46. Jace
Blood runs down the side of my bat and drips on the ground as I walk. My hands and forearms are stained red, and blood is splattered across my face as well.
My brothers flank me as we stride out of the building that used to be Gregor Doyle’s headquarters. Kaden is casually twirling a knife in his hand while Rico is still holding a gun. Eli’s hands look like they have been dipped in red. I spin my bat, resting it against my shoulder as we walk.
Behind us, the building is on fire.
“Well, that should do it,” I comment.
Eli and Rico chuckle while Kaden flashes me a wicked smirk.
I slide my free hand into my pocket and pull out my phone. Then I call our father. He answers after only two signals.
“You’re done?” he asks by way of greeting.
“Yeah,” I reply.
A loud crack sounds from behind us. Then part of the building collapses. Embers swirl up and sail through the dark night as the burning wood crashes down.
“I think you can let the fire department through now,” I continue.
“Will do.”
“Oh, and by the way…”
He remains silent, waiting for me to continue.
“I have decided to stay at Blackwater.”
For a few seconds, Dad says nothing. And when he finally speaks, there is a hint of guarded hope in his voice. “You have?”
“Yes.”
As soon as I was officially given the choice, the answer was as easy as breathing. I love this life.
After this mission I just pulled with my brothers, my entire body is thrumming with energy. I fucking love this feeling. The adrenaline. The violence. The power. It makes my whole soul sing. I don’t want a normal job. I want this.
“But then… why?” Dad asks, sounding confused. “Why go through all this trouble of changing my mind if it didn’t matter?”
“It did matter.”
“But it changed nothing.”
“It changed everything! The choice was everything.”
He is silent for a while. We have reached our cars now. My brothers turn to face me, waiting for me to finish the call. In the distance, the sound of sirens echoes across the dark city.
“Yes,” Dad says eventually. “Yes, I’m beginning to see that now. Sorry I didn’t realize sooner.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Hold on. Did you just apologize? You. The guy who never?—”
“Alright, alright. Don’t let it get to your head or I’ll beat you up the next time I see you.” He huffs out an amused breath. “Brat.”
I chuckle.
“I’m proud of you,” he adds, and then quickly hangs up before I can tease him about that too.
Shaking my head, I slip my phone back into my pocket while trying and failing to suppress the smile on my lips. My brothers watch me, their eyes gleaming in the light from the fire.
A drop of blood slides down Rico’s temple as he raises an eyebrow at me. “So, what now?”
“Now, we go back home to our girls,” I reply.
Grins spread across all of their faces.
Eli thumps the roof of his car with a hand. “Sounds like a plan.”
With a nod, we all pull open the doors to our cars.
“Dinner at our house next weekend,” Rico declares before slipping into the driver’s seat. It’s more of an order than a suggestion.
“You’re cooking,” Eli says, locking eyes with me as he climbs into his own car.
Kaden shoots me one of his psycho smiles as he pauses with his car door open. “And wear a French maid costume.”
The others burst out laughing.
“Assholes,” I call as they slam their doors shut.
Shaking my head, I watch as their black Range Rovers speed away. Only the crackling fire and the collapsing building hear me as I add two more words.
“Thank you,” I say to my absolutely unhinged brothers. My brothers, who I now know, without a doubt, will always have my back. Against anything and everything.
After one final glance towards the burning building and the absolute carnage that we left inside, I climb into my own car and drive back to Kayla’s apartment.
She is still awake, sitting at the kitchen table alone and waiting for me, when I walk across the threshold. Jumping up from her chair, she takes two steps towards me before she screeches to a halt. Her eyes go wide as she flicks a glance up and down my body.
“Please tell me it’s not yours,” she says.
I blink in surprise for a second before realization filters through me. Oh. Right. The blood that is splattered across both my clothes and my skin.
“No, it’s not mine,” I assure her.
Relief washes over her features, and she closes the distance between us. Her body slams into mine so hard that she almost manages to knock me back a step. Wrapping her arms around me, she holds me tightly. I slide my arms around her and rest my chin on her head.
And at the feeling of having her in my arms, safe and completely free at last, the final tension and restlessness that had been coiled in my chest at last eases.
I draw in a deep breath, breathing in the scent of her.
“You will never have to worry again,” I promise her. “You’re free now. You never need to have a bodyguard looming over your shoulder and watching your every move ever again.”
Something between a sob and a choked noise of joy and relief escapes her lips. Relaxing her grip on me, she takes a step back and then tilts her head so that she can meet my gaze. The emotions in her eyes knock the breath from my lungs.
“How?” she asks, sounding breathless. As if she can barely believe it.
I draw my fingers over her cheek, pushing a strand of hair back behind her ear. It smears blood over her perfect skin, but she doesn’t seem to mind.
“We made a very bloody example of Doyle and everyone who was involved in your kidnapping,” I explain. “So now, everyone knows that you and your parents are under the protection of the Hunter family. Anyone who touches you dies. Brutally and painfully.”
Her stunning blue eyes light up, and then a truly devilish smile spreads across her lips. “And anyone who so much as whispers about pressing any sort of charges against the Hunter family will be buried underneath a mountain of lawsuits and ridiculously expensive lawyers.”
My eyebrows shoot up.
“What?” she asks, fake innocence in her tone. With that wicked smile still on her lips, she takes a firm grip on my shirt and pulls my face down to hers. “I protect what’s mine too.”
Sliding an arm under her ass, I lift her up. She wraps her legs around my waist and locks her fingers together behind my neck.
“So…” she begins, teasing her lips over mine. “You’re not my bodyguard anymore.”
“No, I’m not.”
Pulling back slightly, she cocks her head and meets my gaze, her eyes suddenly serious. “Does that mean that you’re leaving?”
“Leaving?” I flash her a villainous smile as I hold her gaze. “Oh, you’re not getting rid of me that easily, little demon.”
An answering grin lights up her face.
I claim those perfect, sinful lips of hers with a kiss so possessive that it leaves her gasping.
“I thought you knew by now,” I whisper against her mouth. “There is nowhere you can go that I won’t follow. You are mine. And I will always find you.”
She kisses me back with such burning passion that my heart flips and my lungs cease.
This fierce, stubborn, powerful, scheming, and absolutely breathtaking little demon is mine. She barreled into my life like a crackling piece of dynamite and changed everything. She fills my soul and she holds my heart in the palm of her hand. She drives me crazy. She makes me sane. She is fire and energy. She makes me whole.
And I will never let anyone take her from me. Ever again.