Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
EZRA
I stand on the other side of her front door for maybe two minutes before turning around and shoving it open, the knob bashing against the wall as I stride back into the apartment.
Her jaw drops as she looks up at me with tears in her eyes.
I hate seeing her like this, but if she thinks this is going to be the end between us, she’s wrong. It’s not. She doesn’t just get to kick me out like I mean nothing to her.
We have to mean something to each other. I have to have her.
If I don’t, all of this was for nothing.
I stop in front of her, hands curled into fists at my side. “Fuck this. You don’t just get to kick me out because you want to act like a brat.”
She grabs a towel from the counter and hurls it at me. “Get out!”
“Nope. Not happening.” I stalk toward her, grinning when she starts backing away, trying to get herself to an escape route.
“Get the fuck out.” Jade glares at me like she thinks it’s enough to do something about the fact that I’m back in her apartment.
She rips open a drawer and pulls out a butcher knife.
It’s cute that she thinks she’s going to be able to do something with that. She might be going to culinary school, but I have more experience with knives.
“I’m not leaving. You want to do this whole thing with each other, but when shit gets hard, you’re turning around and walking out.”
Her hands go up in the air, the knife waving before she points it back at me. “You’re the bastard who doesn’t give a shit about us. I’m begging you not to go through with this fight. Not to get yourself killed. And you don’t seem to care. You’re rushing into it.”
“I care about ending this and being with you. If that’s going to happen, Noah needs to die, and your family is never going to be able to get close enough. He doesn’t trust new people. Fucking hell, Jade, he barely trusts me!”
“He’s been showing you that he can kill you at any moment for the last several weeks!
He’s toying with you, and you know as well as I do that he’s setting this fight up to be your last. He gets the territory he needs, and you die in the process because he’s plotting against you, and then what do you have left? ”
I ease toward her, wondering if I can make it to the knife before she has a chance to stab me with it.
I’ll drag her kicking and screaming out of here if I have to, but I really don’t want to.
This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be between us.
She’s supposed to know that I’m doing what’s best for us.
That I’ve only ever done what’s best for us.
That I’m going to keep doing what’s best for us, even if she doesn’t see it.
“We’re going out.” I take a few more steps toward her, moving to the left so she has to turn, her back getting closer to the wall as she takes a couple of steps back.
I keep advancing. “We’re going to go out, and you’re going to see that I’m right and you need to listen to me.”
“All I’ve done is listen to you.”
The knife shifts, the tip angling downward just a little.
I lunge, grabbing her wrist and wrenching it up above her head, slamming it back into the wall. I put pressure on her, and the knife drops to the ground.
With a quick swipe of my foot, it goes flying under the couch.
She glares at me, her lips pressing into a thin line, and her entire body tensing.
“Maybe you didn’t hear me the first time.” I loom over her, face inches from hers.
She could headbutt me and break my nose again if she wanted to, but I don’t think she will. Not with the shuddering breath she lets out like she’s finally giving up.
“Go get ready.” I let go of her, and she rams an elbow into my side, pushing me out of the way before continuing down the hall.
The impact of her bedroom door shutting rattles the frames on the wall.
When she comes back out a couple of minutes later, she’s dressed and ready to go, smoothing her hands down the short black sundress. As she leans down, the hem shifts just enough to show off the small knife strapped to her thigh.
I could drag her to the bedroom instead of going out. But it was hard enough to arrange this shit.
We’re going.
Jade sits up as soon as we turn onto Aiden’s road, looking at me from the other side of the backseat. “What are we doing here?”
“You want me to see what being part of your family would be like.” I already don’t want to be here. There’s something about walking into a place where you know someone is likely going to kill you that makes you a little unsettled.
Just a little.
I’m not a pussy.
Pussy-whipped, maybe.
Before Jade, I wouldn’t even be considering stepping into enemy territory for the sake of proving to someone that I care about them. I wouldn’t dare think about spending time with their family.
Jade gets out of the car as the gate to the backyard opens, and Summer comes flying out with a bright smile and her arms spread wide.
