AllFreeNovel
Share Us
No, not the same,fardarker. Hayden would do a lot to save someone, but Jarrod had done worse for far less noble reasons.
I hit my fist against Hayden’s back to get his attention. “It’s okay—I know him.”
Even as I tried to move around Hayden, another hand caught my arm and kept me still. I glanced to the side to find Vance flanking me there, keeping me behind Hayden. “Just because you know him doesn’t mean we do.”
“Sneaking into someone’s house isn’t very smart,” Char said, a smile on his lips, his voice cheery despite the way his words were a very obvious threat.
“Sneaking into someone’s house is extremely smart if I don’t trust the people enough to ring the doorbell. You can learn a lot about someone by what they keep in their home.” Jarrod’s voice showed no signs of fear, but I wasn’t sure I’d seen that from him before. He’d softened after falling for Sasha, after moving in with her, but that didn’t change his core. He was still the man who had helped turn Nem into the killer she was, so no matter how nice he might seem at times, I knew what lurked beneath that exterior.
“Admitting to illegally searching our things isn’t the smartest thing,” Hayden said. “Especially when you are horribly outnumbered.”
“I prefer being outnumbered. It gives me more targets.” Most people would have smiled at that threat, but I knew better. Jarrod would utter those words with complete seriousness.
And as for me? The idea of Jarrod searchingmyhome went too far. This wasn’t a target—it was the place I felt comfortable. I thought of him going through my things, as well, searching through my belongings, going through the personal items of the men. It had me pushing away from Vance and Hayden, twisting out of their grasp, until I could see Jarrod again.
I pointed my finger at him. “Howdareyou search my things!”
He tucked the gun down, by his side, as though he’d just come to his senses and didn’t want me to see him with one. It almost made me laugh that he wasstilldoing this, just like the Quad did, as though I couldn’t handle the harsher aspects of life. “It wasn’t like that, Kenz.”
“Like hell it wasn’t! I don’t care if you like what I’m doing or not—don’t you ever even think about searching my things again.”
“I wanted to make sure you were okay, that these men weren’t doing anything to you. It’s not like I searched your private home.”
“Thisismy home, at least for right now. I swear, if you ever so much as think about stepping over that line again, I will personally make your life a living hell.”
Jarrod pressed his lips together, an unhappy expression on his face, before he muttered a soft, “Sorry,” just loud enough for me to catch.
Which brought the whole exchange into focus enough for me to recognize how ridiculous it really was. Jarrod was a dangerous killer, and here I was—weaponless, with only the most basic grasp of self-defense—yelling at him. And worse? He actually apologized.
Our back and forth must have thrown the men off, too, because the men stared around as if unsure how to respond. No adult man would seem like quite the same dangerous individual when put in their place by a nineteen-year-old girl.
“You want to introduce us?” Vance said when no one spoke for a long time.
I looked at Jarrod, unwilling to say anything he didn’t want me to. He sighed loudly, then leaned forward but didn’t leave the counter. “My name is Jarrod. I’m her sister’s father.”
Char cursed so softly that I doubted anyone but me heard it, and when he spoke, he had that cheery voice on again. “The Fox?”
Jarrod nodded, not even trying to deny it. “That’s right, and given that curse you let out”—it seemed Jarrod at least had caught it—“you know about me. That should tell you how cautious you should be right now when you’re holding something so precious to me.”
His words caught me off guard.
He’d looked out for me, sure. He’d become a sort of father figure to me, one I hadn’t expected, one I didn’t know how to deal with. I’d never had a real father, so I had nothing to compare it to, no way to measure or understand it.
Jarrod wasn’t the type to talk about his feelings, so him saying that—and in front of men he clearly didn’t trust—stunned me into silence.
Hayden peered back at me, seeming to search my expression for what I thought. Whatever he found must have allowed him to come to a decision, because he faced back toward Jarrod. “If you’re a part of her life, then you’re welcome here.”
The front door opened, making the men and I turned our heads in confusion. What was today? Enter uninvited day?
Jarrod let out a loud, unhappy sigh, the sort of sound I never expected from him. The meaning and reason became clear, however, when Sasha walked in, a smile on her face, her blonde hair pulled half back to show her bright, happy expression.
“Kenz!” She held her arms out as though she hadn’t just walked into a tense situation with guns involved. Did that show that she’d spent enough time around Jarrod to not let such things bother her anymore?
And the welcoming attitude got me moving, because who could ignore an offer from her? I embraced her back, enjoying the way her hugs felt like warmth itself. If Jarrod served as a father, Sasha might have just been like a mother, even if I’d spent less time around her.
She let me go, then set her hands on my cheeks and stared into my eyes, looking over my face, a clinical edge as she no doubt checked for injuries or signs of illness. It seemed nurses never could quite let go of that.
“You were supposed to wait until I contacted you,” Jarrod said, his voice a mixture of warmth and censure as he spoke to Sasha. “It could have been dangerous.”
