Page 168 of Malice and Surrender
Jace grew really still and quiet, and I dared to look up. He seemed frozen. My stomach dropped as his eyes went wide. Was this the moment he was going to shove me away? Panic gripped my heart, and a moment later, it tried to jump out of my chest as Jace leaped to his feet.
“I’m going to fucking kill him,” Jace growled. He turned and stomped down the bleachers.
I believed him. I could picture Jace running to my Uncle’s house to do it, and then he’d be in jail.
My brain registered what was about to happen, and I jumped up, chasing Jace down before he could leave the gym. His lip pulled up in a snarl when I got in his way. He looked terrifying with his fists balled and muscles flexing. We might have only been thirteen, but we were both almost six feet, which was part of the reason we were so good at basketball. Jace had been working out hard since he turned twelve, and he looked it.
“Stop, Jace. Please, you can’t make this worse.”
“Worse? Alex, he not only hurt you, but he is family. I watched that prick sit in the stands and cheer our team on last night and act like he’s not a fucking piece of shit. I wondered why your shots were so terrible. I just thought you were having an off night.” Jace tried to walk around me, and I fisted his T-shirt.
“Please, Jace. I’m begging you. I can’t deal with whatever happens if my parents find out. At least not yet. I’m not ready. Besides, I can’t lose you.”
“Oh, for fucks sake.” I let go of his shirt as he began to pace. “Aren’t you supposed to go there next week, with your parents going on that second honeymoon cruise or some shit?” I nodded, already terrified to go. I’d been dreading it since the moment we got back.
“So, you have to stay with your uncle for a week and don’t want me to do anything?” I nodded. “Not happening. You can stay with me.”
“I already thought of that. I asked my mom, and she said it was too much to ask of your mom with the two young kids. She’s made the arrangements. If I push, they’ll start to ask questions.”
“Fuck that,” he yelled, his voice echoing in the empty gym. I jumped.
“Jace….”
“No, Alex. He doesn’t get away with this. Give me a couple of days to come up with an idea that doesn’t let your family know what happened and ensures he won’t touch you again. Okay?”
I sucked in a deep breath, knowing I could scream from the top of my lungs that I didn’t want him to get involved, but it wouldn’t matter. Nothing stood in Jace’s way when it came to what he wanted.
Jace
I was startled awake as my phone buzzed again. Unwrapping myself from around Raine, I rolled over and grabbed it off the nightstand. Avro was calling at three in the morning. He never called this late unless he knew I was awake. Hitting talk, I slipped out of bed and padded out to the sitting area of the large suite.
“Good to see you’re still alive,” I said, yawning. “But it would’ve been nice if you called in, say, three hours,” I teased, but there was only silence on the other end of the line. “Avro?” I heard him breathing, but he still didn’t say anything. Fear shot through me and settled like a weight in the pit of my stomach. “What the fuck is wrong?”
“He knows,” Avro said, his words slurred like he’d been drinking. Avro rarely ever got drunk, and the fact that he’d clearly had more than normal worried me.
“Who knows what?” I walked over to the large window and stared out at the city and the lights of cars moving steadily along the interstate.
“Kai. He knows about us.”
My brain whirred, but Avro wasn’t making sense. Of course, Kai knew about us. He fucking came over to our house with a gun. Just how much had Avro drunk?
“Dude, you okay? Of course, he knows we’re together. Did you hit your head tonight?”
“For fucks sake!” Avro swore, and I had to move the phone away from my ear.
“Geez us, Avro. What the fuck is up with you? Just spit it out,” I grumbled, annoyed now.
“He knows about us at thirteen. He knows about things we swore we’d never talk about again,” he said, and I stopped breathing.
“What?” I growled into the phone as my mind caught up. “How? And what the fuck does he plan on doing with the information?”
“How? I don’t know. I mean, he has connections with some seedy people, so who the fuck knows, but as of right now, he doesn’t plan on doing anything with it.” My hand tightened on the phone while I ran the other through my hair.
“I don’t believe that,” I said, the initial shock turning into anger. Hadn’t this guy done enough already? He had to go and dig up dirt on us?
“Well, he did have one request,” Avro said, and a low growl left my mouth.
“I’m not giving Peaches up ?cause he’s threatening us. I won’t be scared off Avro. That’s an asshole move, and if he wants to play that way, so can I. I’m pretty sure I can find a long list of dead in his wake.”
