The thought drew him up short, and he hesitated for a moment, unease crawling along his spine. He knew he needed to tell her. He knew she would be furious. For a moment, he considered not telling her. It would make things easier. Then a moment later, the unease dissipated. He couldn’t keep it from her.
Gritting his teeth, he pushed open the door. “I’m home,” he said.
His eyes swept across the living room, and he nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Nikki sitting on the couch. Her eyes were trained on him, something smoldering behind them. Her jaw clenched, and she got to her feet, marching over to him.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
She didn’t answer. Instead, she stopped in front of him and glared. He nearly recoiled, the rage pulsing off her nearly palpable.
“You asshole,” she spat.
He froze, the words taking a moment to sink in. He looked at her furious expression, the fire in her eyes. She folded her arms and glowered up at him.
“Sorry,” he said. “Mind telling me what’s going on?”
“You knew,” she said, her voice trembling with barely contained rage. He had never seen her eyes burn with this level of intensity before. “You knew there were people working with Lucas, and you didn’t tell me.”
The words washed over him, plunging him in ice-cold water. He gaped at her, the shock that she had found out temporarily paralyzing him. Eventually, though, he found his voice.
“How did you…?” He trailed off, then sighed and closed his eyes. “Cillian told you?”
“Does it matter?” she asked. “The point is, I found out. I found out, but not from you. Were you ever going to tell me?”
He hesitated, his hand opening and closing as if grasping for words. All around them, the world seemed to still. His stomach plummeted, and he wished that he were anywhere but here.
“I was going to tell you,” he began.
“Tell me what?” she snapped. “That there were pack members in league with Lucas, or that you knew about it and didn’t warn me?” When Jasper didn’t respond immediately, she let out a harsh, angry laugh. “That’s what I thought. You neverplanned on telling me in the first place. If it weren’t for Vincent, you never would have.”
He growled in frustration, rubbing his face. “I didn’t want you to worry about nothing,” he said. “I wanted you to feel comfortable wandering around your own pack. I didn’t want you feeling like you had to look over your shoulder any more than you already did. I knew you were going to be unhappy, but I was trying to make your life easier. I swear.”
For a brief moment, that fiery wall of anger seemed to ebb. Nikki’s shoulders uncoiled for the briefest of seconds. But then she tilted her chin, her eyes burning with defiance and anger. She wasn’t going to let him off the hook that easily.
“Why didn’t you at least apologize after the fact?” she asked.
“I didn’t know how to tell you,” he said. “Look, I didn’t want you to find out this way. I planned on telling you tonight—”
“Well, you didn’t,” she snapped. “I don’t care what you were going to do. How long had you known?”
A long pause filled the air between them, weighing everything down. She waited, glaring.
“A couple of days before Vincent attacked.”
She shook her head in disgust, spinning on her heels, running her fingers through her hair. “Unbelievable,” she muttered. “Unbelievable. You knew I would want to know. You deliberately kept it from me. I thought you were different. I thought you might have changed. But you kept that information from me because you didn’t think I would be able to handle it. You didn’t allow me to make my own decisions about it.”
Her eyes continued to burn as she whirled back to glare at him. His own indignation and frustration began to rise. Didn’t she understand yet that he only wanted to protect her?
“You don’t think I’m furious with myself?” he demanded, bristling. “You don’t think that I wish I could take it all back? I fucked up.”
“And you never apologized or told me,” she said. “I’m upset enough that you never bothered to tell me. I’m angrier that you didn’t admit to your mistake after the fact.”
“I was trying to protect you!”
“I don’t care. You can say that all you want. It’s not going to fly with me anymore.”
“What good would telling you have done?”
“I could have been on guard,” she said, a note of hysteria entering her voice. “Why wouldn’t you warn me?”
