The skin over my knuckles is bone white and ice filters through my veins. His silence stretches for longer and longer. A cramp seizes my wrist, but I don’t let go.
Sweat beads pop up on the back of my neck. His continued lack of an answer has my heart beating faster. The tension between us is palpable. His pupils are blown wide until there’s nothing but a thin ring of gray encircling the black.
The sound of a door opening is what has me releasing him. I practically leap off Lex’s lap as I turn towards the open door of the bedroom.
“Jules! Lex!” Gio’s voice echoes back to us.
I don’t look at Lex as I move towards the hallway. I’m stopped by a hand on my wrist just like before. “Whatever happens,” Lex whispers. “Remember what I told you—anything, baby.Fucking anything.”
There’s a reason I asked what he would do for me and even if that wasn’t the answer I wanted, it’s an answer I will accept. Because, before this is all over, I know I’m going to take him up on it. Lex’s ‘anything’ isn’t a promise; it’s an oath.
Six months ago, I wouldn’t have even considered keeping him after finding out the truth. The old Juliet would have walked away and never looked back, but that Juliet was surviving in a different world. She didn’t have the strength to keep him. I will never be that girl again.
When the time comes to kill whoever is responsible for all that’s happened to me, one of us will pull the trigger and I won’t be sorry.
4
LEX
Juliet looks so fucking good dressed in my clothes. She would look even better out of them again.
Not now, I tell myself. I’m already walking a precarious edge. She wasn’t happy when she found my office, but she’s not running anymore, and that means something.
The two of us walk out into the hall and then farther into the living room. Gio has showered and changed since I last saw him. His bloodstained uniform is gone and replaced by jeans and a t-shirt. Nolan looks freshly showered, too, though his clothes are a replica of what he wore when he showed up at Trail’s End.
I glare at my oldest friend as Gio dives past me for Juliet. Dimly, I listen to him ask her if she’s okay and her expected response. Nolan stares back at me, unflinching.
He wants me to accept what he’s done, but I don’t know if I can. More family in my life doesn’t mean good things. Thanks to his mother, he’s not quite as broken as I am. She tried to get him out and we all suspect Eliza knows what happened to Xavier Pierce. Still, she’s never said a damn word.
My mother, by comparison, was a weak woman—broken, desperate, and sad. She never even tried to protect me from my father the way Eliza had. Maybe if she’d been different… But no,thinking about the past changes nothing. The future is here. The present is what I need to concern myself with. That, and the very real possibility that Nolan is about to fuck up all of the plans we’ve had in place foryears.
“When is he getting here?” I ask.
Nolan’s answer is immediate, as if he doesn’t want to prevaricate or extend this conversation. “He’ll be here in a few hours.”
I swallow. “And what did you tell him?”
I glance back meaningfully at Juliet as she huffs and shoves Gio off her as he tries to cuddle her and look her over for injuries before returning my gaze to the man in front of me. It’d been no real surprise to me that Gio had lost his cool at Trail’s End. The bloodthirsty behavior from him isn’t common, but it’s always been there. This is the first time since that he’s felt safe enough to give her his undivided attention. I don’t begrudge him the need to check her over.
“All he knows is we need his help,” Nolan replies. “I thought we could discuss what to tell him before he arrives.”
Resentment bubbles up in my chest. Another long moment passes and the anger finally pops, though it fades only slightly. Trust is something built over time. It takes effort and work and pain and sacrifice. Something that takes so long to create shouldn’t be so easy to break.
“I know you’re not happy with me right now,” Nolan says. “But I hope you’ll understand that I’m doing this for all of us, not just you.”
I know he believes that, truly. To the bottom of his soul, if any of us still have one left after all that we’ve done, Nolan is the one I would always trust to put the group’s needs before his own. He was born to be a leader, to shield and protect. Just as I was born to burn the world for one woman, if that’s what she chooses.
“What’s happening? Who’s coming?” The questions come from Juliet as she finally extracts herself from Gio’s clinging hands and steps up between Nolan and me.
Nolan casts her a look, his own eyes roving over her form. She notices and scowls his way. “I’m fine,” she snaps. “Answer the question.”
He smirks, the slightest twitching of his lips and the light curling of one side of his mouth brightening his otherwise severe features. Almost as soon as it’s there, though, the light smile is gone again, and he flicks his gaze back to me.
“The man who approached you in The Dionysus Lounge the night you hosted claims to be Lex’s uncle,” he says. “Apparently, he’s a big shot up in Eastpoint, and I spoke with him while we were there. He offered his assistance if we ever needed it. I called him when you were kidnapped.”
Juliet’s brow puckers as she listens to his explanation. “You called him?” she repeats. “Why?”
Nolan sighs and rakes a hand through his hair. “Because I think it’s time we actually start taking action in getting rid of the one responsible for all the things that have been happening—Gio’s attack, your kidnapping, the fire, your father…” He drifts into a pause as his hand falls back to his side. “Gio and I worked the final kidnapper over before we got rid of any evidence, and he gave us a name.”
