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"You're supposed to be dead." I glare, not lowering my gun from where it's pressing against the middle of her forehead.
"Surprise." She shrugs carelessly as if it's no big deal that she's alive when I've spent the last three months thinking I've lost her forever.
"How?" She doesn't know what the fuck I've been going through. What King and I have both been going through. The guilt that we've felt over her death. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I should know by now that you're a master of faking your death. You did it to Sebastian. Why not to me too?"
Her lips thin. "That's not fair. You knew why I did what I did with Seb. With you, it wasn't planned. Let's not forget that you, King, and Eli left me for dead. You three abandoned me when you could've easily saved me."
"I should kill you right now. Put a bullet in your brain. That way, at least you won't be a liar anymore. No one will even know you're alive or here."
A smirk spreads across her mouth. "You could, but you won't. Plus, someone knows I'm here." My eyebrows furrow in confusion.
Sighing, I remove the gun from her head, keeping it at my side. "What do you mean? Who knows you're alive?"
"Me," a deep, familiar voice sounds from the side of the room. Turning, I see Travis entering the room and shutting the door behind him.
"Travis? How the fuck did you know she's alive?"
"Ro, I'd like you to meet Ace Jackson," Tate says, quickly taking the gun from my hand and tossing it onto the bed.
My eyes widen in disbelief. "Travis?" I'm genuinely confused. Travis has worked for us for nearly a year, and he came highly recommended by a trustworthy source. From my understanding, he's never been in contact with Tate, so I'm not sure how the fuck they know each other. Then it registers in my brain what she just said. "Ace Jackson?"
Travis nods, walking toward us. "Yes, Ace Jackson, my former foster brother that you, King, and Eli believed was out to get me," Tate says with a smirk. She takes a seat on the edge of the bed.
"You lied to us." I look between the two of them. "You betrayed our trust." I clench my fists at my sides, doing my fucking best to keep myself from connecting my fist with his face for lying. We did a background check, and we also checked his fingerprints, which clearly shows he's a better hacker than we've been aware of since he was able to connect his fingerprints to an entirely new and made-up identity.
"I did, but I won't apologize for it. I needed to keep an eye on Lee, and I wasn't certain that the three of you had pure intentions. It turns out I was right, considering where I found her," he snarls, stepping up to me until we're standing toe-to-toe.
The man I've trusted for twelve months has looked me in the eye and lied. The man I know as Travis is actually Ace and has known Tate all along. He's got a pretty good poker face. We've discussed her several times, yet he's never let it slip that they're not strangers.
Unable to deal with him right now, I step away and turn my attention to the woman sitting at the foot of my bed, taking her in.
For the first time in three months, my eyes connect with her clear turquoise orbs, and I'm unable to breathe. She stands slowly, never disconnecting our gaze. Clenching my jaw, I rush toward her and grab fistfuls of her short platinum and violet hair, yanking her head back, so she's forced to look up at me.
"Do you have any fucking idea what I've been through, thinking you were dead?" My fists tighten at her roots, yanking her head further back. "I thought you were fucking dead!" I yell in her face, my anger taking over me.
She's silent, allowing me to do and say whatever I need to right now.
"I thought I lost you! I fucking blamed myself for not protecting you! And come to find out, you're alive and perfectly fucking fine!" Spit flies from my mouth and lands on her cheek. Still, she doesn't move. But maintains her stormy gaze on me.
Slowly, Tate wraps her arms around my waist, bringing our bodies close together, allowing me to feel her warmth on my bare chest. "You left me, Rowen. You fucking left me. You don't get to be angry when I'm the one who was left for dead." Her nails rake painfully down my back.
I open my mouth to speak, but she stops me by speaking first. "I needed you. You weren't there and didn't even try to save me."
"How? How the fuck did you get out of that house?"
"Ace saved me," she says, her body flush against mine. I break our eye contact by turning my head to the side to look at the man in question. She must not like that because she sinks her nails deeper into my back, scratching so painfully I'm confident I'll have welts and blood drawn soon. "Look at me, not him. Look at me—the girl you left for dead." My eyes land on hers yet again. Glaring at me, she moves her hands to my chest and forcefully shoves me away from her. It's unexpected, and I nearly lose my balance, but I am able to keep myself upright.
"Fuck you, Rowen. I thought I could trust you!" She steps toward me, shoving me away again. Damn. She's feeling fucking feisty tonight.
A smirk spreads to my lips as I watch her small hands shove and slap against my hard chest. She must not like my smirk because she surprises me by raising her hand and slapping me across the face with all the strength she has. Not going to lie, it stings, and my jaw feels tight.
I'll give it to her. She doesn't back down from a fight, even when she knows that's what she will get; even when she knows that she's dangerously close to unleashing the beast within me.
I'm balancing on a thin line between being grateful that she's alive and being so fucking angry that she's lied and put me through hell these last three months that I've spent thinking she's dead.
Then she slowly backs away from me, knowing damn well that she's succeeded in pissing me the fuck off.
Without caring that we're not alone in the room, I rush toward her, take her in my arms and toss her petite body onto the bed, climbing on top of her, pinning her underneath me, and caging her in.
