Chapter 39 Jade
JADE
Three days.
That's how long we've been back in Malibu. Three days of fragile normalcy and pretending everything is fine. Three nights of Phoenix holding me while I shake through nightmares I can't escape.
I haven't talked about what happened. Neither has he. We move around each other carefully, gently, like we're both made of glass. He makes me coffee in the morning. I curl up beside him at night. We don't talk about Marcus or the blood or what happened to his body.
Some things are better left in the dark.
I'm curled up on the sofa, a book open in my lap that I haven't turned a page of in twenty minutes, when Phoenix walks into the living room. He's freshly showered, his dark hair still damp, wearing slacks and a button-down shirt that probably costs more than my monthly rent back in Boston.
"Get dressed," he says. "Something nice."
I look up from my unread book. "Why?"
"My parents are having a dinner party tonight. They want us to come."
My stomach drops. "Us?"
“Well, me, but we should go together." He sits on the arm of the sofa, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “I want you to meet them."
"Phoenix..." I set the book aside, my heart rate climbing. "I don't think that's a good idea."
"Why not?"
Because I'm a mess. I haven't slept properly in days. Every time I close my eyes I see Marcus's face. I watched your hands beat a man to death and I still let those same hands touch me.
"I'm not exactly in a meet-the-parents headspace," I say instead.
"I know." His voice softens. "But it might be good for you to get out. To do something normal. And my parents..." He hesitates. "They're important to me. I want them to know you."
I study his face. There’s an earnestness in his dark eyes, the tension in his jaw. This matters to him. Despite everything that's happened, despite the horror we're both carrying, he wants to bring me into his real life.
"They don't know who I am," I say quietly. "Do they?"
"They know we’re seeing each other. They know your name."
"But they don't know I'm Sydney Catalano's daughter."
Phoenix is quiet for a moment. "No. They don't."
I think about what that means. Olive Crawford and my mother were best friends once, before whatever happened that turned my mother bitter and fearful and convinced her that all rich men are monsters.
Phoenix's parents don't know they're about to meet their old friend's daughter. The daughter of the woman who hates them.
"Maybe we should tell them," I say. "Before we show up."
"Maybe." Phoenix takes my hand, threading his fingers through mine. "Or maybe we let them meet you first. Let them see who you are before they see whose daughter you are."
There's logic in that. And also risk. If they find out I've been hiding it—if they think I'm playing some kind of game—
But Phoenix is looking at me with such hope, such need, that I can't say no.
"Okay," I breathe. "I'll go."
His smile is worth the knot in my stomach.
I spend an hour getting ready. I study myself in the bathroom mirror while I apply makeup with trembling hands.
The woman staring back at me looks sophisticated, polished, like she belongs in a Malibu mansion.
But her eyes tell a different story. There are shadows underneath.
A haunted look that no amount of concealer can hide.
I wonder if his parents will see it. I wonder if they'll know, somehow, what their son has done. What I've let him do.
Phoenix appears in the doorway, devastatingly handsome in a charcoal suit. He watches me apply lipstick, his eyes dark with something I can't name.
"You look beautiful," he says.
"I look terrified."
"That too." He comes up behind me, his hands settling on my waist. "If it's too much—"
"No." I meet his eyes in the mirror. "I want to meet them. I want to know where you come from."
"Even if where I come from is complicated?"
"Phoenix." I turn to face him, my hands flattening against his chest. "I watched you kill a man three days ago. I think we're past complicated."
Something shifts in his expression. Pain. Guilt. Love. All of it tangled together.
"I'd do it again," he says quietly. "You know that, right? If anyone ever tried to hurt you—"
"I know." I rise on my toes and kiss him softly. "I know."
We stand there for a moment, foreheads pressed together, breathing each other in. Two people bound by blood and secrets and something that feels too big to name.
"We should go," he finally says. "We're already late."
I take one last look in the mirror. I smooth down the silk of my dress. Square my shoulders.
I can do this. I can smile and make small talk and pretend I'm not falling apart inside.
We're halfway to the door when the bell rings.
Phoenix freezes. His hand tightens on mine.
"Expecting someone?" I ask.
"No."
He moves toward the door slowly, his body tense. I hang back, watching, my heart suddenly pounding for reasons I can't explain.
He opens the door.
There are two men dressed in suits standing at the doorstep. They have an unmistakable air of authority that makes my blood run cold. The older one has gray at his temples and sharp eyes that sweep past Phoenix to land on me. The younger one is already pulling out a notebook.
"Mr. Crawford?" The older one flashes a badge. "I'm Detective Reeves. This is Detective Nowak. LAPD."
Phoenix's voice is perfectly calm. "Can I help you, detectives?"
"We hope so." Morrison's gaze flicks between us—Phoenix in his expensive suit, me in my cocktail dress. "We have some questions about Marcus Webb."
The name hits me like a physical blow. I feel the color drain from my face.
Phoenix doesn't flinch. "What about him?"
"He's been reported missing. His family is concerned." Morrison pauses, his eyes settling on me with uncomfortable intensity. "Mind if we come in?"
I stand frozen in the hallway, my hand clutching my purse while my heart slams against my ribs.
They're here about Marcus.
Phoenix glances back at me. Just for a second. Just long enough for our eyes to meet.
And in that moment, I know.
Whatever happens next, there's no going back.
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I fell for a man with blood on his hands.
Now I have blood on mine.
Phoenix Crawford is obsessive. Possessive. Dangerous in ways I'm only beginning to understand.
He told me his secrets would ruin us. I didn't listen.
Now his enemies are circling. The police are asking questions. His family thinks I'm a liability. And my mother has given me an ultimatum—walk away from him, or lose her forever.
I should run.
But Phoenix isn't the only one with darkness inside him anymore.
He made me into something new. Something dangerous. Something his.
And when they come for him, they'll learn exactly what I'm willing to do to keep him.
Some women are rescued.
I became the reason he needs rescuing.
1-click Tell Me to Forget (Crawford Legacy Book 2) now!
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I owe him a debt. The kind money can’t repay.
He wants something else: me, for one year.But I don’t even know who he is…
365 days and nights doing everything he wants…except that.
“I’m not going to sleep with you,” I say categorically. He laughs.
“I’m going to make you a promise,” his eyes challenge mine.
“Before our time is up, you’ll beg me for it.”