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“To buy time.”
“For what?”
“For you and your family to get out of town.”
“Lex,” I growl out of pure exhaustion from repeating this. “I’m. Not. Leaving—”
“Tuesday morning, no matter if he has ten million dollars in his pocket, me at his side, or nothing but his dick in his hand, Cyrus will go after you, your mom, and your sisters. You did the unthinkable, Reece. You betrayed him. He won’t just punish you. He’ll make an example out of you. If you don’t disappear, you and everyone you love will die.”
“But not including you?”
“Don’t.”
“Oh, we’re way past that, Snow. After everything that’s happened, there’s no fucking denying I love you with every jagged piece of my fucked-up, shattered heart.”
“Reece.” She takes another step back.
I grab her face, not letting her go anywhere. “I. Love. You.”
“Why did you do that?” she cries.
“Fall for you?”
Her eyebrows caving in, she nods.
How do I explain it? What is there to explain? It wasn’t even me. It was all her.
“I didn’t have a choice, Lex. You knocked me on my ass.”
Despite the pain on her face and in her posture, her chest manages to create one of those laughs I fucking crave more than water, and I brush my lips over hers, coaxing them open so I can quench my thirst. She responds, giving me exactly what I need while also taking what she wants. Even if she won’t admit she loves me back, this feels close enough.
“I thought I was the one that got knocked on my ass,” she whispers into my mouth.
I stop to pull back and look at her. “Did you?” I physically knocked her on her ass, but did I emotionally, too?
She shakes her head, conflict etched in her features.
I have to remind myself, seeds don’t bloom overnight. Everything worthwhile takes time.
“Please go.”
“Only if you come with me.”
Immediately, she starts to argue, so I tell her, “You can’t stay here either. You’re not safe, not with Cyrus or Kordin.”
Extracting herself from my grasp, she returns to the kitchen counter, her arms wrapped tightly around her front.
We’re not done here.
“Do you know what’s on the flash drive Cyrus took?”
Her head shakes. “But I think I have a pretty good idea.”
I’m not sure she does.
“I can show you.”
She spins around to face me. I’ve already got the backup flash drive out for her to see.
