Heat crawls under my skin. “You should have stayed here. And I’m not done with you, Beau, for letting this happen.”
Travis glances up from the table, trying very hard to look invisible. Beau exhales and shakes his head once.
“Your girl walked into that mansion and erased Grant’s bloodline for you and Samantha,” Beau scoffs. “Maybe you should calm the fuck down.”
The room goes quiet except for Travis pretending to type. Beau steps back and gives us space but keeps listening. I grab Brooke’s hand, turn away from both of them, and lead her upstairs without asking.
The office door shuts behind us with a solid click.
“You don’t make any more moves without me,” My voice comes out flat and hard.
Her glare sharpens instantly. “I’m sorry, Seth, but you don’t get to tell me what the fuck to do when you’re the one running around like you have a death wish.”
“You’re acting like you’re fucking invincible. You’re lucky you’re alive. He could’ve had squad cars ready to empty a clip in you. You’re the one acting impulsively.”
Her eyes narrow, heat flashing. “I’m acting like someone who’s done watching Grant stack bodies while we hide. I’m acting like someone who refuses to sit in a house while other people pay for the shit he started with us.”
“Here’s the problem, Brooke,” I step closer, keeping my eyes locked on hers. “I don’t want to add you to the list of people Grant wants to kill just to get inside my head.”
She steps closer, her voice rising. “You have no idea what he put me through taking me to that manor. He sent people to kill us. And now yourmother is dead because of him.” Her voice cracks, then hardens again. “Every time we hide, he hurts someone else. I’m done waiting around for him to finish us off.”
“I’m trying to keep you alive,” My jaw tightens. “I’m trying to keep you out of a fucking morgue, and you’re walking yourself straight toward a body bag.”
She lets out a humorless laugh. “You keep saying that, like it gives you the right to decide everything. Stay here, Brooke. Wait here, Brooke. Hide here, Brooke. I’m done sitting still while you go play executioner alone. I don’t need your protection. I can protect myself just fine.”
“I don’t know what part of this you’re not getting.” A humorless scoff leaves me as I shake my head. “I’m a real killer, Brooke. I’m not new to this shit like you. I’m not doing this for play. I plan and I execute. I don’t act impulsively.”
Her head snaps toward me.
“Then what the fuck was that when you left?”
For a second I don’t answer.
Okay, maybe that was impulsive.
I was barely holding it together when I walked out. My head felt like it was packed with glass and noise. Half of what happened after that blurs together when I try to replay it.
I barely remember it.
“I don’t need a bodyguard, Seth.” She steps closer again, her eyes locked onto mine like she's trying to force me to understand. “I need a partner. I need you to trust me when I say I can walk into a room and do what needs to be done. I need you to stop treating me like I’ll shatter every time someone points a gun at me. I went to Grant’s family home and avenged Samantha for you.”
“I didn’t need you to avenge shit!” I shout. “I needed you to stay here. I needed you to stop charging in like an impulsive, stubborn idiot who doesn’t think of the consequences.”
Her mouth trembles for a second before it hardens again. “Wow, Seth, you’re really a fucking hypocrite.”
I lean down until my face is inches from hers. “Listen carefully, Brooke, because I’m not repeating myself. You’re done running solo. You don’t leave this house without me beside you. You don’t move on anything unless I say we move.”
“If I keep waiting for you, he keeps breathing,” she fires back. “He keeps hunting. He keeps sending people after your family and everyone linked to us—”
“Brooke, shut the fuck up.” I step closer, close enough to feel her breath hit my mouth. “If you leave this house without me again, I’ll chain you to that bed and make damn sure you stay put.”
Her eyes flare. “Fuck you, Seth.”
Something in me shifts from anger into something darker with her name carved into it.
Her lip curls, disgust written all over her face. “You can bark orders all you want. I’m still going to kill him. I’m done running while the man who ruined our lives keeps breathing. I’ll finish this with or without you.”
She tries to push past me toward the door.
