Chapter 15 Jade
Chapter Fifteen
JADE
I whip open the door and pull Haven into a tight hug, but there’s a part of me that can’t believe she’s standing here in front of me.
Looking past her into the hall, I wait for someone to pop out around the corner and kill her. Maybe Ezra didn’t go to his fight, and he’s just waiting to sedate her and then hold her hostage like he’s been holding me.
Maybe this is all one big trick, and I was wrong to trust him when he said that she could come over.
Am I putting my best friend in danger? Is she going to be the next life that this war claims?
Haven takes a step back, her hands on my shoulders. “You’re shaking, and you look like you’re going to be sick. What’s going on?”
“Well, you know how I told you that the guy from the chatroom has been stalking me and holding me here?”
“Yeah.” She shuffles inside, urging me back a step.
She shuts the door behind her and twists the lock in place.
“I told your family about everything going on, by the way. They agreed to hold back and let you see how this plays out for now. They wanted to know where he was holding you, but I told Aiden that I didn’t know. That you said you didn’t know either.”
I nod, pulling my bottom lip into my mouth and biting it for a moment. I blow out a long breath and run my hand through my hair. “I might be starting to second-guess that decision.”
“I don’t think you should. It makes sense that you might be worried about how all this is going to go, but I think staying and trying to figure things out is the right choice. You have a chance to get a look at how the Rinaldo family operates.”
“Yeah, sure.” I scoff and shake my head, leading her into the apartment and over to the white fluffy couch set in front of windows that stretch from the floor to the ceiling.
“Don’t be so pessimistic.”
“He’s going to keep me away from anything we could use to help us. You know that as well as I do.”
“Then what does he want with you?” She flops down beside me and puts her bags on the floor.
“I don’t know.”
“Okay, well, what do you want from him?”
“I don’t know that either.” I grab a throw pillow and clutch it to my chest. “I know that I should want to get out of here, but there’s this side to him that I can’t seem to escape.
Every time I’m pissed at him, he does something kind or makes me feel like I matter to him, and then it pulls me back in. ”
“That’s how men manipulate.” Haven kicks off her shoes and pulls her feet up onto the couch.
“Not him.” I hold up a hand before she can get going. “And I know you’re going to say that it’s what every girl who thinks their man is different says, but there is something different about the way he’s doing it. He’s obsessed with me.”
“And you think that’s a good thing?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I’ve been going back and forth about it. On one hand, I think that I might like who he is as a person. After all, we spent those months talking and some of it had to be true. I think most of it was true.”
Haven shakes her head and gets up, going to the fridge and pulling out a bottle of wine. “We’re going to need more alcohol for this conversation.”
“And face masks?” I laugh and head down the hall to the bathroom, and she joins me.
We put on the face masks and for a moment, I can pretend that I’m back at my own apartment and not being held hostage. I can think about something other than what happens if I stop playing along with him.
Though, I’m not so sure it’s just playing along anymore.
The tension is there. The sex with him was rough, but it was good. Really good. I don’t even want to admit to how much time I’ve spent thinking about it.
Haven nudges me with her elbow before leading the charge back into the living room, her face plastered with a mud mask. “You’ve got that guilty look on your face like you did something you shouldn’t have.”
I shrug, dropping back down onto the couch and reaching for the bottle of wine. “Probably, but there’s no going back now. I think the part I feel guilty about is wanting it to happen again.”
“Wanting what to happen?” She looks at me before she sits down and starts bouncing on the couch. “You fucked him!”
I’m glad the mud mask hides how red my cheeks have to be right now. “I mean…yes.”
She squeals. “Okay, look. I don’t know how I feel about you sleeping with the man who kidnapped you, since that must mean there’s got to be something wrong with you. Maybe in a good way. But then I have to know, how was it?”
“Good.” I groan and lean back against the couch, looking up at the ceiling. “More than good, if I’m being honest, and I think I want it to happen again, but it’s going to take some time, I think, until we get to that point again.”
Haven scoffs and digs her bony little elbow into me again. “You’re going to be falling into bed with him again before you know it. I saw pictures of him. He’s hot, and there’s no way you’re going to be able to fight that for long, even if it is a bad idea.”
I groan and twist to sling my legs over her lap, lying back on the cushions and staring at the ceiling.
“I didn’t think being here was going to be this complicated.
I thought everything was going to be fine.
Sure, I was going to be held hostage by some guy, but I thought that I’d be able to figure out my way out of it, but then he signed me up for culinary school, and even when I push him, he’s never really hurt me. A couple of cuts here or there—”
“But you like that, don’t you, you kinky bitch!” Haven drums her hands on my legs. “You’re going to have to tell me all about the dirty deeds.”
“There haven’t been a lot of them.”
