Objective (Bloodlines #2)(67)

I sling her bag over my shoulder and usher her outside where she suddenly squeals with joy and shimmies out of my hold. Running full bore across the drive she leaps into a large black pair of arms. His arms close tight around her. It infuriates me. Who the hell is this guy? She doesn’t belong to him. She’s mine. I’ve had enough of all the men in her life. My jaw is tight and my pulse pounds in my head. I have to clench it even more, knowing how good it would feel to punch his face. He releases her, kisses the top of her head and smiles down at her lovingly. In that moment I lose it. I can’t control my rage any longer. All the frustration of the last week start a fire inside me. Moving quickly and silently, I walk right up to Mags and the linebacker. My fist meets his jaw three times before he hits the ground. I can hear Mags screaming at me. She sounds hysterical. Little fists beat at my back while she screams but I’m too wrapped up in the moment to stop. Four. Five. His hands drop from the protective position in front of his face and his head lolls to the side limply. Chump never even hit back.

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” she screams in my ear. It’s the most she’s spoken to me since last night. Pushing me to the side, she snakes her body between us and tenderly attends to her friend's face. It kills me to know that she won’t talk to me. That she found out about all this the way she did. I feel the overwhelming urge to hold her close and profess my love for her. Everything feels so tense.

"Brock? Are you alright?" she asks him worriedly. He doesn't really respond, he just groans. Her head snaps up and the glare she shoots me should cut me in half.

"Cane Jonathan Ash, get the f*ck out of my sight. NOW!" she screams. She's adorable when she's angry. All piss and vinegar. I smirk at her before shaking my head no. There is no way I'm leaving her side right now.

"I can't stand to look at you," she hisses. The disdain she feels is evident in more than her words. "He's a friend. I only have two, you know, and you've managed to hurt both of them in under twenty-four hours. He's a good guy." Her voice breaks as she finishes. Heat creeps up my body seeing her like this. I've hurt her, again, and I don't like the way she's looking at me. Hell, I don’t like the way she’s looked at me for the last twenty-four hours. If she would just let me explain. Bentley was my contact with the ATF. My way out. My exit plan from Ezra. I was betraying my family for her and me to have a real future.





PART III





Chapter 21





“I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for.”- J.K. Rowling


Magnolia


One. Two. Three. Breathe. Four. Five. Six. I suck in four more breaths and release them while trying to maintain a shred of composure. How idiotic was I to sleep with Cane the first time we see each other after everything that’s happened? Do I have no self-worth or control to say no and to attempt having some form of normal boundaries?

His hair is longer now, curled down around his neck and usually tucked behind his ears. It looks good. Better than before, really. He wears it well with his warm colored skin and caramel eyes. I wish he could understand. If I get rid of Ezra then he's free. I owe it to him. I need to give him the life that was taken from him. He doesn’t understand it. He still doesn’t understand my need for revenge. It’s as if the world slipped away when he appeared last week and no one else, no other circumstances existed anymore. I wanted to overlook the fact that Cane lied to me, that Bentley lied to me. But in the wake of the last twenty-four hours I don’t know who to trust.

Bentley knew that Cane was alive the whole time. How could he not tell me? How could he lie, saying I was his in to the Ash family when he’d be working with Cane? The betrayal and lies cut deep right now. Cane’s actions have left doubts in my mind that I can’t swallow and the betrayal cuts too deep. How could he not have ever told me that he was working with the ATF to get out? To get us away and free? All those years and he never said anything. The two of them have managed to tear my heart to pieces. Jimmy and Dave didn't even bother looking at me. How does someone do that knowing they're sending someone they know to die? The world is nothing but a cruel place full of deceit and pain.

I couldn’t find it in myself to sit and talk or listen to either one of them last night. If I’m honest, I’m still fuming at the betrayal. I glance down at Brock and use my shirt to wipe away the blood at his mouth.

“What the hell, girl? I didn’t know I had to ask permission to say hello.” He glares at Cane over my shoulder.

“Ignore him,” I snap. “And Bentley too for that matter.”

“Sounds like the boys are in trouble. I don’t envy y'all at all.” Brock laughs at the two of them.

“I thought your ‘guy for safe transport’ was also ATF,” Cane snarls at Bentley.

“Nope. But coulda been. He’s top notch security,” Bentley smiles.

“Hey, Mags,” Brock starts, “that one’s the fan who left you the hundred dollar tip.” He points at Cane. A shiver runs down my back thinking back to that night. He was watching, waiting and planning. My heart and brain war with each other. I shouldn’t trust him. I shouldn’t love him, but I do. Every last nerve in my body screams out for Cane. Everything is so complicated and confused right now. It’s been eating me alive.