Page 77 of His Fake Fiancé

“I figured you wanted some space.”

“And yet, here you are, bothering me.”

Jax cocked his head, his eyes narrowing. “Have you been crying? Why are you crying?”

She wiped her eyes. “It’s nothing.”

“I’m going to fucking kill Jake Callahan.”

She wanted to scream, maybe stomp her foot, hit something. Why did no one think she could control her own life? Take care of herself and her own problems? “No, you’re fucking not.” With every word, she poked him in the chest hard enough for him to flinch. Good. She hoped it left a bruise. “Mind your own goddamn business, Jackson.”

“What’s with all the yelling?”

She glanced over to see Linc standing in the door to the kitchen. Great. Just what she fucking needed. Linc narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, exactly like Jax. It would have been funny, if she wasn’t so done with all of this shit.

“Have you been crying?” Linc’s words came out low, with an angry edge. “I’m going to fucking kill Jake.”

She threw up her hands. “Oh, for fuck’s sake.”

Linc at least looked slightly startled by her outburst. Jax just stood there, his face stone. Not that it mattered, because she didn’t care what either of them thought, about anything.

She turned to Linc and gave him the same poking treatment she’d given Jax. “Like I told Jax, mind your own fucking business, Lincoln.”

She didn’t usually curse that much, but she was beyond caring. So what if they thought she was unhinged or hysterical. Maybe it was time she showed them all the rough edges she usually kept hidden. As of this moment, she was done trying to make everyone happy.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going upstairs.” She pushed past Jax and climbed the stairs. With every step, she expected one of them to say something, tell her to stop, call her back. But they didn’t, which was a miracle.

Stepping into her bedroom, she shut and locked the door. Her bedroom suddenly felt stifling, small and sad. She dropped into the chair at the tiny desk in the corner, and booted up the ancient desktop she’d bought second hand back when she was in school. It was so old, the operating system couldn’t be updated anymore, but it had gotten her through school, so that’s all that mattered.

She pulled up a discount airline website and searched for flights to Los Angeles. Before KC had left, she’d begged Claire to at least come for a visit since she’d never been down that way since KC moved there after high school. Looked like Kase was getting her wish, probably a lot sooner than she thought. Claire could stress about that later.

She paid for the one-way ticket and then shut down the computer. The flight was early tomorrow morning, which meant she’d probably need to leave here super early. Like, almost middle of the night, early. And, since there was no way she was asking any of the asshats she lived with for a ride, she’d better arrange a rideshare. She grabbed her phone and ordered a car.

Grabbing her suitcase for the second time in far too few weeks, she packed the essentials, and then on a whim, tossed in a couple of nice outfits and a dress or two. There was no doubt KC was going to want them to go out while Claire was there, even though partying was the last thing Claire wanted to do right now.

She zipped up the suitcase and placed it by the door, along with her guitar case. She was probably going to have to pay extra for her guitar, but that was fine. She had some savings. Not a lot, but if she was careful, it would be enough for her to figure out what the hell she wanted to do next.

She picked up her guitar and started strumming. The chords were random, until they weren’t, and she had the beginnings of a refrain. She grabbed her note book and scribbled down what she’d come up with. Like usual, she got lost in the music and lyrics, and when she looked up, it was dark outside.

The fact that no one had come banging on her door was concerning, but she refused to deal with her brothers and their crap right now. At this point, she wasn’t even going to tell them she was going out of town for a bit. She refused to play twenty trillion questions. She’d leave a note, and if there was an emergency, she had her cell phone.

She got ready for bed and then snapped off the light and got under the covers. It was still early, but since she was getting an early start, the extra sleep would be welcome.

The only problem was that sleep refused to come. And she was still awake when her alarm went off a few hours later. As she dragged her butt out of bed and got ready to leave, she hoped that the rest of her get-my-life-together plan came together a little smoother.

Jake walked toward the front door of the townhouse, and he would have sworn he was heading toward the firing squad. His palms were sweaty and his stomach was so twisted up he thought he might puke. Which would make a great fucking impression.

Maybe he should come back later? It had been a long, emotional day for everyone. And, it was also close to dinner time. He didn’t want to interrupt, and it wasn’t like he was expected.

He put the bag he was carrying down, wiped his hands on his coat, and then rang the doorbell.

Gina answered the door, a very fussy looking Olivia balanced on her hip. The baby, who was still wearing the clothes she’d had on at the courthouse this morning, let out a squeal and reached for him. “Dada, Dada, Dada.”

For an agonizing heartbeat he thought Gina was going to deny him. Like he’d done to her. Hurt and guilt coated every inch of his soul, and he was so ashamed of what he’d done. It would serve him right if she slammed the door in his face.

“G-gina, pl-pl-please.” He didn’t even care about the stutter, or that he was embarrassing himself.

She sighed. “What do you want, Jake?”