Page 8 of Jezebel's Liberation

She spins around and glares at me, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this angry. “You make it sound like my entire life revolves around the club,” she seethes. “Like anything else I have in my life isn’t important. Why is that,Demon? Because I’m a woman? Because a woman couldn’t have an?—”

“Dammit, Jez,” I bark, closing the distance between us and gripping her upper arms. “Don’t put words in my mouth.”

Yanking out of my hold, she crosses her arms over her chest, and it’s all I can do not to stare at the way her cleavage begs to be touched. “You should go.”

“I…” I thrust a hand through my hair. “Jesus, I fucked this up, didn’t I?”

“If you meant to come into my home and insult me, I’d say you did a bang-up job,” she sasses, although her normal snarkrings with more anger than annoyance. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have. Shit. To. Do.”

Hands falling to my sides, I nod. “Yeah, fine. Just…”

“What?” she demands when I fall silent.

“Be careful.” I smile. “Whatever it is you’re doing, be careful.”

The tension drains from her body, and she grins. “I’m always careful, Demon. Always.”

With that, she walks down the hall toward her bedroom. I don’t know what she’s up to, but she’s right. She is always careful. Soul would lock her ass up if she weren’t.

Forcing the niggling worry from my mind, I leave her to do whatever is so important. I’ll check in with her tomorrow, just to satisfy myself that she’s okay. And until then, I’ll go about the rest of my night as if the knot in my gut isn’t there.

Right… keep telling yourself that.

Jez is up to something, and the only thing I’m sure of is that whatever it is, it can’t be good. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be hiding it.

“Fuck!”

I slam my fist against the steering wheel as I head out of town. I need to get my head in the game. There’s too much that can go wrong with this mission if I screw it up. Those little girls need help, whether they realize it or not. I don’t need to be thinking about Mark, or why he showed up at my home unannounced. I almost swallowed my tongue when I brushed up against him in the stairwell and felt those hard muscles straining against his tight shirt.

Who would’ve thought that scrawny little boy who kissed me all those years ago would grow up to look so fucking lickable?

Why am I letting Mark, or I guess Demon now, get under my skin? He’s off limits for a few reasons. One, I’m like an older sister to him. Two, he’s in my twin’s club, which would definitelycause some tension and waves between my brother and two of my best friends. Three, I don’t have time for a relationship. Hell, I don’t even have time for a fling that could destroy a lot of lives.

Thankfully, my go-bag had already been in the trunk of my car. That would’ve been hard to explain if Demon had stumbled upon me loading it up. The bag is filled with all sorts of goodies: knives, guns, zip ties, a crowbar, taser, and let’s not forget the chloroform. It makes the people I hunt a little easier to string up while I dish out my brand of justice.

Ring. Ring.

I hit the button on the steering wheel to answer my phone with Bluetooth.

“What’s up, Ce?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” she says. “Why the hell did you skip out on Demon’s party?”

I sigh. “Not you, too.”

“Well, I’m waiting.”

“I had something come up.”

“Something more important than Mark getting patched in?” she probes.

“Look, Cece,” I huff. “I’m not trying to be a bitch, but yeah, I did. A friend needed help with something, and it was time sensitive.”

“Are they okay? Are you okay? Do you need me to get Soul?” she fires off.

“No, everything is fine now,” I assure her. “It was something I needed my computer for. A little identity theft, nothing I can’t handle. I needed to get all the info to her quickly because she was making her move now before he can skip town. It was a personal favor that doesn’t require the club’s involvement. I thought about sticking around and using Fort’s or Lock’s computer, but I didn’t want to tear anyone away from the fun.”

“As long as you’re okay.”

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