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“You and Gracie should come with me.”
“No, absolutely not.”
“Why the fuck not?” He was frowning at me like I had just cursed his entire life.
“Because it doesn’t make sense.” I threw my hands in the air after practically yelling my response.
“Maybe not but it makes better sense than you staying here.”
“Even if I did consider leaving with you an option, it’s no different than what I’ve done in the past. Running doesn’t solve problems, Jaah.”
“No, it doesn’t but you’re not running. If you want to deal with whatever happened back then then you can. If you want to move on with your life, then you can do that too but being here right now isn’t the best option. Those people are relentless, Cadence. They’ll do any and everything to be the first one to have a headline. They’ll use anything they can. Nothing and no one is off limits.”
Not even Gracie.
“I can protect her.”
“You can but at what cost? Being miserable and prisoner in your own home? You can come with me, my house is protected and a lot more space than yours. Nobody can get to you there. I have resources that you don’t. Let me help.”
He was right but what he didn’t understand was me depending on anyone was hard. The last time I allowed myself to be vulnerable and trust I’d paid an exorbitant price.
I loved Gracie and had no regrets about her, but I had an ocean of regrets about how she’d gotten here which was still hard to accept at times.
“Why?” I choked on the word and Jaasir leaned across his Jeep.
“Because no matter how many times I tell myself this was nothing I feel the lie in each word. You warned me that I might be the one who ended up broken and that’s exactly what happened. This is messy, it doesn’t make sense, and as much as we should both walk away and never look back, I can’t. We can figure it out.”
I really wanted to say no, but he was right. I would be a prisoner in my own home and he had resources I didn’t. This could be a temporary pause.
Not running.
“I’ll go on one condition…”
“Whatever you need.”
“If this doesn’t work for any reason, you let me go. No more pulling up, using all your that…” I waved a hand at him. “To get me to agree to whatever you want.”
He grinned, relaxing the tense expression that had settled on his face. The tone of his impatience with me fighting his demands was sexy, too real and potent.
“I have no clue what you’re talking about but I will promise you that if you decide you’re ready to leave, I’ll put you and Gracie a private flight back here. No questions asked.” His voice was as alluring and calculated as the way his eyes assessed me.
And as razor sharp as the lie he’d just told. Jaasir had no plans on walking away without a fight. I looked at him with questioning eyes which had his smile expanding. “I’m giving you my word, Cadence.”
“Please don’t make me regret this.”
“You won’t.”
I had the scariest overwhelming sense in that moment because I didn’t feel like he would be the one struggling to let go when this came to an end.
Once I was shattered into those tiny pieces, there wouldn’t be anyone on earth who could come behind him to put me back together again. At least not to the point of me being whole. I would forever be damaged goods but for this small moment, I wanted all that he was willing to offer.
“I need to pack and convince Val that I haven’t lost my mind and that I know what I’m doing.”
Which was going to be a task because I didn’t have a damn clue of what I was doing, so how was I supposed to convince her otherwise.
“Better you than me,” he muttered, glancing at the back of the house. When I narrowed my eyes on him his smile was back. “What? She’s scary as hell when it comes to you and Gracie.”
“If you can’t handle Val then maybe I need to stay here with her. She seems like the better option.” He chuckled and leaned toward me, sliding his hand over the side of my neck.
