“What?” I screech. “No fucking way are you going out there. They will kill you, Jacob.”
He shrugs. “Better me than you.”
“No.” I move to block the exit. “You’re not leaving me in here alone, and you are not going out there to get yourself shot. No.” I’m ready to knock him out if I have to. I’m not really sure I can,but I’ve taken enough self-defense classes in my life that I’d give it a damn good go. “Let me call someone, and once it’s safe, then we will both walk out of this room. Together.”
“You don’t get it, Jazzy. We can never be together. We will never be able to be what you want. What I want. It’s not safe for you to be around me,” he says.
“You don’t get to make decisions about my life for me. If I want to put myself at risk, for you, then I can. That’s my choice to make, not yours.”
He laughs. The asshole actually laughs. “No, it’smychoice. And you need to respect my choice to not want you around me.” Jake sighs. “If I have to say something I’ll hate myself for, that you’ll hate me for, if I have to make you absolutely hate me, I will.”
“Fine then. Next time you see me on a date or kissing someone else, you don’t get to come in like the jealous boyfriend,” I spit out at him. “Maybe I’ll call Aurelio. He’ll come and get me—no questions asked.”
Jake’s jaw clenches tight. His eyes squint at me. “You want to date people? Go for it. You have been for the last thirteen years. You’re not mine to claim, Jasmine.”
“You just told me you love me,” I say weakly.
“I do.”
“Argh. You’re so… frustratingly stupid sometimes,” I groan. “You want to know about my dating life, Jake? I’ll tell you about all the toads I’ve kissed. There haven’t been that many.”
“I don’t want to know about your fucking boyfriends, Jasmine,” he hisses.
“Yeah? Too bad. You brought it up, so you’re going to listen. It took me four years, after prom, before I even let another man touch me. Four years. Hunter, I met him at college. He was nice and patient. I thought maybe I could be happy with him. That was until I caught him cheating on me at a frat party. When Iwas twenty-three, I met Pete. He was actually my boss, and a bit older. But I didn’t have much luck with guys my own age so I gave it a shot. Turned out, he had a thing for fucking all the young girls in the office. Then I met Fredie. He was good. I dated him fortwo years, and then one day, he came home and decided to use my face as a punching bag.” I pause. The memories of that night still way too fresh and raw.
“What the fuck? I’ll fucking kill him,” Jake grunts. “That’s why you moved back home?”
“You can’t kill him. I already did. I told you that in your office, remember?”
“I didn’t think you were serious. Fucking hell, Jazzy.” Jake steps forward and wraps his arms around me. I let him pull me against his body. I like being in his arms, too much.
I tighten my grip on his waist, and he flinches slightly. I look up at him. “Sorry.” I loosen my hold and step back. “Ribs still hurt?”
“A bit,” he says.
“You shouldn’t have picked me up, and you probably shouldn’t have fucked me,” I tell him.
“First, you weigh practically nothing. And second,youfuckedme. I was just sitting there.” Jake smirks. Then his gaze flicks to the monitors. “What the fuck?”
He steps over to the wall again. I follow him.
There’s someone dressed in black leather pants, a black top, and knee-high boots. A woman. She’s holding a pistol in each of her hands. And we watch as she goes from room to room, putting a bullet in each of the masked men’s faces.
“That’s Lailani,” I whisper, watching as my aunt effectively takes out all the men who were searching Jake’s house.
“How’d she know you were here?” he asks.
“No idea.”
We both stare at the screen as my aunt glances at her phone and then walks through the house until she enters the room this one is attached to. She’s looking for something. Me.
“Come on.” Jake takes my hand and opens the door. Aunt Lailani has her gun pointed at his head in seconds.
I jump in front of him. “Don’t!”
She lowers her weapon. “You are not supposed to be here. And you…” She points at Jacob. “…are not supposed to let her be anywhere near you.”
Does everyone know about Jacob’s messed-up secret-society, old-money, family shit except me? I’m not surprised my aunt knows about it. She used to be a hired hitwoman for my Tío E. Then she married my Uncle Sammie. She also moonlighted as my babysitter when I was younger, because Tío E wanted someone skilled near me whenever my father couldn’t be.