Page 31 of Renegade
“If I was one of the smartest guys you know, you wouldn’t have had to help me pass high school,” I say placidly, not rising to the bait. There’s no way she’s going to manipulate me into taking her to the Dominion. “I’m perfectly happy being obtuse if it meansyoudon’t come.”
I regret the words as soon as they’re out of my mouth. Her face falls, although she quickly tries to hide it.
“I see,” she says quietly.
“Shit, Gemma. I didn’t mean it like that. It’s not because I don’t want you with me. Everything is better with you,” I say honestly. But I can’t tell her the real reason I don’t want her to come. I’ve never been to a club like this, but I’m guessing her going involves at least some degree of undress, and if we go together, we’ll be expected to engage in some sort of physical activity together. Frankly, I don’t think I can take too much more. “It’s very exclusive, and every person who goes has to be vetted first,” I explain. “I don’t know if there’s time to get you vetted too. And more importantly, I want you to be safe. A lot could go wrong at a private club like that where everyone knows everyone and the law is kept out.”
“The only reason you almost failed out of school is because you moved around so much that no one realized you’d never learned how to read,” she says. “The fact that you made it to your junior year of high school without reading proves just how smart you really are, so don’t pull that crap on me. What I meant was, if you think about it, taking me would probably help you get in. Have you ever been to a hot, A-list dance club? Who do the bouncers let in? The girls. Who gets turned away? The guys who arrive alone. Why? Because they don’t want more guys than girls. But if you arrive with your own girl, you’re not a threat and they’re more likely to let you in.
“Also, I figured if we went together, we’d be more likely to find clues to clear Liam’s name, since both of us would be looking. And I’d get the added bonus of getting some real experience before Declan comes back. But if you don’t want me to go, I’m not going to beg you.”
She says it with a little huff of indignation, but I can still see the lingering hurt in her eyes that she’s trying to hide, and it levels me.
“You know what? I didn’t think about it that way, but you’re absolutely right,” I say. “Our odds of getting in as a couple are definitely better.” She’d gotten up and walked over to the window while we were talking, and I follow her, wrapping her in a big bear hug. “Not only should you come, but Iamgoing to beg you to come. Because you, Gemma Ward, are absolutely brilliant!”
She looks up at me tentatively. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
She is brilliant. And beautiful and spunky and the most amazing woman I know. But that’s not why I agreed to let her come. I’ve seen that look of hurt and rejection in her eyes way too many times before, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to be the one who put it there. I’ve spent the last nine years trying to protect Gemma. She deserves way better than that, even if it means I have blue balls for a month. I would go to the ends of the earth to make sure Gemma doesn’t get hurt—by Declan or by me.
“You about ready to go?”
“Yep,” she says, moving out of my arms to grab her backpack. She points to her T-shirt. “I was born for this shit. See?”