They hug, whispering something to each other before looking back at me as I get out.
The hair on the back of my neck prickles.
I don’t have a good feeling about this at all. But I need to make my point. To show her the truth. To make sure she stays.
Strengthening my resolve, I follow her into the backyard where the rest of the Lyndes and their partners are. Off at the very edges of the yard, hidden near the bushes lining the property, are men with guns.
“Are those for me?” I nod to the men as Royce comes over, stuffing a hot dog in his mouth.
He shrugs. “Can’t say I blame Aiden for wanting more protection. Summer said you’re an ass who keeps trying to force Jade to follow along with what you want.”
“Great, so everyone here is happy to see me and glad I arranged this. Perfect.”
Royce smirks and finishes off the hotdog with a shrug. “You’re the one who arranged your own funeral. Shouldn’t have shown up if you didn’t want to be uncomfortable.”
He has a point.
Jade looks happy, though. She’s making the rounds, talking to her siblings, playing with the kids, laughing with her head tilted back and the sun shining down on her.
Before I have a chance to think about getting myself a beer, Aiden appears in front of me, jerking his chin to the side.
I sigh and follow him, heading off to the side but staying where the others can see us. I don’t trust him well enough to be alone with him. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to that point with him.
Aiden leans against the side of the house, his gaze drifting past me before coming back. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“What’re you talking about?”
More people start flooding into the backyard. A bunch of cousins, I think.
Jade’s off and squealing with some of the others.
Aiden arches his eyebrow at me. “So, what’re you doing?”
“About what?” I tuck my hands in my pockets, trying to keep track of all the Lyndes in the backyard, but it’s impossible.
“About this fight. It’s a bad idea. I don’t even like you, and I’m telling you that. From what I can tell, Jade does like you, and even if I don’t like it, I don’t think I get much of a say in the matter which means this—,” He gestures to me. “—is now my problem.”
“If it was you, would you do the fight?”
Aiden swirls the beer around in the bottle. “Before Zoe? Yes. After? No. You only get one life, and you might’ve been raised a certain way, just like I was, but that doesn’t mean you have to keep being a product of your environment.”
Without another word, he turns and walks away, joining the mass amount of family piling around each other, some of them jumping into the heated pool, others getting some food.
I stand there for a couple of more minutes by myself, watching everything happening around me.
Is this the kind of life I want to be involved in? Are these the kind of people I could one day consider family?
Jade makes her way over to me, handing over a slushie. “It’s spiked with tequila, and probably a lot of it. Skyla poured.”
“Thanks. Are you having fun?” I take a sip, wincing as tequila assaults me.
“Of course.” She smiles, her head tipping to the side slightly as she assesses me. “Why did you put this together? Ellie told me you were the one who arranged it and suggested inviting all the family.”
“You want me to consider a life where I could be part of your family. This is me doing that.” I sip the slushie again without thinking about the instant regret that follows.
As I hand it back to her, she gives me a little smirk and takes a big sip.
I keep my eyes on her. “Look, I don’t know where any of this is going, but the thought of losing you isn’t a welcome idea.”
Her cheeks tint a pale shade of pink. It might be from the alcohol, but with the electricity crackling in the air between us, I don’t think so.
Jade nods to the people gathering around. “You going to get out there and start getting to know my family, or are you going to sit over here and sulk?”
“I’m not saying that I’m backing out of the fight by doing this.” I follow her toward the crowd of people, trying not to let the suspicious stares piss me off.
“I know.” She looks a little disappointed, but doesn’t say anything else, turning to some of the other people and handing out sips of that god-awful slushie.
“Come play with us,” a kid says, tugging on my hand when I look down at him. He gives me a grin, showing off his missing front teeth. “Come onnnnn.”
I’m out of my element, but I follow him. “What’s the game?”
He leads me to a shaded spot beneath a tree. “Tag! You’re it.”
Since when do I look like the kind of guy who wants to play tag with sticky children?
