Page 90 of Make No Mistake

I scanned the room but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. A few people I passed smiled or said hi, and I tried to return the gestures casually. I should have taken acting lessons when I had the chance. That would make this whole thing a lot easier.

When I made it to the table Jay was sitting at, he looked up without expression.

“I thought I told you to stay at the house.”

His words held a venom so strong, I cringed. I reminded myself this was staged, but he wasn’t holding back.

I could feel the people around us stop what they were doing and look. Good. We wanted to make sure whoever was behind this was listening.

“Since when do I take orders from you?” I tilted up my chin in what I was hoping was a confident move.

He let out a heavy sigh. “Mckayla, I’m trying to keep you safe.”

“I’m not in danger, Jay. You don’t have to treat me like a child.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in the chair. “You were attacked last week, Mac. They haven’t found the guy, so yes you are in danger. You need to stay at the house where you’re safe.”

“Locking me away isn’t going to keep me safe from everything.”

“It couldn’t hurt.” He mumbled the words, and I knew he believed them.

I rolled my eyes and focused on channeling my inner diva. “I can’t do this anymore, Jay. You can’t control everything about my life.”

His eyes narrowed to slits. We’d never fought before, and if this was what it was like, I wanted no part of it. “Fine.”

“Fine?” The crowd seemed just as confused as me. I could hear gentle murmuring, but I didn’t look around. I had to focus on this task.

“Yes, fine. If you think you’re safe and you don’t need my help, then you’re on your own.”

This was how it was supposed to go, but hearing him say the words hurt. Even if it was fake, I never wanted him to give up on me. I bit my lip and fought back the tears. This was going to be way more believable than I’d thought.

There was a flash was concern on Jay’s face, but he corrected himself before anyone could have noticed.

“So that’s it?”

He shrugged and my heart broke a little more.

“Fine.”

“Get your stuff from my house before I get home.”

The air in my lungs left in a single whoosh of air. It felt like he’d punched me in the stomach. He was way too good at this, and I was taking it too personally.

“Yeah, of course.” I turned as a tear escaped my left eye. I brushed it back but not before I let our audience see. This was going perfectly, and I wanted our guy to know I was alone and vulnerable.

I was halfway to the door when one of our columnists, Stacy, blocked me. “Mac, I’m so sorry. Do you want to come and stay with me?”

“No. I’ll be fine at home.” I gave her a half smile and tried to push past her.

“But the attack? Are you sure you should be staying alone?”

“Aubrey …”

She cut me off. “I heard she’s been staying at her brothers. Did you guys get in a fight too?”

I had no idea how she knew about that, but I could hug her for how grateful I was. That was the last detail I wanted the attacker to know. I would be alone at my house. The perfect situation for him to get his revenge.

“Kind of.” I looked at the ground and kept walking. “I’ll be fine.”