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“I’ll leave when you leave.”
We’re almost at the steps to my stoop, but I stop in the middle of the sidewalk. Turn her toward me, and take her chin in my hand. This is it. This is the thing that pushes me over the edge into another epic display of weakness. Heat balls up in my chest. It’s frustration and exhaustion and love. Her skin is so soft under my fingers.
“You can’t do this.”
Shecannotdo this to me.
Determination glints like the moonlight in Elise’s eyes. “I won’t let you do it alone.”
Fuck, I’m tired. Fuck, I want to kiss her. “You don’t even know whatitis. I was going to expose them to the public, then trap them in the Bettencourt International headquarters and burn it down.”
She blinks, her chin tilting with mild surprise. “Okay, well, that’s more than I expected. I mean, I knew you were serious, and maybe you even fantasized about killing them, but Iprobably wouldn’t have helped you if I knew you had such a specific plan. Murder is just not—you know what? It doesn’t matter, because I care about you. If you want to go down this way, then I’ll go down with you.”
I will never forget the shape of those words on her lips for as long as I live. I’ll never forget how they sounded in the night air, with buttercream frosting on the breeze and her jaw moving under my hand. I lean in and kiss the corner of her mouth. It’s not smooth or romantic, but my heart is cracking my rib cage and I want all my senses involved. There’s a hint of sugar on her skin.
She loves me.
She shouldn’t, but she does. Elise isn’t lying. She’s an awful liar.
I want so badly to be in bed with her that I almost feel capable of teleporting us straight through the walls and under the covers.
“No.”
“Yes,” she fires back. “Idolove you. It’s not something you can decide for me, Gabriel. I love you, and that’s final.”
“No, you arenotgoing to be in the consortium with us. You’re not getting burned alive, too.”
“I’m in the consortium the same as you. I’ve been in it my whole life. Maybe I was too young to do some fucked-up frat boy initiation, and maybe the other members didn’t know those ideas came from me, but they did. You can’t punish my dad without punishing me.”
Elise can’t even say the wordpunishwithout blushing. It’s such a deep red that it’s visible even in the dim streetlights. Jesus Christ. We shouldn’t be arguing about this on the sidewalk. We should be inside, sleeping, so that we can do better things together before I run out of time. Dirty games that aren’t orchestrated by her goddamn father.
“I literally can punish your father and not you.”
She lifts her chin, looking up at me. Defiant, though I’m using my height against her now. “You literally cannot.”
“I literally cannot have this discussion out here. That’s the only thing I can’t do. Come inside.” I take her arm and guide her up the steps. Elise is cautious in her flip-flops, so she’s a half-step behind me.
Someone’s on the stoop.
I put my arm out in front of Elise, and she bumps into it. “If you want to go inside—”
“Stop.”
She freezes. “What’s going on?”
“Just stay there until I figure out why they’re here.”
Elise peers around me. The shape doesn’t make a lot of sense. My outdoor light isn’t on, and my eyes are bleary, and I don’t know what the hell I’m looking at. A man, I think. Adrenaline sharpens my vision. There’s always a backup supply to get a person’s heart pounding, I guess.
A few blinks, and my eyes fully adjust to the low light.
Fuck. It’s not a man. It’s a kid.
It’s Nate, from the alley. He’s crumpled in a corner of the stoop, his legs curled up by his chest, and he’s shivering.
He’s hurt.
I leap up the last step and crouch down in front of him.
