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It took meeting my pretty girl, seeing how lost and broken she was without her people, to realize I wanted that for myself too.
Scarlett smiles and shakes her head at Jade. The bodyguard comment was more of a challenge to Ian than an actual conversation. We can work that all out later. The immediate concern is the head wound that is still bleeding.
I start to move closer in order to examine Jade, but stop as I scoff at Ian. He freezes where he was about to pull his sweatshirt over Jade’s head and gives me a questioning look. I roll my eyes in exasperation. Was I really thinking he wasn’t that dumb only moments ago?
“You’re covered in blood, jackass.” And I know for a fact it isn’t only Jade’s blood that stains his clothes. I doubt she wants that on her, let alone the danger of exposing her to another person’s blood while she has open wounds.
A look of shock flashes across his face like he completely forgot about his state of being. I flick my eyes to Scarlett to see her fighting a smile as if she can read my mind. “This must be the dumb one,” I mutter, meant only for her ears.
Her smile deepens and the corners of her eyes crinkle. For one moment, it’s not like we are facing down threats from every angle, or like one of our own got hurt. It’s just us, being us.
Ian drops his sweatshirt and starts to get up but stops when the front door crashes open. I don’t even have to turn around to know it’s Kade. No one has quite the same presence as that guy does. And I don’t mean just because of his size either.
“Thought you might need that,” he says as he casually strolls in, throwing a go bag at Ian before heading straight to Jade’s room. I can say a lot about the big dope, but at least he can read a room. He barely even stopped to look us all over before knowing what was needed.
Scarlett takes one of Jade’s hands in her own and starts explaining to her where the other guys are. Jade grows more and more tense with every moment that passes. All of the little signs are there. With every new tick, Scarlett gets more and more pissed. Not at Jade. Hell, I doubt the woman even realizes how infuriated my girl is right now. But I can see it in the tightness of her shoulders, in the straining of her arm to not grip Jade’s hand too tightly, and most importantly in the way she leans towards me.
I move closer to her until we are touching and we both watch the exchange between Ian and Jade. It’s clear he doesn’t want to leave her side, but the fact he’s covered in sweat and blood still has not changed. Amusement dances across Scarlett’s features as she watches the two of them.
I lean over and whisper in her ear, “I hear you like to play matchmaker.” Kade had a good time filling me in on just how Brittany got together with Mikey and Ronan. I think it was his way of trying to bond, since we didn’t get off on the best foot. At least I can say now that all of their relationships make sense to me. I can see why she needs each one of the men in her life and why she fell so low without them.
She shrugs but turns to give me a wink. I struggle to not laugh but can’t contain the chuckle that spills out at the look in her eyes. She’s planning something alright. At least the sound of Ian’s laughter covers for me, and no one notices the exchange between the two of us.
I turn my attention back to them as Jade huffs, “Just go.” It’s clear he’s still reluctant as we trade looks, silently promising him I’ve got her covered. He finally grabs the bag and heads off towards the back hall.
Only a few moments later, Kade makes his way back into the room, clothes for Jade in hand. He passes them off to her and the both of us get up and turn our backs so she has at least some semblance of privacy to get dressed.
Now that she’s no longer in just a towel, I invade her space. I move slowly enough that she has the chance to voice any protests, but the wound on her head does require some attention. Head lacs are known to be bleeders and often look scarier than they are, but I need to do a thorough examination to really know that.
I use my firm grip on her chin to move her head where I need it before prodding the area around the wound. A tendril of relief rushes through me as I get my first good look at it. “It doesn’t need stitches,” I inform her and I can feel her own relief pouring out of her.
I smile as I release her hair and start getting the antiseptic ready so I can clean the wound before wrapping it. As long as it doesn’t get infected, Jade will heal quickly and without much hindrance to her normal activities.
Scarlett waits until I’ve completely finished getting Jade set up and walking her through the aftercare before telling Jade, “You know you have to walk me through it.”
It seemsas thoughbeing pissed off and frustrated are my new state of being.
Every goddamn day is another dead end. Another person taking money from Romano but knowing fucking nothing. And now this.
One of my people being hurt. Jade of all fucking people. I promised her that we would keep her safe, and not only did I fail, I didn’t realize she’s been fucking chipped this whole time. The moment Declan pulled that fucking chip from underneath her skin, I felt the thin strand of my control ready to snap.
I was grateful when Ian got Jade out of there, because I was not going to be able to keep it together for much longer. Even fighting with Kade and Luca did nothing to release any of my pent up frustration.
I force myself to take deep breaths and try to find some semblance of calm from the storm whirling inside of me. My anger doesn’t help anyone right now. Being able to keep my emotions under a tight leash is what has kept me so successful for so long. I can’t afford to start slipping now. Not when everything is getting so crazy.
I need my tightly wound control now more than ever. Even if it’s harder than ever to hold onto.
“Okay, let’s go over everything again,” I say to no one in particular. I feel like I’m missing something and I need to run through everything again from the top. We called a meeting as soon as we got Jade settled into Ian’s house. Everyone else is now sitting around our security room as we go over all of the implications of today.
Noah starts, “The chip that Ciar had on Jade was collecting and storing all of her GPS data. That means we have to assume he has all of the coordinates of everywhere she’s been since we rescued her.”
Mikey picks up. “We are clearing out all of the safety houses we have as we speak. Not only the ones that Jade has been to but all of the ones that are connected to the same identities of the ones she’s been to.”
“Which are?” I ask.
Noah looks at his computer before answering, “The rescue house you had her taken to was under the name Cassandra Brown. Jade’s place was under Marcus Whittier. We had thirteen other properties under those aliases that are being cleared out and put on the market as we speak. Other locations of interest were here, Brittany’s apartment, the gym, Steel Roses, and Mikey and Ronan’s place.”
“We moved Brittany into our place,” Ronan interjects.
