think about crossing me again.
But as long as Jade behaves, we shouldn’t have to get to that point.
Eventually, she’ll learn that every action she takes has a consequence.