“Okay, you know what?” She gets to her feet. “We’re going to clean off these masks and then we’re going to go to the fight. If you’re as interested in this man as you think you are, then I need to see him.”
“He’s not going to be happy if we show up there.”
She waves a dismissive hand and gets up. “I don’t care what he likes or what he doesn’t. You know where this fight is, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then we’re going.”
The crowd roars, rising to their feet, the scent of weed and cigarettes filling the room. It’s almost enough to cover the metallic tang of blood and the acrid smell of sweat.
Haven grips my arm a little tighter, weaving our way through the crowd and up to the ring. She shoves people out of the way, not caring that most of them are bigger than her. She keeps going, hauling me to the edge of the ring.
And as we stop there, I look up and see the familiar tattoo on Ezra’s back. He shifts to the side, and it’s then that he sees me from the corner of his eye.
I shrink back in my hood, knowing that he’s going to be worried about me staying hidden.
His mouth drops open, and he makes the mistake of turning to say something.
But his moment of distraction costs him more than me being found out by the Rinaldos.
A hard fist lands to the side of his face, snapping his head to the side.
He stumbles into the ropes surrounding the ring.
The man Ezra is fighting is on him in a second, dragging him down to the ground, throwing punch after punch.
Blood splatters and tears burn in the corners of my eyes.
I shouldn’t have come here. If I hadn’t, he wouldn’t be getting hurt right now.
I hold my breath while Haven is screaming and cheering beside me. I can’t make out the words she’s saying. There’s nothing but ringing in my ears.
Ezra wrestles his way on top of the man, fighting back as hard as he can. He throws punches with reckless abandon, and by the time he’s done, it looks like the other man is barely breathing.
Tyson appears at my elbow. I don’t know him well, but he seemed nice enough the couple of days we spent in an apartment together. And he doesn’t hate me after all my family has done to his, which is good.
He lets out a deep breath. “You’re playing with fire coming here. He’s going to finish his fights, and he’s going to be pissed.”
I shuffle a little closer to Tyson. “I know, but I wanted to be here. I didn’t stay to watch him fight last time.”
“Well, you’re going to be watching him fight a lot tonight.
He’s been training for this for the last week and a bit, and it’s just the beginning of the stretch of a long run of fights.
” Tyson shifts from one foot to the other as another person comes out to fight Ezra.
“He’s going to take a beating tonight. Seeing you here has thrown his focus. ”
“Fuck.” I glance at Tyson. “I didn’t mean to do that. I didn’t really think about coming down here. Haven wanted to see what it was like, and I didn’t think it was going to be that bad.”
“Because you’re too na?ve to think about everything that’s going to happen.” Tyson sighs and shakes his head, holding out a hand. “Just stay here. I’m going to get us all some beer because we’re going to need it to get through the rest of the night.”
Tyson takes off through the crowd, the guilt already eating at me as I lean into Haven.
“I think coming here was a bad idea tonight. We should leave.” I raise my voice a little bit to be heard above the rest of the noise.
Haven looks at me, arching an eyebrow as Ezra takes another punch. “I knew this was going to be hard for you to watch, but I think it’s good for you.”
“I don’t think it is.”
Ezra attacks the other man hard, and it’s only once the snapping of a neck fills the room that I know exactly what Ezra is capable of.
He wasn’t kidding when he said he could kill me if he wanted to. His threats against Haven shouldn’t be taken lightly.
He may be obsessed with me, but he’s just as dangerous as any other man out there.
I hurry to the edge of the ring, moving forward as if I’m not in control of my own body. I don’t know what I’m doing, but I get to him quickly.
He hops down from the ring and stands in front of me, fury written on his face.
“I don’t know what you’re doing here, but you need to get out of here now, while you still can.” His voice, low and dangerous, makes me shiver.
“But…are you okay?”
He grabs me by the shoulders and turns me around, giving me a gentle push. “Now, Jade! Get the hell out of here.”
I move through the crowd, trying to find Haven, my heart hammering in my chest.
She’s not standing where I left her.
“Looking for your friend?” a deep voice says, hand gripping my bicep.
I look over my shoulder and straight into Noah’s eyes.
He gives me a smug smirk. “You get a free pass, this time, but don’t think it’s going to last. Before you know it, I’m going to be coming for your family.”
Noah lets me go and melts into the crowd without another word, but the damage is already done.
I messed up with Ezra, and now Noah knows without a doubt that I care for Ezra at least a little.
I don’t know what to do.
Turning, I look for Haven, but the crowd only seems to close in around me.
It’s getting harder and harder to breathe, my chest tightening.
What do I do? Where do I go? Where’s Haven?
We need to get out of here, but I can’t leave until I find her. And I don’t know how to find her in a crowd like this. Especially when the Rinaldos are pushing in from all sides.
I stepped into the den of a hungry bear, and I’m about to find out what happens when you poke the beast.