Page 101 of Five Fingers of Death

“Jason,” I smiled, surprised to find him on my doorstep. “What are you doing here?”

“Can I come in?”

I stepped aside, but as I did, his arm brushed against me, reminding me of the things Vira had said to me the last time we’d gone shopping with him. I shook off those thoughts and followed him into the living room, standing there awkwardly as I waited for him to tell me why he came.

“I’m going to be out of town for a few days, at least.”

“Okay,” I nodded, unsure why he was telling me this. “Where are you going?”

“It’s work related.”

I nodded again. Shifting, I tried to figure out what the point of him coming here was. I knew he wanted to look out for me, but that didn’t mean he needed to show up to let me know his itinerary.

“Listen, I have a favor to ask, and I know you’re not going to like it.”

I instantly froze up, wondering what could be so horrible. “Nothing good ever comes after someone says something like that.”

Walking over to the couch, I took a seat, curling in on myself. My mind was already whirling with possibilities. What could he possibly need from me? If he was looking for information on Zavala, I had nothing.

“Listen, I don’t know anything about Zavala’s contacts. I wasn’t informed on his business in any way, so if that’s what you’re after?—”

“It’s not,” he interrupted me. “This has nothing to do with Zavala.” Then his eyes clouded over. “Well, I guess it does in a roundabout way.”

I stiffened at the implication. “I don’t want anything to do with it.”

“Good. Then this should be easy.”

Confused, I cocked my head at him.

“I want you to stay on the property until I get back from my trip.”

You will never leave this island.

Dread filled me and the walls felt like they were closing in. I had voluntarily stayed in my house many times, but that was my choice. This…being told to stay at OPS—that was totally different.

“That’s impossible,” I choked out, getting up to pace away from Jason.

“It’s only for a few days.”

Barking out a laugh, I spun on him. “Only a few days? And what about next time? Will it be only two weeks? Or how about two months? How long until it’s for an entire year?”

“It would never come to that.”

“That’s what you would have me believe,” I said, panic lacing every word. “But you want to control me just like he did!”

“No!” Jason snapped, surging forward. His hands clasped onto my arms, holding me tight but gently. “Izzy, I would never try to control you. I need you to believe me.”

“I hardly know you. Why would I believe you?” I asked, jerking my arms out of his grasp.

“Because I told you I wanted to earn your trust. If I was lying about that, would I really be here asking you to stay on the property?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his ridiculous attempt at placating me. “Do you really think that you can manipulate words to make me stay on your side? You’re trying to trick me.”

“I would never do that,” he said sincerely. “Can we sit down and talk about this?”

The earnestness in his eyes almost had me giving in. I remembered the way he was with me, how he helped me out when I hurt myself, and after, when he drove me to the furniture store. There was nothing about him so far that told me he was like Zavala, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t hiding it from me. I would be a fool to ever trust a man again, even if he said and did all the right things.

“Just give me two minutes. That’s all I’m asking, Izzy.”

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