A dozen or so children start running all at once, headed in opposite directions.
Jade stands off to the side, and when her gaze meets mine, I know there’s no backing out of tag, even though I want to. Instead, I take off running after the children, picking the slowest looking one and tapping her on the shoulder.
What I didn’t take into consideration is the way she tags me back and dashes away again.
I chase the kids down, tagging one after the other, but it seems that they’re all working against me. Based on the giggles coming from Jade as she and some of the others watch, I’m pretty sure she put them up to this.
By the time the game is done and food is ready, I’m starving.
I head over to grab a burger, picking a spot at one of the seats scattered around the pool before sitting back and relaxing.
Parties with the Rinaldos aren’t like this. There’s far more drinking and plotting.
Not here, though. They actually seem to be enjoying each other. They’re not trying to fight for dominance or scheme their way into Noah’s good side.
These people all seem to enjoy Aiden. None of them want to challenge him.
And then there’s the way they all huddle close together, whispering and sharing secrets. Or the way they break out into huge bursts of laughter, calling over whoever is around them to join in on the fun.
They operate as a family.
The more I watch it, the more I’m sure I’ve never had a true family. Not one like this, at least.
Is this even something I want?
They’re all in each other’s business, and they want to spend time together. They fight like hell, but there’s loyalty here.
Jade’s happy here. She’s not worried about if someone is going to kill her.
The Lyndes have taken in enemies before, and they’re still standing.
Zoe comes over and sits down beside me, facing me and leaning in to steal a chip from my plate. “So, you’re thinking of turning your back on Noah.”
“You sound like a bad self-help pamphlet.”
“Probably am. I don’t think much I’m going to say to you will help things, but I think you should at least consider all the options before making a decision that’s going to change your life forever.” She pops the chip into her mouth.
“Why did you choose to go?”
She sighs, crossing one leg over the other.
“Noah has never been the kind of person you think he is. He’s always two steps ahead, and he has no issue with killing the people closest to him.
He’s brutal, and it works for him, but I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life waiting for him to stab me in the back when he was done with me. ”
I take a bite of my burger, hot oil from the cheese dripping down my chin. I swipe it away and put the food to the side. “I don’t know if I can give up everything for that.”
“You gain more than you lose.” She motions to the family laughing and playing games. “It’s odd to see a family so dysfunctional actually function and love each other, but they do, and I think there’s something nice in that.”
“I don’t think I belong here.”
“Then why bother setting this up?” Jade’s voice breaks behind me.
I turn and face her, pulse pounding in my ears. “I know that isn’t what you want to hear, but this isn’t the kind of person I am.”
The gates come down around her, blocking off what little warmth she’s given me today. “Then I guess once you’re finished your food, you should leave.”
She spins and walks away, saying something to Aiden in passing.
Zoe shakes her head and gets up, looking at me like she’s never been more disappointed in her life.
Aiden approaches, his hands in his pockets as he looms close. “It’s time for you to go.”
“Does anything in this family stay a secret for more than two minutes?”
“No.” Aiden grabs my bicep and hauls me to my feet as several of the other men start gathering close. “Now go.”
I yank my arm out of his grasp. “You don’t need to tell me twice.”
He follows me to the gate, men with guns already waiting for me.
Aiden’s hand lands on my arm once more, pulling me to a halt.
“Get your fucking hands off me.” I know I can’t do anything to him without getting a bullet in my head.
Aiden grins, but it’s cold. Detached. There’s nothing but a killer shining through. “You might think this is the right choice, but you’re wrong. As soon as she is over you, I’ve got no problem hunting you down and killing you. If Noah doesn’t finish the job first.”
He lets go of me and the moment I’m free, I don’t waste any time hurrying down to the car waiting for me.
My driver casts me a long glance.
Great!
This is going to be reported back to Noah. There’s no doubt about that.
And if he doesn’t kill me in the meantime, Aiden eventually will.
Scrubbing a hand over my face, I recline in the backseat.
I should’ve known it was always going to end this way.
You can’t play both sides and win.