I’m a sick, twisted man. I’m sitting here, driving down this highway with my dick aching in my pants, all because I’m scared to admit to anyone I may not come out of this mission alive. I’m nowhere near ready. She knows it. I know it. And my guys know it. But it’s something I have to do. I have to make sure I’m the one who pulls the trigger and looks my own brother in the eyes before I rid the world of his disgusting existence.
“You're a liar.” We both look over to each other at the same time. I glance quickly back at the road, then make my turn onto the exit ramp, checking behind me as I come to a complete stop and shove my Jeep into park.
“I fucking told you all I can.” Jade glances past me into the dark with her heated stare. A stare that speaks volumes before she even says a word. She knows I’m hiding shit from her; of course she does. How could a brilliant mind like the one she has not? Still doesn’t mean she’s getting a damn thing out of me.
“I’m not a damn child. Every one of you fuckers are keeping something from me. I knew the minute I saw all of you walking toward me today, with long faces and the same look of deception on every one of you. Is it Ty? Do you know where he is? Has he threatened someone? Hurt someone? Called you? What the hell is it you’re trying to protect me from? Because, goddamn it, Kaleb, I’m beginning to think I need protection from you.”
What the fuck? Those words bite into my skin, stinging and burning worse than the multiple times my brother actually sliced me open.
She needs protection from me? Protecting her is what I’m trying to do here. Everything I’m doing is to protect her and my family from the malicious monster that is possessed with the evil of Satan, for fuck’s sake.
I look away from her. My hands cover the leather steering wheel in a grip that has my hands stinging. I refuse to look at her when she places her hand on my arm. My chest tightens as I replay her words in my head. Goddamn her.
The pain shoots up my arm from the death hold I have on the steering wheel, causing the grooves in the leather to dig into my palms. I jerk the vehicle out of park and into drive, and step on the gas a little harder than intended, both of us feeling gravity pulling us back into our seat.
I’m pissed. “Fuck,” I spit out, then smash my hand onto the dash. “Goddamn it.” She flinches as I yell.
“Stop the fucking Jeep Kaleb. NOW.” She yells hysterically in my direction, her anger matching mine. I pull onto the next side road and stop abruptly before she opens the door and slams it. I meet her in front of the Jeep before she has the chance to walk away. She’s already headed into the darkness before I can get to her.
“So now you’re just going to walk the fuck away into the damn dangers of the night.” My voice is loud causing her to spin on her heels to meet me face to face.
“I’m walking away from the danger of riding in that fucking Jeep with you.” She spews her angry words in my face before she turns to walk away again. I grab her by the wrist and spin her around not wanting to deal with her attitude while I’m trying to figure out how to handle this fucked up mess.
We both take deep breaths into each other’s faces as we stand there with a matching temper. I can feel my heart pounding while my insides start to twist me into an unbearable guttural pain. She’s not fucking walking away from me.
“You’re not fucking walking away.”
“You’re not treating me this way.” She gets closer to my face and doesn’t let up while I take her in. Her eyes are serious and her body screams a fury that I wish I could inhale and take away from her.
“Get the fuck back in my Jeep.” My words are deep and demanding. She’ll be the death of me with this fucking feistiness.
“Stop acting like a damn idiot and I will.”
“I won’t ever apologize for trying to protect you, but the last thing you’ll ever need is protection from me. I’d never fucking hurt you and you goddamn know it.” She lowers down from the height of her tip toes to her normal stance. I watch her as she takes in what I just said.
“You’re fucking scaring me. You’re keeping shit from me and you think you can just act like an insane lunatic when I say something that doesn’t hit you just right. Have you ever thought you might need to listen to what I’m saying?” I don’t listen to another word from her, because she can’t speak through the connection of my mouth on hers. I pull her against me with a desire to both shut her up and apologize for acting like I have. She pushes against me, so I stop instantly.
We both stare into each other’s eyes for a few seconds, our breathing continues to be heavily weighted and I know my mind is all over the place wondering where hers is.