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I bolted off the couch. “And there it is. You want me to help you? I have helped you, Sage. There’s only so much I can do, and I’ve done it.”
“But you could—”
“That whole speech was just to soften me up, to get my help. Wasn’t it?” I asked harshly, hating that her manipulation had actually struck a chord inside me.
She stood up and faced me. “No. Not entirely. I have seen a change in you. I’m just not sure it’s enough. That I can trust you fully.”
At least she was honest. But I couldn’t have her thinking that I would do anything for her. Not at the cost of hurting my family. Or the fact that no matter what she did, there was no getting out.
“Let me spell it out for you. I helped you. I’ll keep helping you in the small ways that I can. I will not help you leave. I won’t do anything that hurts my brother, my family, or the group. So, if you have plans to do that, better keep your mouth shut.” I didn’t take my eyes off her. I had gotten good at being able to tell how she was really feeling, even when she tried hiding it.
“You’re lying.”
“What?” That was about the last thing I’d expected to come out of her mouth.
“You’re lying. I think you would do whatever you could to make sure I’m okay. I think you and Alex are both lying about going after my dad. If it were true, you would’ve been trying to convince me not to run straight from the start of this conversation. Like you tried to convince me to keep hiding when you found me.” Her stare seemed to be piercing through me.
“You’re really going to take that chance with your dad?” I asked, gulping down the shock her words caused.
“I don’t know. But let’s be honest. My dad is sick.” She stopped and took a deep breath. “He doesn’t have a lot of good years left. When he is gone, your group won’t have anything to threaten me with.”
I was speechless. She must be very comfortable with me to blurt that out. She finally admitted she wasn’t planning on living happily ever after with Alex.
“Are you going to tell them that? Or are you going to keep another secret for me?” she asked with faked sweetness.
Anger shot through me. She was so confident that she was right about me. That I would keep lying for her. And it made me even more irritated that she was right. I would keep this to myself, like I had everything else. But it wasn’t a danger to the group. She hadn’t done anything. I didn’t have to tell them yet. My eyes narrowed as a smug smile lit up her face.
“Listen, don’t you dare think—”
I was cut off when she shoved me, knocking me back a couple of feet. Before I could get a word out, she shoved me again.
“Sage, what the hell—”
She raised her hand, and unlike the last two times, I wasn’t fast enough. The sting spread over my entire cheek, and I scowled.
“Are you going to tell Alex now? Tell the group? Spill all my dirty little secrets?” She was yelling as she went to hit me again. But I was ready this time. I grabbed her wrist and gripped it tight enough to hold her still. Only for her to try hitting me with the other hand. I eventually got a hold of that one too.
“Answer me! After this, are you going to tell Alex—your baby brother—that I really don’t love him?” She was still screaming, trying to squirm out of my grip.
Then she started kicking me. I grunted, attempting to get her arm behind her back and retake some kind of control, but she was struggling too hard. Letting go of her wrists, I wrapped my arms around her waist and knocked her legs out from under her. We fell in a heap on the floor. She was on top of me in a second, grabbing my arms. Twisting out of her grasp, I got a hold of her shoulders and forced her to roll until she was on the floor under me. I straddled her hips and grabbed each wrist, pressing them to the floor near her head.
“Are you going to tell him?” Her chest heaved with each breath. “You’ve been saying it since I got here. You’re right. I don’t love him. I never could again.”
I didn’t say anything as I caught my breath. My jaw ticked, still feeling the heat of her slap on my cheek. She was trying to crawl out from under me, but I wasn’t budging.
“I’m not getting up until you stop trying to attack me,” I growled. Flashbacks of getting tased were enough to know that I wasn’t taking any chances.
“I want to know. If you’re going to tell Alex about this whole thing.”
She looked me square in the eye. I glared as she smirked. She had started this whole thing to hear the answer. The answer we both knew. But I didn’t want to say it out loud. She was right. I wouldn’t tell Alex. But for her to know I would go that far to protect her was dangerous. It gave her power. Control. It would give her more strength to do whatever she was planning. I couldn’t protect her forever. Not from the entire group. This life was the only one she had a chance of surviving.
“What do you want from me?” I grumbled, my thoughts tearing me in two. Here I was, thinking of ways I could protect her instead of doing what the group asked. I was betraying them by keeping these secrets. But for some fucking reason, I couldn’t betray her either.
She moved under me, and I realized my body hadn’t gotten the memo that we were fighting. My dick was hard and pressing into her stomach as I held her down. Raising myself off her, I arched an eyebrow when she lifted her hips.
Her hazel eyes darkened. “What can I ask of you?”
