I’m not weak.
But ever since I met Kane, I’ve been nothing but a weakling that needs saving and a shoulder to cry on.
“No. Don’t cry.” With tortured eyes and gentle hands, he winds his fingers into the back of my hair and pulls me forward. I sit on my knees and bury my face in his chest. My vagina throbs, but not in a pleasurable way, and my heart bleeds in the most tragic way. “I’m sorry.” He presses a gentle kiss to the top of my head. “I shouldn’t have brought that up. I shouldn’t have thrown it in your face. I’m sorry, Jess.” He lifts me into his lap and shuffles along the bed. Pulling the covers down, he helps me slide in and pulls me on top of his muscular body the way I was two mornings ago.
“I care, because I care,” he whispers. “I care because you’re beautiful and smart and so fucking set on putting me away, it’s almost endearing. I care… because you’re the first person in my life to take a wet wipe and clean my split lip. That means something to me, Blondie. So even when you’re married to your real estate agent, you’ll still see me around. I’ll always protect you, because once I swear my loyalty, you’ve got it for life.”
“Kane…” Resting my head over the script tattoo on his chest, I sigh when our naked legs slide together. “I don’t wanna marry a real estate agent.”
His broad chest lifts when he snorts. “Marry whoever you want, Blondie. But stay safe. For the love of all that’s holy, stop going back to that fucking club.”
“Will you stop going, too?”
“No. It’s my job. I have to.”
“I could help you find a job somewhere else. I know loads of people. Do you know motors? One of my closest friends owns a garage. He’d get you a job, and he speaks fluent thug, too. My life isn’t full of corporate slugs. I knowrealpeople. People who sometimes don’t eat, because they ran out of money. I have friends who own a gym. You work out.” I squeeze the ball of his shoulder. “You could get a job there – they enjoy adopting misfits and talking smack. I know people who own a club – adifferentkind of club – so you could tend bar. Every cent the club makes goes to helping women in domestic abuse situations. You wanna help women? You could do it that way.”
“I don’t wanna helpallwomen.” He lets out a deep sigh and rests his hand over the curve of my hip. “Just you.”
“I know cops. You ever consider the police academy? That’d be a fun one-eighty. I won’t tell anyone about Lance. I won’t mention the man tonight. He deserved it. I won’t tell, and everything we already have about you is only speculation. Wewantto catch you dealing firearms or drugs, but we have no actual proof. I could bury everything and help you get a real job.”
“You think I’d make a decent cop, Blondie?” Chuckling, the deep bass beneath my ear lulls me. “You think I can stay on the right side of the law?”
“You’d stay on the right side of the law for me. You promised a lifetime of loyalty. You can’t protect me if you’re in prison. Choices, Kane. It’s all about choices. You can choose to go back to Infernos, or you could choose me. You can’t have both.”
“No.” He strokes my hip and sighs. “I don’t have a choice on this one. Not yet.”
“I’ll follow you back into the fire,” I whisper. “Every time you go back, I’ll follow.”
“You’re gonna get me killed.” He presses a rough kiss to my brow. “That pisses me the fuck off. Why are you activelytryingto get me killed?”
“No. Abel will get you killed. I’m trying to save you.”
He lets out something between a sigh and a groan, reaches out, and flips off the lamp beside his bed. “Go to sleep. Dream of me. Instead of files under your pillow, you get me. See if that helps you figure me out.”
“I’ve already figured you out,” I reply with a soft yawn. “I know enough.”
“You know nothing, Jon Snow. But one day you might.”