Page 107 of Split You Open

He’s going to take everything from me.

Whether it be Blair’s death at Dixie’s hand or his crazed possessiveness—Ledger’s the threat to my future. My happiness.

This is why I sat here all night—to watch over the people I love from him.

All the fatigue clinging to me vanishes.

I’m on my feet in an instant as I reach for the gun on my hip. Ledger steps out of his room, looking haggard as fuck. He braces himself against his doorframe, pausing to suck in a shaky breath, then straightens. As he steps out into the hallway, he sees the gun pointed at his chest.

His eyes darken, and his mouth presses into a tight line.

Before he can say anything, I speak, “You either need to be headed to the fucking bathroom or downstairs. Got it?”

Ledger nods just once before heading to the bathroom.

Just as the door shuts, my bedroom door opens and Santiago steps out. The dark expression on his face throws me for a loop. He pauses when he sees the gun but then stretches as he yawns. The strange moody expression on his face softens as he studies me.

“You alright?” he asks. “Is she alright?”

I nod. “I didn’t hear anything, so she must’ve slept well.”

“You look…” He hesitates. “Stressed.”

The scoff that slips past my lips is bitter. “Understatement. You don’t look much better.”

There are shadows under Santi’s eyes and there’s a grim set to his mouth which is unusual for him.

“Want to go on The Hunt tonight?” He asks. “Blow off some steam? We can bring Blair with us.”

“Fuck. Yes.”

Santi nods. “I’ll make it happen.”

“What the fuck are you doing?” Wes snarls as he steps into the kitchen.

Ledger grunts. “What’s it look like? I’m making breakfast for everyone.”

Wes stares at Ledger’s back then glances at me.

“Don’t worry, he hasn’t poisoned anything,” I assure him grimly.

Ledger sighs and removes the pan of fried eggs off the burner before turning the stove off. When he faces Wes, it’s slow and cautious—clearly remembering I have a gun trained on him from where I’m sitting. He glances my way, then his eyes cut back to Wes.

“I’m trying to get us back on track,” Ledger explains.

Wes scoffs. “Were you ever on a track, Ledger? Because it appears that you’ve been off the rails for quite some time.”

Before Ledger can respond, Santi slips past Wes into the kitchen. I frown at the thunderous expression on his face. His eyes lock onto Ledger’s chest before jerks his head away to look in my direction The look on his face melts away as he freezes, reading the tension in the room.

What’s going on with Santi? I’ll have to ask him later.

“What did I walk into?” he asks.

“Look,” Ledger hedges stiffly as he glances around at us. “I’ve made some bad calls. They’ve put everyone here at risk and I know things are shit right now, but I’ll make it right. I will figure out who Dixie is and when I do, I’ll hunt him down and kill him. In the meantime, I’ll earn back your trust.”

Santi crosses his arms over his chest. “That was a shit apology.”

“Because it wasn’t an apology,” Ledger snaps back. His brows crash together as he glares at Santi, then at the rest of us. “I’m not sorry that I brought Blair here or even how it happened—it had to be this way. I do, however, regret how out of control things have gotten.”