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“Not if you don’t want me to.”
Chewing on my bottom lip, I shake my head. “No. I don’t want anyone from our past to jeopardize our future.” He nods but I can see the conflict on his face. “Give me six months, maybe a year and then you can tell him.”
“He’s family.”
“Grim is MC.”
JD’s lips form a hard line, but he nods down at me, for he knows I speak the truth. “Six months and I won’t tell him where we are going but I will tell him I’m going.”
“Will he be able to trace you?”
“If he wanted to. Grim knows just about all there is to know about me but if I ask him not to, he won’t.”
Snuggling closer to JD, I twist onto my side, so we are face to face. “You sure?”
“About you or Grim?”
“Both.”
His fingers brush my hair off my face. “Grim has always had my back and from the moment I met you, I knew you were going to be important to me.” He licks his lips. “I just didn’t realize how important. Cheree, I trust you like I trust Grim. Believe that.”
And I do. This man might have started out protecting me for money, but it’s become so much more.
Chapter Seven
JD
Cheree is perched on the edge of the bed; her slender fingers clutch a faded photograph like it’s the last lifeline in this godforsaken world. The light streaming in through the streetlights outside, throw shadows across her face. Her red hair is a fiery halo around her head and almost seems to cast a light of its own.
"JD," she whispers without looking up, but I'm saved from answering by the shrill cry of my phone.
Grim's name flashes on the screen, my gut feeling telling me I won't like what comes next.
"Talk to me, brother," I say.
"JD," Grim's usually commanding tone is laden with something grave, "It's about Cheree's mother."
I turn away slightly, giving Cheree a sliver of privacy for whatever's coming, but she's got eyes only for that picture, her knuckles white as bone.
"Dead," he continues, and that one word feels like a sledgehammer to my chest. "Murdered. It's Viper's doing."
There's a crackle of silence on the line, and for a heartbeat, the world stops spinning. Viper. His name is a curse, a dark promise of pain. He's overstepped, crossed a line that shouldn't even be in his sight.
"Are you sure?" My hand tightens around the phone, the plastic creaking its protest.
"Sure as death itself," Grim says, and I hear the unspoken vow of retribution in his voice. "He wanted to shake the board, send a message."
"Message received," I growl, my gaze flicks to Cheree.
Ending the call the crouch down in front of Cheree and look at the picture she’s holding. It’s a younger version of herself with a woman’s arms draped around her.
“My mom,” she says with a slight shrug.
“That was Grim.” I place my hands on her knees. “Viper murdered your mother.”
She's still as a statue, the photo slipping from her grasp like a fallen leaf. I'm ready to burn the world down, but first, I need to handle the girl with a broken heart.
"JD," she breathes out, her voice a ghost of its usual strength.
